I interviewed Bill Mihalovits, an expert when it comes to the operations, construction, safety procedures and several other aspects of nuclear technology. I choose Mihalovits because he has been working in this field for the past thirty-three years so I know he has seen the best and worst of the nuclear age. I used the site AllExperts to ask my questions on this topic and found that there are several qualified and excellent interviewees I could choose from. These are the questions that I asked Mihalovits and the answers he provided in return.
Questions
1. Is nuclear power cost effective when compared to coal, gas, oil, and wind energy in the short term and long term? If so why?
2. Are accidents with nuclear energy lower then other types of power, or is the number of accidents higher then that of other forms of energy.
3. Are the regulations that are in place at nuclear facilities comparable to those that are in effect at oil, gas, and coal plants, or do they even have such strict regulations.
4. How much uranium is used per year compared to coal or oil?
I hope you can help me with these questions so that I can write an excellent paper and show my class that nuclear power isn't completely negative as they have thought throughout their lives.
Answers
Is nuclear power cost effective? Yes. The cost for nuclear fuel is relatively stable and runs around $2 for every kilowatt of power produced. Coal, at it's cheapest, is about the same but typically runs about $5/kw. With more and more states banning or strictly controlling coal mining, that cost will probably go up. The recent mining accident will probably drive the cost of coal up. Natural gas and oil have typically been $4 to $6 per kw, but a recent discovery of gas deposits in the Midwest has driven gas prices down. Unfortunately, this still fluctuates greatly as OPEC restricts their sale of natural gas and oil to artificially maintain prices high.
Accident: The rate of accidents at nuclear plants is much lower than the other industries. The federal regulations to which nuclear plants must adhere means that the plants are more closely monitored and better maintained.
Regulations: I can't speak with certainty about the regulations other energy producers are subject to, but while all of us are regulated by OSHA, the EPA, and state/local authorities, the nuclear industry is subject to unique regulations by both the federal government (NRC) and state governments. The state regulations vary considerably from state to state. In addition to these governmental regulations, the nuclear industry has a watchdog agency called INPO (Institute for Nuclear Power Operations) which provides even stricter regulations and close, frequent scrutiny.
Uranium usage: This is from the Nuclear Tourist website - Uranium-235 is the isotope of uranium that is used in nuclear reactors. Uranium-235 can produce 3.7 million times as much energy as the same amount of coal. As an example, 7 trucks, each carrying 6 cases of 2-12 foot high fuel assemblies, can fuel a 1000 Megawatt-electrical (MWe) reactor for 1.5 years. During this period, ~ 2 metric tons of Uranium-235 (of the 100 metric tons of fuel - uranium dioxide) would be consumed. To operate a coal plant of the same output would require 1 train of 89-100 ton coal cars each EVERY day. Over 350,000 tons of ash would be produced AND over 4 million tons of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides would be released to the environment."
I hope that I have answered your questions. If you need anything else, leave your question at this website.
Good luck,
Bill
While these questions may seem short and not to complex, I found that these were the hardest questions to answer when doing my research on this topic.
This interview can be found at the website:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Nuclear-Power-2462/2010/4/Nuclear-Power-Costs-safety.htm
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