Nuclear Energy :: Environment Science Essays

Nuclear Energy Everything in life must have a beginning. It is a scientific fact. This is the same as Nuclear Energy. Nuclear energy wasn’t just discovered, it was created. Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction, especially by fission or fusion. From its first controlled chain reaction to be waste disposal problems, nuclear energy has made major steps. Nuclear energy began in Chicago at Stagg Field. The company that was responsible for this was Enrico Fermi. Here the company was able to create the first controlled chain reaction. The first reactors were based on natural uranium as the nuclear fuel, graphite as the moderator and water as the coolant (Prasar). This opened the floodgates for al nuclear energy. Now that we know to control the dangerous energy, we can use it without fearing drastic measures. In 1955 underwater combat was changed forever. The first submarine, The USS Nautilus, was fueled on nuclear power. The nautilus broke all submarine records for underwater speed and endurance. It was launched in Thames River after Mamie Eisenhower smashed a bottle of champagne across the bow. Due to running on nuclear energy, this made the Nautilus able to travel for great distances at a top speed of 25 knots or more. This made the submarine a much more potent fighting craft and placed the USA a step ahead of all other countries in underwater war (Norris). Even though it was a remarkable task during the year, the navy only expected even greater submarines to come in the future. Admiral Robert B. Carney, Chief of Naval Operations commented that, â€Å"as remarkable as this development seems to us now, the Nautilus will probably appear to our sons and grandsons as a quaint old piece of machinery which introduced the transition to a new age of power† (Norris). As the saying goes, â€Å"You must take the good with the bad† this certainly applies with Nuclear energy. In 1957 began the first of the accidents. Over in Liverpool, England a fire erupted in a graphite-cooled reactor. This caused a 200 square mile area to become contaminated.