Dear Future President,

Right now according to Institute for Energy Research about 80% of the USA’s fuel consumption comes from fossil fuels. Well, Mr./Mrs. President, what happens when we run out of fossil fuels? I believe the Earth will then rely on nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is when two atoms are fused together. The only problem is that it is still a very new type of energy with not much research. This is why we need to do more research on this new type of energy. One of the main issues with nuclear energy is the Nuclear waste. We also need safer places to put our nuclear power plants so that no natural disaster would completely ruin the plant and cause any harm to civilian lives. Finally, the Earth as a whole needs to start researching nuclear fusion to get a cleaner way to produce energy.

First, we need to address the problem of nuclear waste in the near future. If we don’t try and solve this problem the world will fill up with nuclear waste. What I say we need to do as a world is create an association of the most experienced scientists to try and solve how to get rid of it safely. Nuclear waste is a bi-product that you get when the atom splits apart. Yes, this will be a long time until nuclear waste fills up our world but, if we never let it get to that point we will never have to worry about it again. Also if we can stop the nuclear waste now there would be no threat to human lives if something was found to be leaking. Right now according to the World Nuclear Association, radioactive waste stays in a cooling pool for about 5 years until it is safe to transfer. This means that all of our most recent waste will just sit there and of once we start to produce more energy we will just keep filling up cooling pools until we run out of space for them. This is why we need to out the best scientists heads together to think about this.

Also, we need safer places to put our nuclear plants since it’s so experimental. Right now, if any major natural disaster was to hit a nuclear power plant we would be in major trouble. If an earthquake was to hit a nuclear power plant the backup generators could break causing the cooling pools to overheat and cause radioactive materials to leak. What I propose is underwater nuclear plants or a power plant in a remote location in Alaska. If a nuclear power plant was built in Alaska if something were to happen no human lives would not be massively endangered. Also with the technology in today's age we would have no problem keeping it running and making sure that it has all of its supplies to keep running. These are just a few reasons on why we should move nuclear power plants to safer locations.

Finally, we need to put more research into nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion is a process that the sun and stars use to create energy that is clean and inexhaustible. The biggest problem according to, fusioned.gat.com, is that “in order to make fusion happen the atoms of hydrogen must be heated to 100 million degrees so they have enough energy to fuse together.” If we were to put more scientists to work on this it could drastically help the atmosphere stop rising temperatures as quickly. We also need to raise awareness for nuclear fusion. People could also say it’s too risky or too unsafe, but it is the safest and cleanest type of nuclear energy out there. According to havanatimes.org. “They call it ‘The Holy Grail’ of energy, for it is clean, cheaper and practically inexhaustible. This means that if we can unlock the key to this great energy we could save money, keep people safe, and keep using it forever. According to nbcnew.com “30 million dollars in federal funding.” Without awareness hardly any people would know even about this and much less how expensive it is. This is why we need to raise awareness for nuclear fusion and start doing more research on it.

These are just a few reasons on why nuclear energy should be researched more. Without finding out how to safely get rid of nuclear waste the world will just fill up with it laying around. Also if we don’t find where to put nuclear plants every life near one could be at risk. Finally, if we never find another way to make clean energy our Earth will just keep getting worse and worse. So now I ask you Mr./Mrs. President, what will you do about this very pressing problem?

Regards,

Tom

Works Cited

“What Are Nuclear Wastes and How Are They Managed?”

What Are Nuclear Wastes and How Are They Managed?, World Nuclear Association, 2016, http://www.world-nuclear.org/nuclear-basics/what-are-nuclear-wastes.aspx.

Shulman, Seth. “The Growing Threat of Nuclear Waste.”

Union of Concerned Scientists, Union of Concerned Scientists, 2013, http://www.ucsusa.org/publications/catalyst/su-13-the-growing-threat-of-nuclear-waste.html.

“On-Site Storage of Nuclear Waste.”

Nuclear Waste Amounts &Amp; On-Site Storage, Nuclear Energy Institute, 2016, http://www.nei.org/knowledge-center/nuclear-statistics/on-site-storage-of-nuclear-waste

“Radioactive Wastes- Myths and Realities .”

World Nuclear Association, World Nuclear Association, Feb. 2016, http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/radioactive-wastes-myths-and-realities.aspx.

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Science and Its Times. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. Vol. 7. Detroit: Gale, 2001.Student Resources in Context. Web. 15 Sept. 2016.

Boyle, Alan. "Rays of Hope: Fringe Fusion Ventures Take Small Steps Toward Energy Leap."

NBC News. Science News, 25 June 2015. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/unorthodox-nuclear-fusion-research-ventures-report-progress-n370131

"What Is Fusion?"

What Is Fusion? N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2016.

http://fusioned.gat.com/what_is_fusion.html

Prieto, Dmitri. “Nuclear Fusion: Is It as Safe as We Think?”

Havana Timesorg Nuclear Fusion Is It as Safe as We Think Comments, 4 Nov. 2014, http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=99809.

“Home.”

The Energy Collective, 11 Sept. 2013, http://www.theenergycollective.com/roberthargraves/271531/nuclear-power-simply-put.