Introduction
Nuclear plants are industries that produce nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is produced through a controlled process of nuclear reaction whereby conversion of matter into energy is done. Commercial plants that produce electricity in large scale heat substances like water through nuclear fission and the steam is later used to generate electricity. This energy has continually been used in the world and it currently provides 16% of the total world electricity. During the production of this energy, there are several benefits that are associated with its production. However, there are some other side effects that are felt by the cities close to nuclear plants. The paper will discuss the impacts associated with nuclear plants to cities.
Discussion
One the major benefit associated with nuclear energy is the contribution it makes in terms of generation of electricity; it contributes 16 percent of the total energy requirement in the world. In the process of generation of electricity, no wood or coal is required to be burnt. As a result, there is no pollution that occurs in the areas surrounding the plant and therefore residents of the cities are not affected by air pollution like for the case of other plants.
In terms of contribution to the global electricity requirement, nuclear plants help to meet the global needs for electricity. Many cities are characterized by high population and the development of informal settlements which lack amenities like electricity. Therefore, nuclear energy if fully harnessed, it can help to meet the high demands. Another important benefit associated with nuclear plants to cities is that, such plants require only a little space for its construction.
This is an important factor that is considered in cities where land is a scarce resource due to the high rates of urbanization that is affecting world’s cities. It therefore imply that many such plants can be constructed in cities and thus create jobs for people. Nuclear plants do not contribute to global warming since they do not use oil or coal as opposed to other plants that uses these raw materials. In addition, these raw materials are not renewable implying that nuclear plants can continue operations for a long time.
Despite the above mentioned benefits, there are also few disadvantages associated with nuclear plants. During the production of nuclear energy, nuclear waste is produced. Nuclear waste is harmful to both people and animals and therefore it cannot be ordinarily disposed off like garbage. This waste contains radiations that can easily kill if they come into contact with organisms. The difficult task is to dispose this waste in a manner that it does not affect lives on earth.
Plants opt to bury the waste in place away from where people live like in mountains. However, this is usually not a permanent solution since the waste can blow up after sometime like what happen in Russia and thus kill many people. During the production process itself, dangers of a plant exploding are high due to the large amount of energy released when atoms are broken down. As a result of this, nuclear power plants can be targeted by terrorists for evil activities since they can act as weapons of mass destruction. When such evil activities happen, many people in concentrated places like cities can die.
Conclusion
This paper has established that nuclear plants have many benefits to cities in they world since they produce quit considerable amount of electricity without causing pollution. However, it has also found out that there are many dangers associated with nuclear waste that is produced from such plants since it is harmful.