Neuclear Power and its Social Impact

THE IMPACT OF THE NUCLEAR POWER ON SOCIETY Name: Course: Professor Name: (February 07, 2012) Outline Outline Introduction Social Impacts of Nuclear Power Conclusion The Impact of the Nuclear Power on Society Outline The essay discusses the various social impacts of nuclear power upon society. The essay contains an introduction, the main body and a brief conclusion. The introduction highlights the various social impacts of nuclear power on society briefly. The main body of the essay discusses the various social impacts of constructing and operating nuclear power plants which originate from the effects on several things. First and foremost, the effects are experienced on the socially valued aspects found in the physical environment. Secondly, the impacts are felt on the social structure itself. Some of the constructions of the power plants occur suddenly. This results into temporary growth of the populations especially in the rural areas. High increases in taxes occur due to the operations of the power plants that are owned by private companies. This in turn impacts on the structures of tax and the use of land balances in a site-specific manner. The assessment of these impacts constitute coming up with the dimensions of approximately fourteen descriptors. After this, analysis of the recipient group takes place. As a result of this, social costs and benefits dissociation normally occurs. This occurs though the lag of time which exists between benefits and costs. Additionally, it also occurs through institutional structures vagaries. Assessing the social costs and benefits normally involve the non-equal exchange of currencies. This in turn raises real methodological and analytical shortcomings for the final cost-benefit analysis. The alternatives of these social impacts are normally listed based on the need for thorough analysis of the social effects. Introduction Nuclear power contains a major threat to both the environment and humanity. In most cases, it has proven to be both successful and safe. On the contrary, it results into disastrous effects. Nuclear power generation is normally accompanied by the production of radioactivity. In the same way with the produced pollution when fossil fuels are combusted, radioactivity can be extremely lethal to living things. This is normally the case during nuclear accidents which have taken place infrequently throughout the current history (Pouting, 1991). Examples do exist where nuclear power plants have been disastrous to human beings. In 1957, the Windscale nuclear reactor in Britain caught fire. Afterwards, radioactivity spread in the whole of Britain. However, no official death cases due to radioactivity poisoning were released. Within the same year, another explosion took place at Kryshytym in the Soviet Union. The surrounding places were extremely contaminated. Many people had to be evacuated. However, a large number of people died. The deadliest disaster due to nuclear power took place in 1986 in Ukraine at Chernobyl. The explosion caused a radioactivity cloud which spread to the whole of Europe and Scandinavia. A lot of animals had to be slaughtered and destroyed as they had been contaminated by the radioactive material. Hence, many people in Europe are expected to get cancer as a resu...