Nuclear Power. When we hear these words most of us think of atomic bombs and nuclear disasters, or im my case, the simpsons!
[INSERT FAVOURITE SIMPSONS NUCLEAR REFERENCE (PICTURE OF 3 EYES FISH, MAYBE AN INANIMATE CARBON ROD, COOLING TOWERS) ]
However, today we are going to look into the risks analysis of energy creation that for the most part never makes it to the media, and learn how much does our energy really cost us?
[INTRO]
The media loves to remind us to lower our carbon footprint in our everyday lives by buying new energy efficient appliances or a new electric or hybrid car. They do this for good reason, Mother Nature needs our help, and as a bonus, it saves us money.
But did you know that powering our home also cost human lives? Thats right, energy creation is a dangerous industry and you might want to think twice next time you decide to leave on your lights!
If I were to ask which energy source has the least amount of people dying to bring light into your house, I think very few people would say nuclear power, especially with Fukushima still fresh in our memories.
However, its true! In fact about as many people die every year in the United States getting hit by trains (commonly carrying coal crosscountry) then have died due to nuclear power, since its creation[citation2]!
The common misconception that nuclear power is dangerous is because when it goes wrong, it really goes wrong! A single nuclear accident such as Chernobyl makes the news because it killed 4000 people in one giant incident. What does not make the news are the 10,000 people who die every year in the coal industry in the United States[citation 1]. This is simply because it would not be very interesting news to hear every single day how 25 people have died around the country in separate coal related incidents.
Another reason for nuclear power’s low fatality rate is the fact that so little fuel is needed to create a large amount of energy. A single kilogram of coal can produce 6.72 kilowatt hours of energy. That is enough to run a 100 Watt light bulb for about 3 days. One kilogram of Uranium however, can create 22.6 million kilowatt hours, which will run your light bulb for 26, 000 years! Assuming you have such a light bulb that does not burn out and that you live that long. [citation3]
This makes Uranium 3.4 million times more efficient so that you need to transport less of the fuel to make the same amount of energy, which means less damage to the environment from mining, a lower carbon footprint bringing the fuel across country and less deaths from the risks associated with the transportation of the fuel.
So what about coal? You have probably heard that is is an inefficient and a high pollutant way of creating energy, but how risky is getting a job in the coal industry. Well now that depends on where you live.
If you are a coal worker the United States, you are lucky. In 2005 the Clean Air Act was enacted, which changed the regulations for a much safer coal industry. This dramatically decreased the amount of deaths per year to only 10, 000. Thats right, i say ONLY 10, 000 each year. I say that because it is 10 times less than the world average.
China is renown for the worst fatality rate in the coal industry, with numbers over 300, 000 deaths per year. It cost them almost 20 times as many HUMAN LIVES for the same amount of energy! So perhaps you should reconsider that job in the coal industry.
What about some of the new clean energy sources like wind and solar power? Wind power, you might have seen these wind turbines when driving through open fields or along coastlines. Clearly they could not kill anyone, being in such remote places and the spinning blades way too high for anyone to reach.
Guess again. Maintenance works regularly fall off these turbines when they are doing maintenance on them. Although this is a relatively rare occurrence, since wind power generates such a low amount of energy compared to other energy sources, the cost of lives per kilowatt hour is high. The same is true for solar energy which has people falling off of roofs during installation and maintenance.
Now that I have sufficiently scared most of you away from a job in the energy sector, know that all jobs even office jobs have its own share of workplace hazards and energy creation. Here at scishow we are here to look at things from a new view and learn about that which does not alway make the top story on our daily news station and if you are interested to see the numbers broken down into deaths per sector click the link in the doobly doo[citation1].
Thanks to subbable subscribers….
[citation1]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/06/10/energys-deathprint-a-price-always-paid/
[citation2]
http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/publicsite/Query/inctally3.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_and_radiation_accidents_by_death_toll
[citation3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_density
