Introduction
Nuclear energy is found in the particle inside the nucleus of an atom such as protons and neutrons . The particles are bonded strongly by nuclear force and cannot be destroyed in nuclear fusion or fission. Collectively the particles have less energy than when they are free separately. It is this difference in mass that liberates heat and radiation whenever fusion or fission occurs.
When the reactions are controlled, the energy can be captured and made into other uses. However, just as any other form of energy, nuclear energy has environmental implications in addition to societal and technological implications. It is also considered the most sustainable source of energy that cannot be exhausted for centuries that it will be in use.
Major environmental concerns occur during, mining, fuel enrichment, power plant operations transportation of radioactive materials, and fuel processing. In response to the concerns, this paper proposes the use of thorium reactors to produce nuclear energy because the safety issues of uranium. It highlights on the impacts of nuclear energy specifically focusing on the environment and analyzes the possible use of thorium as an alternative fuel for nuclear reactors.
Production background
Production of nuclear energy can happen in two ways. The first one way is fission where large nuclear disintegrate or split and releases energy. The second way happens when a smaller nucleus joins or joins with other smaller nuclei releasing a much higher energy compared to fission. This process is referred to as nucleus fusion .
Environmental Impacts
The negative impacts of nuclear energy to the environment are mostly experienced in the energy fuel cycle. This involves the extraction process, using, and releasing the energy into the air . During extraction, the miners of uranium element are mostly affected since they get exposure to some of the radioactive materials.
This leads them to developing cancer and related illnesses. The radioactive elements also get dissolved to the soil which erodes to unrestricted areas thus posing a danger to locals.
During uranium mining, both the surrounding environment and the miners are put to risk because of exposure they receive from the radioactive materials. During fuel enrichment, there are hazardous chemicals used which pose a greater risk to the environment. Some of the power plants rely on the use of fossil fuels for their operations thereby releasing greenhouse gasses to the environment.
Emission of green house gasses
The most important advantage of nuclear energy is the fact that it is a form of clean energy that is recommended over burning of fossil fuels. Taking into account the recent development of environmental degradation caused by using unclean energy, nuclear energy offers the best and most viable source of energy.
In addition to this, it does not pollute the air as coal and oil burning does. Even though nuclear energy is considered clean energy, some of the process that is part of the production of this energy uses burning of fossil fuels. These processes are found in the stages of mining the radioactive elements, enriching the elements, constructing the reactors, fabricating the fuel, process of transportation, and lastly management of waste products from the reactors and other stages .
Global warming is caused by the release of carbon dioxide and other green house gasses in to the atmosphere. When the level of carbon dioxide increases, it blocks heat radiated on the earth by the sun and retains it in the atmosphere leading to increase in temperatures.
This has been an issue of global concern and has been discussed in various global forums. To cut down the amount of carbon dioxide released in to the atmosphere use of alternative sources of energy have been proposed; nuclear energy being one of the options.
The risk of Radiation accidents
Avery serious problem that this form energy poses to mankind is the issue of radiation accidents. So far there have been three major disasters that have happened in nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy beckons images of adversity and tragedy. So far several disasters have occurred in nuclear power reactant plants.
Just two months ago, deadly levels of radiation leaked from one of Japan’s nuclear plants as a result of the Tsunami witnessed there. The plant was hit by an earthquake causing explosion in the plant and radioactive steams could be measured in the atmosphere around the plant.
Japanese citizens were forced to evacuate the area around the disaster to avoid exposure of the radiation from the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant. The disaster occurred after a powerful earthquake was recorded on the waters around Japan, causing a huge tsunami. The tsunami was like adding pain to a wound since it caused further damage to the units of the reactor plant.
The water got out of the reactor core crippling possibilities of regulating the temperatures in the core. Initially there was no scare since the core had not exploded meaning there were no leakages but when it became hard to control the temperature in the core, it eventually melted down leading to leakage of radiation.
The second major disaster ever to occur in nuclear power plant happened in Ukraine in 186 at the Chernobyl nuclear plant. In this accident, radiation escaped from the plant exposing thousands of people to radiation. Years later some people who were exposed and survived are facing the repercussions of radiation as it mutates their cells and causing cancer.
Despite all these incidents, scientists in the field of radioactivity and nuclear power production have come out defending the system and removing doubts that nuclear energy is disastrous. Technological developments are underway to improve the safety measures of nuclear power plants.
Heat Wastage
Nuclear power plants have a low thermal efficiency compared to the other power plants. This implies that a lot of heat produced in the power plants goes to waste. This has effects to the environment nearby the plants’ locations . To enable an effective cooling system, the plants are normally built near a huge water body such as river and lakes.
In some cases the reactors may be forced to be located in where there is no water body. This would require creation of an artificial lake. There are concerns over the nature of effects these plants have to the lakes and whether they are suitable for existence of organism. The heated water from the plants gets into the lakes raising the temperature of the water. This might not be suitable for aquatic life. The extra heat can be used in a better way for instance in cold areas, the heat can be used as district heating .
Alternative option for safer nuclear energy
The harmful effects of uranium to the environment have created a need for an alternative option for nuclear energy production. Most advocates of nuclear energy suggest that Thorium is a safer option for use in nuclear plants than uranium. Unlike uranium, the waste products of thorium cannot be re-used in a different form to make nuclear weapons.
Thorium is also a naturally occurring element just as uranium. It is considered a better fuel for various reasons. The first major reason is the fact that one ton of thorium has the capacity to generate similar amount of energy as two hundred tons of uranium. This makes it easier and more sustainable for use than Uranium.
Another major reason for its safety is that, thorium is extracted in a pure form. It does not require any form of enrichment to be able to take part in nuclear reactions (that is, fusion and fission reactions). However, for uranium, the element is extracted in an impure form where and require enrichment to be used in the power plants (Pasqualetti, 2000).
It is also difficult to re-use the waste products from thorium fission to make dangerous weapons. The concern of many in the global society is the danger of trusting “enemy” countries with nuclear energy.
With the use of uranium to produce nuclear energy, these countries, including Iran and North Korea, have the potential of developing nuclear weapons and using them to assert their military positions in the world. A lasting solution to this concern is to restrict such countries to only use thorium for nuclear energy production (Pasqualetti, 1986).
One of the negative impacts of uranium is that it produces a lot of heat energy which goes to waste. This therefore requires power plants to develop equipments to handle high temperature. However, unlike uranium, thorium does not generate a lot of heat when it takes part in nuclear reactions. The need for heavy temperature mitigation equipments becomes irrelevant with the use of thorium in nuclear plants.
This translates to safe and cheap production cost. Countries such as India and China are already working on reactors that will use thorium energy production. The only major reason for the delays in shifting to thorium reactor is cost. Compared to uranium, thorium is not easy to come by because it is expensive .
Conclusion
Based on the discussions developed in this paper, nuclear energy is not entire a reliable source of energy because there are huge environmental implication and safety risks involved. Uranium, the element that is commonly used in nuclear reactors has also been regarded unsafe .
The negative impacts of nuclear energy to the environment are mostly experienced in the energy fuel cycle. This involves the extraction process, using, and releasing the energy into the air. During uranium mining, both the surrounding environment and the miners are put to risk because of exposure they receive from the radioactive materials.
During fuel enrichment, there are hazardous chemicals used which pose a greater risk to the environment. Some of the power plants rely on the use of fossil fuels for their operations thereby releasing greenhouse gasses to the environment . Other major environmental concerns occur during transportation of radioactive materials, and fuel processing. In response to the concerns, the paper has proposed the use of thorium reactors to produce nuclear energy because the safety issues of uranium.
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