Who Are the Primary Consumers of Nuclear Energy?
Nuclear energy does not even come close to supplying the amount of electricity that fossil fuel burning plants do, but a lot of areas around the world rely on this energy to supply a great amount of power. Over 75% of France is powered using nuclear energy, and while the United States generates more because it is a bigger country, the United States only actually uses 20% of their electricity from nuclear power.
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Considerations
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Even though the United States is the largest producer of electricity from nuclear power, some parts of the United States do not rely on nuclear power while other parts use it heavily. The largest consumer in the United States is Vermont with a little over 70%, and close to that are the states of Connecticut, South Carolina, and New Jersey. All these states feature nuclear plants that supply power.
Function
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Nuclear energy is a highly debated source of energy because of the radioactive wastes that is produced. Nuclear energy is creating using a fission process on uranium that actually splits the atom and cause a chain reaction used to heat water and power large generators. Uranium is a non-renewable resource but high volumes across the globe allow easy access for nuclear power to be created.
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Potential
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The primary consumers of nuclear energy can quickly change with the construction of new nuclear plants across the globe. Some of the countries that are constructing new plants include Japan, Russia, South Korea, and India.
Size
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The amount of nuclear energy creation can also mean bigger disasters for certain areas as well. The United States generates almost 98 giga watts of energy, France generate of 60 GW, and Japan generates over 45 GW of energy. If a nuclear disaster occurs in any one of these countries, a lot of radiation can spread through the air and cause harm to living things.
History
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One of the biggest nuclear disaters to ever occur was the Chernobyl meltdown that took place in the Soviet Union. Over 500,000 were exposed to radiation, and over 4,000 got cancer from this exposure.
In 1979, one of the biggest nuclear disasters occured in the United States and this was known as the "Three Mile Island Meltdown." Even though this was the biggest meltdown to occur, no actual injuries were reported in the case, because much of the radiation ended up contained.
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