Atoms for Peace

Picture by: thebreakthrough.org

     In the film Pandora's Promise by Robert Stone, we are introduced to the ideas, benefits, and consequences of nuclear power. Nuclear meltdowns such as Three Mile Island, Fukushima, and Chernobyl set the stage for the publics eye on nuclear power alone with the atomic bomb. Pandora's Promise is filled with personal stories of environmentalists and energy experts who risked their careers and reputaions from changing their views on nuclear power from strongly anti-nuclear to strongly pro-nuclear power. The experts we meet throughout the story of Pandora's Promise are extremely passionate about the work that they do for nuclear energy and will continue to fight for what they believe in.

     For us at Proctor Academy, nestled in the small town of Andover, New Hampshire; nuclear energy and power does not seem to be on our minds. As for I am only 17 years old, I, along with my classmates were not alive to live and witness the troubles of many catastrophic nuclear meltdowns. The only melt down that comes to mind is that of  Fukushima, a nuclear meltdown that followed a very destructive combination of both an earthquake and a tsunami. Because of the slight possibility of a nuclear failure occurring, I tend not to think about this specific energy source.

     In the opening scenes of Pandora's Promise, as an audience we get an introduction to nuclear energy. "There is no other energy source that can leave areas contaminated by such deadly chemicals." "To be anti-nuclear, you pretty much need to be pro-fossil fuels." "The dangers of nuclear power was made fun of by shows such as the Simpsons." These are some of the opening statements and arguments we are presented with by using nuclear power.

Photo by: sites.lafayette.edu
The photo above shows a nuclear power plant 

     Along the sequence of events in Pandora's Promise, we begin to hear about the positives of using nuclear energy. We learn that nuclear energy is a clean source of energy, which means it does not emit any greenhouse gas affects. Also, "1 pound of uranium (the size of your finger tip) has the equivalent of about 5,000 barrels of oil." But as the movie continued on, I found one statistic to be surprisingly bizarre following the talk of destruction of Three Mile Island, Fukushima, and Chernobyl. "Death rates associated with each energy source placed nuclear as the second safest, just after wind power. And it is true, nuclear is ranked safer than solar power (due to toxins that are used to create solar panels).



     In my opinion, I believe that we should focus in the direction of clean energy. It has been proven, as shown in the video that we can create a nuclear reactor that is tested safe from all of the previous occurrences. I believe that we must focus on and direct money into the field of clean nuclear energy if we want a chance to survive on a planet with a growing population, a known factor of climate change and a supply of energy that will eventually run out.

And for those of you who believe that the only forms of 

radiation that you can be exposed to are from toxic sites,

 you are wrong...

Photo by: www.nytimes.com


We are exposed to radiation on a daily basis, just look at the proof that we get from Pandora's Promise