The film on Pandora’s promise was very interesting and enlightened me on the some of the effects of nuclear power plant failure. Though the people in the film seemed to have mixed feelings on the topic some against it and some for it, it was none the less very educational. Some members of the film that were featured like Lewis were very against nuclear energy in the past but now in support of it. In the film they visit Japan and see some of the wreckage from the nuclear power plant meltdown in Fukushima. This was difficult to watch as it was very unsettling to see what damage nuclear power plants can do to the world when they go wrong. None the less I tend to still be a nuclear power plant supporter. I think the benefits from this technology with how efficient it is has more then helped society. It may not be the perfect energy source but it is currently the most efficient a 86% efficiency rate. Below are some interesting facts on nuclear energy and its benefits.
- Around 6% of the world’s energy and 14% of the world’s electricity is produced by nuclear power.
- The Calder Hall nuclear power station in the UK was the first to deliver commercial quantities of electricity (1956).
- There are over 400 nuclear power reactors in use around the world.
- Nuclear power provides around 20% of the electricity used in the US.
- Nuclear energy generated 769.3 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2012.
- Nuclear energy produces no green house gas emissions.
Though nuclear power needs to have a close eye kept on its usage many would agree that it is safe. Many people panic about the things that could go wrong, but history only shows a few incidents with power plants over there 60+ year usage. Nuclear power even powers many of the U.S military’s air craft carriers and submarines and has allow much more efficient power usage by these vessels. Clearly society has many benefits from this energy source and with better technology over time we the world will find only more efficient ways of preventing nuclear tragedies.