Nuclear power has been used in the United States for the past 60 years but not nearly to the extent that it should be utilized. The Hill School happens to neighbor the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant. In order to get a better look at how nuclear reactors work and operate, retired president of Limerick Thomas Dougherty offered to answer some questions about nuclear energy through an environmental lens.

Essentially, Dougherty stated that uranium atoms are “excited” in a controlled setting to initiate fission: the splitting of one atom into two daughter atoms. This fission converts energy to heat that is then used on water. The heated water becomes steam, which in turn spins large turbines, thereby creating electricity. Many people, including Dougherty and the Wall Street Journal, believe nuclear energy is the way to achieve a greener future. The biggest hurdles in the way of the nuclear energy industry, as discussed by Dougherty, are cost, design, and human error. Dougherty explained that just two new, standard plants would cost billions of dollars to build. 

The most noticeable chink in nuclear energy’s armour is the need for starting fuel and the disposable of said fuel, now dangerously radioactive after years-long use. Nuclear power plants, especially the ones in the United States today, are designed carefully to function with ease. However, the errors made by the workers at the Chernobyl plant cast a shadow on nuclear energy that has been hard to clear away despite the fact that oil rigs and coal plants have histories of disaster as well. 

Nuclear energy is seen less as a way forward for green energy and, instead, a point of fear and anxiety for some individuals. When asked about the safety of nuclear power plants, Dougherty firmly asserted that nuclear power plants are secure and safe to be around civilization: “I would put all of the plants out in Montana if I could just to prevent human panic, but that would be the only reason.”

Nuclear energy is a powerful, clean source of electricity that has yet to be truly capitalized on by the United States. The industry has such potential for growth, with research on stable fusion and hydrogen fuel cells only being the beginning. Nuclear energy is not something we should be afraid of, but something we should be excited for.