Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
8
The Nuclear Energy Controversy: Radiation
for Everyone
Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying
the earth.
—Albert Schweitzer
The energy that can be released from nuclear reactions was introduced
to the public in 1945 when two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan
to end World War II. Nine years later, the fi rst nuclear plant that pro-
duced electricity for commercial use started operating in Russia. The
number and generating power of commercial nuclear facilities grew
rapidly during the 1970s, from a generating capacity of 16 gigawatts at
the start of the decade to 135 gigawatts in 1980. As of March 15, 2009,
there were 436 nuclear power plants in thirty-one countries with a net
installed electric capacity of about 370 gigawatts (table 8.1). These
power plants produced 2,600 billion kilowatt-hours, about 15 percent
of the world's electricity. On average, the plants operate at 90 percent
of their capacity. Ninety percent of existing reactors were built before
1987, and there has been no net change in the number of reactors since
1997. However, fi fty-four plants are under construction, most of them
in China, the Russian Federation, India, and South Korea. 1 The number
of plants being built is double the total of just fi ve years ago. China alone
is preparing to build three times as many nuclear power plants in the
coming decade as the rest of the world combined, up to ten each year.
Many nations are heavily dependent on nuclear power for their elec-
tricity. The United States is the world leader in both number of reactors
and megawatts generated, with 104 reactors generating 100,582 mega-
watts, 20 percent of our needs; France is second, with 59 reactors
producing 63,260 megawatts, 78 percent of that nation's electric needs.
Japan is third, with 53 plants generating 45,967 megawatts, nearly
one-third of its electricity. No other country generates more than 20,000
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