Final Research

Nuclear Power VS Solar Power

Energy is very important in different regions of the world since it supports and helps social development, and the growth of financial systems in different nations. Because of the global importance of energy, it is important that different actors affected by the energy industry understand what the energy sector will be in the future. This research is about the Nuclear Power versus Solar Power.

Solar power

 Solar power is the largest source of energy entering the environment. Some of the rays are reflected and released by the atmosphere while some get onto the earth's surface, and get converted into various forms of energy. Usage of solar power dates back to the Middle Ages period where it was used for warming. The photovoltaic cells make use of solar energy. Global solar energy potential ranges from 2.5 to 80 TW and is currently at 18 % of world energy consumption. In the United States, for example, solar energy has the capacity of supplying energy needs, but requires the installation of photovoltaics on an average area of 180 square kilometers. The first and very clear benefit of concentrated solar power is that, in many nations of the world, especially the industrial and developed nations, concentrated solar power can increase the supply of available power. Inclination towards energy from concentrated solar power processes reduces the rate of carbon and greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere which characterizes the use of other forms of energy.

Depending on solar energy alone may not be practical for small countries. Market share of solar energy is very low with the current generation at 2.6 GW. Putting up large concentrated solar power plants is often very expensive, and requires a huge amount of money.

Nuclear Power

The opponents of nuclear power plants argue that they are very costly but within  half a year of their operations nuclear plants are usually able to cover the costs. The coal, gas and oil are easier to have in different parts of the world; their capacity to produce energy is much lower than that of the nuclear power plants which use uranium. This causes nuclear power to be more economical and with more energy generating capacity than any other form of power.

 Nuclear power plants use uranium to provide power for their operations; uranium has been proven to be more effective than solar power. 30 grams of power taken from uranium is similar to 100 tons of coal. The uranium that is used in nuclear power plant is usually combined with other free neutrons and then separates into light components. A challenge that adds a lot of muscle to the argument against nuclear power plants is that accidents happen in such plants. One of the best-known accidents is the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

In my opinion, countries that have nuclear plants should note that the uranium that is used in the production of electric energy is different from that which is used in the manufacturing of explosives and bombs. Because if there is any accident it will result in a large number of deaths and the particles will spread into the atmosphere, and to many countries.