Here’s An Opinion On:
How to Make Nuclear Power Safer
by
Max Stanford
With the recent meltdown at Fukushima and other Japanese nuclear power plants in the wake of the earthquake and resulting tsunami, there has been a lot of discussion about the safety of nuclear power. The worry of the safety of this type of technology has never stopped, it is just that these events have made the discussions even more pressing. There have been many reactions to the events. The US has pledged to look into the safety of its plants more thouroughly, and Germany has decided to slowly phase out all nuclear power plants altogether. So while this type of power generation will always have risks, there are ways to make it safer. The trick is to find out what those are and implement them in all existing plants. So read on to learn in what ways we can make generating nuclear power safer.
Phase Out Old Plants
Some of the current power plants hanging around were built in the 60s. While they may seem perfectly safe, these plants need to be decommissioned and closed. We cannot take the chance that these less developed systems go bad on us when we have so much better technology to leverage in the pursuit of energy. Newer plants are safer, more efficient, and will last longer that the older ones that are still in use.
More Oversight
More oversight from government agencies as well as non government agencies is needed. Both are required to ensure the highest level of safety. If time has shown us anything, it is that self regulation just does not work, as it presents a great conflict of interest and does not result in the best practices being followed. Companies will always move toward higher profit over rational thinking and erring on the side of safety. It is for this reason that there must be multiple layers of oversight with lots of checks and balances to make sure that the best practices are being followed.
More Research
Purring more money and energy into further research will undoubtedly result in better technology that is more efficient and safer to boot. Allowing the free market to find the best way to accomplish nuclear power generation through incentives, tax breaks, and grants is the way to go to drive innovation in this field.
Improved Technology
Nuclear power can be made more safe through the use of improved technology. Better containment methods, more effecient plants, and improved backup systems are all ways that the system can be improved. One of the main problems at Fukushima was that primary backup system, the diesel generators, failed along with the power grid. This left the final backup system, the batteries, the only source of power with which to cool the core. The problem was that the batteries were never meant to be the sole method of powering the core for an extended amount of time, they were simply a stop gap until regular power could be restored. In the future, improved diesel generator technology coupled with quicker generator repair will make the system safer. For more information about Marine Generators and Generator Ends. Transfer Switches, there is great information online.
Max Stanford is a freelance writer for
Worldwide Power Products
.
Article Source:
How to Make Nuclear Power Safer