Nuclear Power Is the Safest Energy Source
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For power generation on earth, which of the major energy sources is the safest? The table below shows the answer.
Most people never stop to think that the pursuit of coal and natural gas as energy sources to run power plants causes the death of thousands of people. If nuclear power had caused one tenth of the number of deaths caused by coal over the years covered in the table above, it would have been outlawed by now.
Okay, but what about nuclear power on board the Gen1 Enterprise. Those reactors are so close to people. That must be dangerous, right?
Well, no. Almost all of the studies done on spacecraft that use electric propulsion to carry humans to Mars assume nuclear reactors are on board to generate electricity. Thus, the idea of using nuclear power to create electricity to drive the engines is not at all new or unique to the Enterprise.
Nuclear reactors used to generate electricity can create huge amounts of power in a relatively small size and small mass. And they can operate for years without having to be refueled. For these reasons, nuclear power is extremely attractive to spacecraft researchers when they think about human missions far beyond earth.
Regarding safety, people travel in nuclear subs and nuclear aircraft carriers every day. In fact, tens of thousands of people are doing that right now as you read this paragraph. Nuclear powered subs have been used since the 1950s.
The Gen1 Enterprise has the added advantage that a nuclear reactor can be quickly jettisoned away in the extremely unlikely case that an accident occurs.
And finally, nuclear waste can be launched from the Enterprise in containers and sent into the sun where the waste then disintegrates. The sun is the perfect place for waste disposal. Thus, the challenge of deposing of nuclear waste, which is a common problem on earth, is solved.
http://www.buildtheenterprise.org/
2012-08-15 23:23:28
Source: http://www.buildtheenterprise.org/nuclear-power-is-the-safest-energy-source
