Is nuclear energy an example of progress?

Answer 1

Indeed it is surely progress firstly in nowadays using nuclear technology for exclusively peaceful purposes rather than to cause massive destruction and kill huge numbers of people like in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945? It is also progress because it means production of electricity without giving off the harmful CO2 pollution caused by oil and coal fired power stations overe past decades. It is also surely even more progressive in 21st Century in that mankind has learned from his mistakes made at such places as Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, so hopefully no such mistakes will ever be allowed to happen ever in future?

Answer 2

Ask the residents of Three Mile Island:
The Three Mile Island accident was the worst accident in American commercial nuclear power generating history, even though it led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or members of the nearby community.[1]

On March 28, 1979, the Unit 2 nuclear power plant (a pressurized water reactor manufactured by Babcock & Wilcox) on the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg suffered a partial core meltdown.

The accident unfolded over the course of five tense days, as a number of agencies at local, state and federal level tried to diagnose the problem and decide whether or not the on-going accident required a full emergency evacuation of the population. The full details of the accident were not discovered until much later. In the end, the reactor was brought under control. Although approximately 25,000 people lived within five miles (8 km) of the island at the time of the accident,[2] no identifiable injuries due to radiation occurred, and a government report concluded that "the projected number of excess fatal cancers due to the accident... is approximately one". But the accident had serious economic and public relations consequences, and the cleanup process was slow and costly. It also furthered a major decline in the public popularity of nuclear power, exemplifying for many the worst fears about nuclear technology and, until the Chernobyl disaster seven years later, it was considered the world's worst civilian nuclear accident.

Nuclear power sounds good on paper. So much energy from such a small amount of matter. But nuclear plants cost billions to build and generate alot of radioactive waste.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power

Answer 3

In approximately 5 billion years, the Sun will implode then explode, swallowing up several planets in our solar system including Earth. Anything, including Nuclear Energy, that can aid us in either a) transporting us to another planet or b) move the planet to another soler system should be regarded as progress with regards the human race.

Answer 4

Yes. It's a double-edged sword. Nuclear energy helps in many ways, but it's can also be a tool for massive, perhaps planet wide, destruction.

Answer 5

well yes is the possibility of tapping into matter that is far smaller than what we can see and this is an achievement (or in other words the power to control what in the past wasn't controllable). the fact that is a good thing or not is another matter

Answer 6

yes, it will be a strong country defence wise and it will help power crises in that country also

Answer 7

Yeah, its one of country's paying attention to bang their economy... Try to play RED ALERT 2 games, then you ll, find why.....