1. ! Have you ever heard of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Disaster? The disaster
was catastrophic, with the containment buildings of reactor 1, 3, 4 severely damaged by
the hydrogen explosion, and emitting huge amounts of radioactive material. This disaster
caused chaos in the nation. Reactors 1, 2, 3 suffered from a core meltdown despite
government statements that there is no meltdown. After the disaster happened, I was
interested by the mechanism and the fragility of nuclear energy, and also made me think
whether the spreading of nuclear power generation is appropriate.
! First, I will briefly explain the basic mechanism of nuclear power generation. First,
heat is created from the nuclear fission of nuclear substances such as uranium or
plutonium. When a neutron is absorbed by Uranium 235, it changes into an excited
Uranium 236, and then creates energy along with other lighter substances and gamma
rays. Then the heat generated from nuclear fission is sent into a turbine, and the turning
turbine generates electricity. When used as a weapon, large substances of uranium is
merged by dynamite, causing the uranium to react endlessly, causing an explosion. When
plutonium is used, the simultaneous explosions causes the plutonium to be dense,
causing it to react exponentially.
! Next, I will explain the application of nuclear power in electricity generation.
According to the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are 439 nuclear
power generators, and notable nations that was enthusiastic in nuclear power generation
were the United States, Germany, and Japan. The three nations together account for
about 50% of the total electricity generated from nuclear energy. However, the Fukushima
Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster have sparked anti-nuclear movements throughout the
world, and resulting in the banning of nuclear power generation itself in Italy, and Germany
have vowed to shutdown all of its nuclear reactors by 2022. Other nations such as Japan

2. are also considering decreasing its dependency on nuclear energy. The IAEA also reduced
its predictions of new nuclear power plants by 50% after the disaster. However China, with
desperate needs for electricity for its increasing population, is increasing its number of
nuclear power plants. The technology used in these reactors originate from different
nations, and is criticized for its safety.
! While Italy and Germany is heading for complete shut down of nuclear power
plants, there has been active debating about the future of power generation. I would like to
introduce some pros of nuclear power generation. First of all, the most widely known
benefit of nuclear power is that when generating electricity, there is no emission of
greenhouse gasses such as Carbon Dioxide. Also, with the world’s fossil fuel reserves
reaching its limit, nuclear power, which doesn’t use any fossil fuel was considered as an
alternate power resource. The fact that unlike other alternate power resources such as
solar power, nuclear power doesn’t need further developing, was also a great factor for the
“Nuclear Renaissance”. Last, a single nuclear power plant can create more energy than a
fossil-power power reactor of the same size.
! There are also several cons of nuclear energy. First, one of the greatest
disadvantages of nuclear power generation is the risks of radiation. When power is
generated by nuclear power, radiation is emitted. When operated normally, nuclear power
plants does not emit radiation. However, operating a nuclear power plant is extremely
difficult and fragile, so the risks of radiation release at an accident is feared. In fact, in both
Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters, large amounts of radiation was released, causing the
wide contamination of land, plants and crops, and increased cancer in Chernobyl. Also,
the Uranium and Plutonium resources, like fossil fuels, are limited, causing doubt if nuclear
power is an effective alternative for fossil fuels. The risks of radiation leaks also makes

3. nuclear power plants a target for terrorist attacks, and attacking in war. Currently, none of
the commercial nuclear power plants can survive an attack equivalent of 9/11, or a
bombing. The leak of radiation will effect the whole globe. Furthermore, radioactive waste
coming from power generation is extremely hard to dispose, as the half-life of nuclear
elements such as Uranium is extremely long (7.038×108 y) so the radioactive waste has to be
stored carefully for that period of time, which is going to be a burden for future generations.