The Impacts of Chernobyl Nuclear Accident in the US essays

The Impacts of Chernobyl Nuclear Accident in the US essays The Impacts of Chernobyl Nuclear Accident in the US Nuclear energy used to be a dream energy source because it did not emit air pollutants as long as they were operating properly. The US government and Utility Companies invested billions of dollars to build and develop nuclear power plants. However, its magic was collapsed on April 26, 1986. A series of explosions in a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl blew the massive roof off the reactor building and flung radioactive debris and dust high into the atmosphere to encircle the plant. Although the Chernobyl accident was thousands of miles away and did not cause direct damage to the US, we were able to experience the tragedy through the media. This accident took thousands of lives and contaminated the land, but it resulted in bringing the following positive effects in the US: people became aware of the risks involved with nuclear power, it led to public opposition, and the government and utility companies tried to find cleaner and safer alternative energy sources. Through the media, people became aware of the risks involved with using nuclear power as an energy source. Before the accident, the majority of people were ignorant in regards to nuclear power, and it was only understood among the physicists. However, it became public knowledge after the incident. The media reported how the system worked. The heat, which was generated by a nuclear fission chain reaction, can produce high-pressure steam, which spins turbines that in turn generate electricity. Also, the media reported the serious damages of the accident and visualized them. The explosion took 32,000 lives, contaminated 62,000 square miles of the land with radioactivity, and a half-million people suffered from cancers (Miller, 1999, p.540). In spite of this distant accident, such virtual experiences through the media generalized more knowledge of nuclear power and its risk. ...