Argumentative Essay: Should Australia Go Nuclear?

600 Words3 Pages
Should Australia go Nuclear? Unless you live under a stone, you’ll be aware that we have a very serious problem with global warming, most of which occurs because of the burning of fossil fuels like coal to produce energy. As a result of these concerns, there is a really important debate currently underway about what kind of energy Australia should have in the future, fossil fuel, renewable energy or nuclear? Nuclear energy was on the discussion table a few years ago but recently it has surfaced again due to global warming. One of the greatest advantages of nuclear power is that it avoids the wide variety of environmental problems arising from burning fossil fuels such as coal, gas and oil. Currently 78% of Australia’s electricity comes from burning coal. Nuclear energy does not produce smoke or carbon dioxide, so it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect. Thus ‘global…show more content…
Nuclear energy is a clean and very sustainable source of energy. Australia has the resources and the skills to go nuclear. The debate about Nuclear versus Coal has come and gone as time has gone by. Nuclear energy does not produce green house gases but a little toxic waste. The toxic waste can be managed by treating it well and burying it underground. Also new technology has made it possible to run Nuclear Power plants with thorium. To use thorium the Nuclear Power Plant needs to be driven on the Accelerator Driven System. This system may have a large price tag but it will pay itself back within fifty years or so. Thorium compared to Uranium creates less toxic waste and also unlike Plutonium (the by-product of uranium) the toxic waste created by Thorium will only takes 500 years to be declared safe. In addition, Australia has large reserves of Thorium. Australia should go nuclear because it has the resources, skills and the technology which will be able to create carbon dioxide free electricity which will reduce the global warming
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