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[Thematic report]: How green is green energy? |
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by Oksana Zavaliy | 20-04-2020 16:37
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As we all know, the main sources of energy in the world are gas and coal. However, burning them leads to the emisson of CO2 which then contributes to the climate change. Thus, many countries have been looking for a more sustainable source of energy and nowadays it is uranium.
Uranium is used in nuclear power plants. In Russia there are 11 power plants that produce about 18% of total electricity. One of these plants is about 200 km away from me so I was very interested to learn how nuclear power and uranium in particular affect the environment. Uranium is a radioactive metal. In small quantitites it emits even less radiation than granite and is generally not dangerous to people or nature. However, while being extracted from the rocks uranium leaves solid waste called tailings. They contain a lot of radium which can produce radioactive gas radon. Breathing too much of this gas can result in serious health problems and that is why the amount of radon on the mines is under constant control. Moreover, uranium can be found in the water we drink and the air we breathe but in very small quantities which make no harm to us or the planet. As long as it is mined properly and all the tailings are taken care of we should not worry about it. The only information I found about its negative impact on the environment is that it can be absorbed by plants which then become radioactive. However, it is not a huge tragedy for the plant, it can keep growing being radiocative. The most important thing is that people cannot touch this plant because radiation can change our DNA and lead to some dangerous and untreatable diseases. Bur what about power plants? Are they really safe for both the planet and for humans? Mostly, yes. All the equipment on these plants is always monitored so it works properly. What is more, I did not find any proof to my hypothesis that people who live near power plants die of cancer more often. Uranium waste, on the other hand, is a more controversial problem. I discovered that there are several plants in Russia that "recycle" this nuclear waste making it possible to use again. In fact, it works so well that the government started buying nuclear waste from other countries and recycle them here. However, we do not need that much uranium here, we have enough of our own. Thus, all this recycled substance is stored somewhere in Russia which can be potentially dangerous. Besides, a report from 2016 shows that only 15% of our nuclear waste is recycled and all the places where used uranium is stored have been overfilled long ago. So where does all this waste go? If it is not stored properly, the radioactive elements can get into soil and ground water and finally to the people. Unfortunately, I did not find an answer to this question. To sum up, uranium is neither good nor bad for the planet. All the sources I used have said the same thing: uranium is dangerous for people, not for the environment. Thus, Nuclear energy IS green energy as long as the nuclear waste is treated properly. Sources: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/ob-utilizatsii-radioaktivnyh-othodov-yadernyh-reaktorov-v-rossii/viewer https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/mining-of-uranium/environmental-aspects-of-uranium-mining.aspx https://www.e1.ru/news/spool/news_id-66283342.html |
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10 Comments
Thanks for such an eye opening report.
Posted 28-04-2020 20:26
Hello,
Its me Dibya Bhatta from Nepal,Currently living in South Korea for my research Internship.
It was really nice reading your report!
keep writing and shining!! :)
If you have any queries related to this internship, You can find me on twitter as :
https://twitter.com/Divine_Tweets
stay safe from coronavirus!
keep working for mother earth to hand it to future generations!
Green cheers!
Posted 27-04-2020 10:17
Hi Oksana Zavaliy, this is a mentor Sang Su Lee.
I have some disagreements with your opinion. If something is safe if it is dealt properly, then is it safe? My answer is no. If natural disaster overrides the nuclear power plants, thereby destroying them, the consequence is catastrophic so that nature cannot go back to the form as it was before this incident. Therefore, I believe that there should be better energy source...
Thank you for your report!
Posted 24-04-2020 00:18
Hello
I hope you are doing well
Thank you so much for this report
Regards
Susmita
Posted 23-04-2020 00:50
Hello Oksana,
I hope you are doing well
Thank you so much for sharing your report
Regards
Heemani
Posted 22-04-2020 18:19
Hello Oksana,
I do hope that you are fine and doing great with your works.
Thank you for your report about How green is green energy?
Green Cheers from Nepal :)
Keep writing great reports.
We are eager to read more reports from you.
Regards,
Kushal Naharki
Posted 21-04-2020 03:19
Hello Oksana Zavaliy, this is mentor Taehyun!
Thank you for the report about green energy. Yep, as you've said, green energy is not absolutely eco-friendly. Uranium itself is not that dangerous if it is carefully managed, but if they exposed to the normal circumstance, it can be critical to both humans and the environment! So, trying to keep that uranium safe is really important!
Thank you for the report!
Green cheers!
Posted 20-04-2020 23:43
Hello Oksana!
I hope you are doing well!
Thanks you for sharing about uranium with positive and negative impacts.It was informative.
Hope to know more from you!
GREEN CHEERS!!
Regards,
Sonika!
Posted 20-04-2020 21:37
Hello Oksana,
Thank you so much for such an informative report.
Hope to learn more from you.
Keep writing
Green cheers!!
Regards
Sudha
Posted 20-04-2020 18:57
Very informative report. Uranium is a better source of renewable energy than coal and gas but its uncontrolled extraction and mishandling can lead to major distress for the lives on earth.
Posted 20-04-2020 17:47