Solar power and nuclear energy
share two things in common; both of them produce electrical power by electronic components and they are natural
sources .The solar energy is produced
from sunlight when special electronic sensors absorb sun rays which they convert into
electrical power. But the nuclear energy is produced when uranium atoms are
split to produce steam which is used to move turbines to produce electrical
power. The question of which form of energy is better in terms of cost
effectiveness and cleanliness can best be answered by comparing a number of
variables. The nuclear power production process is clean if the plant personnel
are professionals and have a high level of safety standards through the
production process but harmful nuclear wastes are produced after it is used.
This leads to major pollution. Solar power is cleaner as no
harmful waste is produced after it is used. What’s more, the nuclear energy
produces more power as compared to solar power and it can be used over large
area needs. Solar power is cheaper than nuclear energy as it requires the
energy from the sun, which is free, while nuclear energy requires uranium materials
as well as other things to produce the energy. Examples of countries which use nuclear energy are the United Arab
Emirates, the United States, Japan, South Korea, France, the UK and others.
Examples of countries that use solar energy are Germany, Spain and India.
Nuclear energy has several
advantages which are: it needs only a
small space to build a nuclear reactors. Also it doesn’t produce smoke
particles and carbon dioxide which leads to pollution in two ways. One, when
carbon dioxide is emitted on a large scale, it will lead to global warming
while smoke particles pollute the atmosphere. One of the major advantages of
nuclear energy is the production of
large amounts of energy from small units of fuel. Nuclear energy is a reliable form of energy as its production doesn’t depend on weather
conditions like hot or cold and also it produces a small amount of
radioactive waste. The pro expensive cess of nuclear energy leads to the production
of radioactive wastes while disposal of the waste in a way that does not hurt
the environment and cause pollution is expensive.Setting up a nuclear plant is
expensive because decommissioning is a costly and long process.Nuclear energy
production can lead to dangerous incidents and nuclear accidents can result in
widespread radiation-producing particles. This has bad implications for humans
and it causes health problems.
Solar power, on the other hand, has
a number of advantages including the free availability of solar energy on
earth. There are no incidences of solar energy pollution apart from pollution
that happens during manufacturing of solar collectors and equipment in
factories. People who live in villages or regions that are far from the power
connections can used it because the solar energy does not need any external
connections. In addition, it can be used to provide electrical power to devices
that need low power such as calculators,
phones, televisions, and it can be used
for a long time. Solar power is
unreliable as it can only be efficient during the sunny days. The equipment for
installing solar power such as solar collectors, panels, and cells are very
expensive to manufacture and solar generation is also expensive. This form of
energy cannot be used in areas with dense cloud cover and unreliable climate
reduces the effectiveness of the solar power production. In addition, installation
of solar stations needs large areas; the rechargeable batteries are big and
need large storage space. The batteries require replacing from time to time and
that le maintaining the compounds like collectors, panels, and cells is
expansive.
In conclusion, both solar power and
nuclear energy are important sources of energy. Just like many other processes
they have advantages and disadvantages. To be able to answer the question which is cheaper and better and cleaner , it
is important to look at the specific characteristics of each of them. It lead
us to say that solar energy is cleaner and cheaper; also in places like the
United Arab Emirates the weather of is
sunny most of the year and the UAE has
large empty spaces which the solar
energy needs while nuclear energy is
more efficient.
