Kerr’s Green Debate Team

With the rising consumption of fossil fuels, a gas from the moon is becoming a promising potential source. Mineral samples known as Helium-3 (H3) are similar to the natural gas sources we use at home. Unfortunately, the amount of H3 on Earth doesn’t come close to the almost infinite resource on the moon. When H3 fuses with deuterium the reaction produces energy that we can use on Earth. Just 25 tons alone can power the United States for almost a year. The process of H3 extraction involves collecting various samples of moon soil and rocks. Once collected, a high temperature of almost 800 degrees Celsius is able to produce a tone of helium. The moon has about one million tons of helium 3 enough to last us a lifetime. Compared to fossil fuels, the moon contains 10 time more energy from H3 sources. One major setback to the project is the reactor technology that will take time, money, and effort to develop. It is noted that the process and test trials will take almost another 30 years. Scientists say that by 2050, the Earth will run out of fossil fuel sources, so determined development and funding for the experimental reactor might be risky, but it might be the only solution to our huge problem that might end all life on Earth.

-Nicholas Chan

Recently, there’s a bit of a craze over finding alternative energies to power the lifestyles which we live today. Many people look towards wind power, solar energies, and even algae gas. The answer to our dilemma however, may lie, quite literally, in front of our noses. Nuclear Power has been around for awhile, and yet, people are still cautious of the power which is cheap, efficient, and effective.

While Petroleum from other nations costs around $700 billion annually, nuclear power would only cost a fraction of that. While Coal requires that it be burned constantly to generate heat and electricity, releasing a large amount of coal ash in the process, Nuclear energy only requires that a steady stream of particles be fired at an element, commonly uranium. This process releases a large amount of energy which can then be used to power our lifestyles. In fact, the sun also uses this process to power itself as our source of light and heat.
When compared directly next to coal author Ben Bova states, “If you count up the number of people killed in coal mine disasters or oil well accidents and the wars being fought over oil, nuclear power looks positively benign. Then there are the natural gas and propane explosions that kill hundreds each year and destroy millions of dollars’ worth of property.” Even worse the Environmental Protection Agency states that coal-fired plants in the United States annually cause 24,000 early deaths – including 2,800 from lung cancer. According to the EPA, emissions of fine particle pollution (or soot) resulted in an average loss of 14 years of life for the victims, along with 38,200 non-fatal heart attacks and 534,000 asthma attacks each year.
Not only would the energy stored in that penny-sized bit of uranium be enough to heat your house for one heating season, it would be enough to heat the average house for more than six years! In fact, a single pickup load of U235 has the equivalent energy of the coal carried in 36,500 large coal cars. So what keeps us from using nuclear power as the main source of energy? The answer is simple, people are still under a nuclear scare since the accident in Chernobyl that resulted in the deaths of 140,000 people, while causing 270,000 cancer cases and 93,000 fatal cases of cancer. However, many people seem to believe that all nuclear power plants have remained the same and that there have been no advances in fail safes which prevent accidents.
Nuclear Power can power our future, but in order to do so, we must first dispel the myths and recognize the truths.
- Dennis Chau

As the nuclear renaissance approaches, there has been concerns about the safety of nuclear power and its current reactors. An abundance of plants have erected all around the country, but health concerns such as cancer, unsafe waste dumping, and toxic contamination has risen. Thus, a new form of reactor has caught the eye of many people. Thorium power, the reactors and power of the future. Currently, nuclear power uses uranium which is imported from parts around the world, but the waste produced is said to be toxic and unsafe, but a transition to thorium power can change all of that.

The waste produced from thorium is proliferation resistant and serves the same purpose as current day uranium. Fossil fuels are being burned and emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere contributing to global warming, but in order to transition to new green technologies, we have to keep in mind the safety and concerns of everyday consumers. The amount of potential overlooked is appalling because a transition to a safer and cleaner energy source can change the United States. It has been seventeen years since its discovery and this clean spent fuel can change the lives we all live.

Currently the Yucca Mountain, a storage site for nuclear waste is being filled with toxic chemicals, but smooth transition to thorium can change all of that. The dangers with the Yucca Mountain is that earthquakes are likely to occur around the region and if something were to happen, toxic waste would cover states at a time. A cleaner spent fuel not only can prevent signs of dangerous skin cancer, but can prevent toxic natural disasters from occurring in the near future.

Thorium power has a promising future in our society, but lack of investment and whereabouts of the new technology is devastating. New incentives such as loan guarantees can attract investors into researching and developing the technology.

-Nicholas Chan