Electricity has become one of the
essential aspects of everyday modern life. In the past decades, as the demand
for more electricity has increased, governments and other institutions have
been pressured to produce more energy. This demand had reached its peak past
the industrial age wherein majority of the worlds’ energy was being produced by
coal and oil power plants.
However,
with the development of new forms of technology and research, people have begun
to realize the impact of such methods of production on the environment. Other
calls for cleaner forms of energy production have risen with fear of global
warming and other health impacts on individuals around these power plants.
The
question then arises what is the real cost of producing electricity. Some may
argue for the production of energy using coal and oil as it is the cheapest
method as seen by the fact that these methods are still utilized in most
developing countries. However, one must also account for the externalities of
these methods which include the determent of health for individuals around the
plant, the lack of a renewable source of fuel, and the carbon emissions which
have a global impact.
Having
said that, there are other forms of technology being developed and this article
will focus one of the more controversial forms of energy production which is
nuclear.
Many
individuals have argued the safety of using nuclear energy especially given the
hazards of meltdowns as well as the issue of disposal of nuclear waste. To
combat this threat a new form of energy has been presented which is the Thorium
Nuclear Reactor.
The
more technical term for the entire mechanism is the liquid fluoride thorium
reactor. This reactor utilizes fluoride or chloride salt based fuels and a
range of different chemicals to convert thorium into uranium-233 in the thermal
spectrum. These two components are then
mixed into a carrier salt making the liquid fuel used in the reactor.
Similar
to the mechanism of a normal nuclear reactor, the heat from the radioactive
fuel is then transferred to non-radioactive molten salt. The heat is then taken
to steam turbines or a closed cycle gas turbine. In the end the entire process
becomes less risky because of two factors.
First,
the lack of contact of radioactive matter with the outside is prevented because
of the use of heat transfer to non-radioactive matter. This ensures that in the
normal operations of the power plant, radio activity in the area will not be an
issue.
Second,
thorium and molten salt are generally more stable materials to use which means
that in the case of a meltdown, there would be less risks involved.
Even
though there are still risks present in the use of a Thorium nuclear power
plant, as long as the implementation is sound and specifications are required,
these risks would be minimized. In general there are three benefits in the utilization
of nuclear power which are its cost andenvironmental impact.
In
terms of cost, nuclear energy is actually cheaper than oil and coal power
plants in a per wattage basis. This is because the general output of one
nuclear power plant far exceeds that of several coal or oil power plant making
it a more cost efficient form of production,
Aside
from that there is the environment impact. Unlike other form of production for
electricity, nuclear energy is generally safe as the fumes released by the power
plant are actually just steam. Unlike the use of oil and coal power plants
which release several fumes presenting health risks to the people around the
power plant. In the end the next step to an better alternative of power in
necessary and nuclear energy remains as one of the most feasible and efficient
solutions to the ever growing demand for power.
[Raffy Tanpho]
