Have you ever wondered where our electricity or power comes from? Probably not, but the answer is interesting. Before I introduce you to our energy sources, I want to say that all energy sources do not benefit the environment but some do benefit it more than others. Fossil fuels and nuclear power are our main sources of energy, but which one is better? The answer is nuclear power. Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce energy. If you’re into chemistry, you might know about nuclear fission, fusion, and decay which is how a nuclear power plant operates. The reason this is better than fossil fuels is that it releases much less radiation, is more cost-efficient and is more reliable.

There are some downsides to nuclear power too. The radiation of these products can cause DNA mutations and/or cancer cells, plus it’s generally just bad for the environment. The radiation caused to wildlife, plants and the ozone layer is not fully understood. If it is harmful to the ozone layer then it might start causing issues with our climate. Fossil fuels are used more than nuclear power plants and that needs to change but the outlook doesn’t seem to be changing. I read that by 2050, nuclear power plants in the U.S. will drop from 19% to 11%. The reason they have stopped making them is because of new safety regulations that would make the building and operation 2-3 times more expensive. There is also controversy over building them because the people that live near the power plant are exposed to cancerous radiation, and no one wants to be exposed to that because it puts them in an at-risk position. Political concern about these too, is how closely nuclear power production can be linked to nuclear weapons. Plutonium is used in nuclear power plants which is an element also used in the production of nuclear weapons.

But not everything is bad, it provides direct and indirect employment opportunities, produces minimal radioactive waste, provides energy, and of course so much more. Nuclear power provides jobs for nearly half a million people in the U.S., even locally. I conducted an interview with my dad who is in an industry that uses machinery similar but less harmful than a nuclear power plant. One thing he mentioned was that “Nuclear power is better for the planet mostly because it doesn’t release carbon as a different power plant would.” I think that he is right about it being beneficial for the environment especially because the release of carbon is not a good thing, but that is something that a fossil fuel plant would use. Even after taking everything into consideration, we need electricity and power to go on with our everyday lives and nuclear power is just the better choice over fossil fuels.

There are currently only 35 nuclear power plants in operation in the United States which means that there must be much more fossil fuel plants. There are over 3,400 fossil fuel plants in operation in the U.S. that's a big difference. Only about ⅕ of our energy comes from nuclear power plants each year. It is essential in our response to climate change, that’s why we need more of them throughout our states. People do make petitions for more of them to be made since they are a clean energy source, but I don’t think the petitions will do much of anything.

Fossil fuel plants have caused death to humans, the global estimate was about 8.7 million in 2018. Nuclear power plants, on the other hand, have caused about 5,000 deaths in total from worker accidents and radiation. There are huge differences in those numbers, proving why nuclear power should be our main source of energy in all states even though it isn’t. When I asked my dad if he thought that radiation is harmful to people and the environment, he said, “Yeah I think radiation is harmful, it can cause cancer but I don’t know a lot about it, I just bet it can do a lot of weird things to the environment.” He doesn’t know much about radiation because it’s not a part of his job but from an average mind, he knows that it is harmful.

If we put energy sources in an everyday average person’s perspective, they probably couldn’t tell you what it is. The reason we need this to change is that we need more nuclear power plants to give our society and climate clean power. After all of my research, I now understand that nuclear power is the best energy source over fossil fuels. I am hopeful that one-day nuclear power will dominate and take over as the biggest energy source in the U.S., not just the cleanest one.