Created only 55 years ago, the first nuclear reactors were used only to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. Most reactors today make primary use of the heat energy from the nuclear reaction to produce electricity, propel Navy ships or power space satellites. To create power, radioactive uranium atoms within the nuclear reactor are split, shooting particles in every direction with great force. The particles slam into other atoms, shearing off their electrons or, in the case of a direct hit, splitting their nuclei. The process releases tremendous amounts of heat, which is used to convert water to steam. The steam spins a large turbine, producing electricity. There are 560 commercial nuclear power plants in operation worldwide, 112 of which are in the United States.
Problems With Nuclear. All nuclear reactors produce plutonium and a variety of other radioactive wastes. Radiation changes the way cells divide, causing mutations that prevent organs from functioning properly. Even a small dose of radiation can cause cancer in living organisms, so radioactive waste must be kept out of the biosphere for tens-of-thousands of years. There are currently 18,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste in the U.S. alone, yet there is no permanent waste site for this material.
In the process of producing electricity, radiation permeates machinery, equipment and the entire reactor building. After about 20 years, materials and equipment become so degraded that the plant must shut down. More than half of all U.S. reactors will have to be decommissioned by 2010, at an estimated cost of $400 million to $3 billion each. Dismantling one nuclear power plant would yield enough low-level radioactive waste to cover a football field 13 feet deep. Decommissioning all U.S. reactors would yield a wall of radioactive material 3 feet wide and 10 feet high stretching from Washington, D.C. to New York City.
Three Mile Island. In the spring of 1979, a reactor at the Three Mile Island (TMI) nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania suffered a partial core meltdown, releasing radioactive material into the surrounding environment. Thousands of people in the vicinity claim to suffer from cancer or thyroid damage as a result of the accident. Thus far cleanup has cost close to $1 billion, not including the cost of the reactor itself (about $2 billion) nor the more than 2,500 lawsuits filed by nearby residents.
Before TMI, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) estimated the chance of an accident of that type to be 1-in-a-billion. The odds did not hold. Now, the Sandia National Laboratory predicts that an accident at the Indian Point nuclear plant in New York state could cost more than $400 billion and cause over a hundred thousand deaths. However, the Price-Anderson Act, first passed by Congress in 1957, limits the responsibility of utilities in the event of an accident to about $7 billion.
Chernobyl. On April 26, 1986, in what was the world's largest nuclear disaster ever, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Soviet Union exploded, releasing vast quantities of radioactive material into the atmosphere. Clouds of fallout covered large areas of Europe, contaminating food supplies and increasing the rate of cancer in human beings. The ongoing clean-up has cost $14 billion so far, and over 250 people have died. Hundreds of thousands of others will die prematurely, because radiation concentrates in body tissues where it decays slowly.
Following the Chernobyl disaster, one NRC member estimated the chance of an accident in the U.S. as big or bigger occurring by 2005 to be as high as 45 percent. In 1989, citizens of Sacramento, CA voted to shut down the publicly-owned Rancho Seco nuclear power plant because it was unsafe and uneconomical to operate.
Nuclear advocates are mounting a $40 million-a-year campaign to promote nuclear power as a solution to the greenhouse effect. However, the Rocky Mountain Institute estimates that to reduce the emissions that cause global warming 20 to 30 percent by the middle of the 21st century (substituting nuclear power for coal power) would mean building one new plant every 3 days for the next 40 years at a cost of $9 trillion.
Beyond speculation, over the past 25 years conservation has saved about six times more energy than nuclear power. Furthermore, improving the energy efficiency of buildings, appliances and lighting costs one-seventh the price of building a new nuclear power plant. According to Public Citizen, during the 1980s, the average construction costs for nuclear reactors increased fourfold, operating and maintenance costs grew by 70 percent, and major repair costs rose 30 percent. Coupled with increased reliance on renewable energy, such as solar and wind, energy efficiency is the most promising solution to our energy needs.
According to Joan Claybrook, President, Public Citizen, "the United States is in the midst of an energy revolution. Renewable sources are already making a bigger contribution to our energy needs than nuclear power. In fact, while nuclear power now provides less than seven percent of our energy needs and its share is likely to diminish in the future, renewables already provide almost eight percent and are growing rapidly."
STS Actions.
• Give students a drawing of a building that contains a nuclear power plant. Have the students explain how they think a nuclear power plant produces electricity. Tell them to illustrate their ideas on the drawing of the plant. Use the results to identify student misconceptions.
• If there is a nuclear power plant in your community, arrange for a field trip to the plant. In advance of the trip distribute information on nuclear power available from the power company. Also provide students with information from environmental groups such as Nuclear Information and Resource Service (1424 16th St., NW Suite 601, Washington, DC 20036). Have the students prepare questions that will help them in their inquiry about nuclear power plants. (note: if there isn't a nuclear plant, take the students to a power plant that use some other fuel.)
• Have students investigate power generating plants that use nonrenewable energy sources (coal, oil, nuclear material) and renewable energy sources (wind, water, volcanic steam).
• Organize a debate on the issue: Should nuclear power be eliminated from power companies future construction plans?