To most, the idea of nuclear power seems extremely dangerous. Growing up after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the looming threat of the Cold War, we as a society began to fear radioactivity. Despite this, all evidence points to the contrary. Nuclear energy is much safer and cleaner than burning fossil fuels. Of course, this does not mean that nuclear power generation is foolproof. Things can go wrong, and when they do, the effects can be devastating. Such accidents are, however, unnecessary as long as safety protocols are properly followed. The best example is also the most famous in nuclear history, the Chernobyl disaster. Despite their small size, atoms contain almost unlimited amounts of energy. Some elements must even have the ability to break their atoms apart due to the large amount of energy they contain. Such elements are called radioactive and are not new. Natural elements such as uranium and radium are known to be radioactive (“Historical Overview” 1). It has always existed, but we have not always had the opportunity to use it for practical purposes. It was not until 1942 that the first nuclear reactor was built, even though uranium had been discovered in 1789 (“Outline History” 1 & 5). It then took another 20 years for nuclear reactions to be used as a commercial means of producing energy, and another 10 years for them to be popularized (“Outline History” 7). There are many different types of nuclear reactors, but the type used at the Chernobyl power plant was called an RBMK reactor. It is a design seen primarily in the Soviet Union beginning in the 1970s and is unlike any other nuclear reactor ever built. RBMK s...... middle of paper ......e test. Once the turbines were repaired, it was believed that the test could be carried out the following year (Sequence of Events 1). Unfortunately, this was not the case. The test started as planned and everything went smoothly for the first few hours. It was not until around 00:30 that the first major error occurred. At this point, it is worth noting that the International Group on Nuclear Safety prohibits operating reactors at power levels below 700 MWt. This warning was unfortunately ignored during this test, the power level having been deliberately lowered to 500 MWt. This, in itself, would not necessarily have been a problem, but either the operator forgot to instruct the reactor to maintain that power level, or the reactor did not follow that command because the power level started to decrease rapidly to 30 MWt, an insane figure. low power level (sequence of events 4).

Essay / To most, the idea of nuclear power seems extremely dangerous. Growing up after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the looming threat of the Cold War, we as a society began to fear radioactivity. Despite this, all evidence points to the contrary. Nuclear energy is much safer and cleaner than burning fossil fuels. Of course, this does not mean that nuclear power generation is foolproof. Things can go wrong, and when they do, the effects can be devastating. Such accidents are, however, unnecessary as long as safety protocols are properly followed. The best example is also the most famous in nuclear history, the Chernobyl disaster. Despite their small size, atoms contain almost unlimited amounts of energy. Some elements must even have the ability to break their atoms apart due to the large amount of energy they contain. Such elements are called radioactive and are not new. Natural elements such as uranium and radium are known to be radioactive (“Historical Overview” 1). It has always existed, but we have not always had the opportunity to use it for practical purposes. It was not until 1942 that the first nuclear reactor was built, even though uranium had been discovered in 1789 (“Outline History” 1 & 5). It then took another 20 years for nuclear reactions to be used as a commercial means of producing energy, and another 10 years for them to be popularized (“Outline History” 7). There are many different types of nuclear reactors, but the type used at the Chernobyl power plant was called an RBMK reactor. It is a design seen primarily in the Soviet Union beginning in the 1970s and is unlike any other nuclear reactor ever built. RBMK s...... middle of paper ......e test. Once the turbines were repaired, it was believed that the test could be carried out the following year (Sequence of Events 1). Unfortunately, this was not the case. The test started as planned and everything went smoothly for the first few hours. It was not until around 00:30 that the first major error occurred. At this point, it is worth noting that the International Group on Nuclear Safety prohibits operating reactors at power levels below 700 MWt. This warning was unfortunately ignored during this test, the power level having been deliberately lowered to 500 MWt. This, in itself, would not necessarily have been a problem, but either the operator forgot to instruct the reactor to maintain that power level, or the reactor did not follow that command because the power level started to decrease rapidly to 30 MWt, an insane figure. low power level (sequence of events 4).

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