Nuclear power is undoubtedly the most sophisticated and economically viable source of energy in today’s modern world. Its technology is among the most sought after by several nations because of its versatility as a beneficial source of energy and as a weapon of mass destruction. The advantages of nuclear power extend to several aspects of ecological preservation where greenhouse gas emission for instance is minimized when using nuclear energy as compared to traditional coal-powered energy. On the other hand, the risks involve in nuclear power supersedes its perceived benefits. For one, Uranium mining in which uranium is obtained to produce the “yellow” cake poses significant health risks towards the miners in addition to HLWs that are associated to human health and ecological deterioration.
More importantly, the risks of nuclear power outweigh the benefits particularly because of incidents involving nuclear meltdowns causing massive destruction to life, environment, and property. The Manhattan Project documentary (2015) provides historical accounts of the developments of nuclear energy as a weapon of mass destruction that took thousands of lives in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. Furthermore, nuclear meltdowns such as the Fukushima disaster in 2011 is one of the biggest disasters at Level 7 as measured by INES. Apparently, the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 in Ukraine is by far the worst among many incidents that claimed lives and the range of its nuclear fallout reaches neighboring continents. In addition, the disaster also proved that radioactive materials would remain a significant risk for human health for years. Other notable incidents demonstrating the implications of nuclear meltdowns are Tokaimura Level 4 disaster in Japan in 1999, the Goiania Level 5 accident in Brazil in 1987, and in Buenos Aires in Argentina in 1983 at Level 4 in the INES scale (Process Industry Forum).
References
EleninNWO,. Chernobyl Uncensored - Documentary. 2013. Web. 1 June 2016.
Manhattan Project Documentary,. World's First Atomic Bomb - Manhattan Project Documentary. 2015. Web. 1 June 2016.
Process Industry Forum,. "Top 10 Nuclear Disasters In The World". Process Industry Forum. N.p., 2013. Web. 1 June 2016.
