One of the main issues in today’s media is the common use of nuclear energy, whether or not it should continue to be used in the United States, and what to do with the waste. The students here at Dos Pueblos High School believe that nuclear power plants are a viable source of power temporarily, but that a more cost efficient and clean energy source should be found, and in the meantime, scientists should figure out a place to put the waste that will sustain it for as long as it needs, places such as Yucca Mountain.
Let's start from the very beginning. How exactly is it that energy was created in this fashion? Scientists first refined uranium to get it’s 235 isotope and bombard it with neutrons, making it unstable. These now unstable isotopes go through a process called fission, separating into a more stable isotope, energy, and neutrons, that shoot out into other surrounding uranium-235 isotopes, creating a chain reaction, and more energy. The energy is then trapped and used to power things that the country needs in modern and everyday life.
The plus sides of nuclear power are that it lowers CO2 emissions whilst producing energy, and the cost of fuel is 20 percent of the cost of energy created. This means cheaper fuel and more energy. Using nuclear energy also reduces the use of fossil fuels, which pollutes the environment, affecting diseases and livelihood. Fossil fuels are being used at a faster rate than they are replenished. Also, this type of energy does not rely on unpredictable natural resources to be sustainable; sources such as solar or wind energy.