Nuclear Weapons

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beating. We did begin to produce more plutonium
but the majority of the substance was used towards our nuclear weapons
programs.

Along with reactors, sometimes comes a meltdown which can cause
harmful effects if it isn't controlled quickly enough. After such
instances as the Hanford, Washington reactor meltdown and the accident in
the U.S.S.R. at the Chernobyl site, no one wanted to hear about the use of
plutonium. The United States government banned nuclear testing and also
ended the production of plutonium. (Ref. 5) Now we are in a dilemma. We
are in need of our future sources of energy to power our nation. We are
running out of coal and oil to run our power plants. (Ref 7) We also need
it to further our space exploration program. People need to understand the
advantages to using plutonium and that the disadvantages are not as severe
as they seem. With the turn if the century on being quickly on its way,
the reemergence of plutonium production will need to be a ...

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the
most beneficial use. Plutonium 239 can be used to power nuclear reactors.
The average nuclear reactor contains about 325 kilograms of plutonium with
in its uranium fuel. (Ref 7) This complements the uranium fission process.
With the continually decreasing supply of coal and oil to the power our
nation, we need s substitute to complement our energy needs and right now
the best replacement is that of nuclear energy. (Ref 7) At the moment
there are one hundred and ten nuclear power plants in the United States and
they produce one-fifth of the nation's electricity. Nuclear energy has
been proven to be the cheapest, safest, and cleanest and probably the most
efficient source of ...

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