Can Nuclear Power Save the Earth?

In his article entitled “The Nuclear Power Advantage”, Cohen states that advantages of nuclear power and difficulties of using fuel fossils. Fuel fossils are limited and cause a lot of environmental problems such as global warming, acid rain, and coal mining. Cohen claims that nuclear power has a lot of advantages and can be used as alternative energy instead of fuel fossils. First, nuclear power can avoid a wide variety of environmental problems. Second, there is enough uranium because it has little value for other purposes except nuclear power. Third, nuclear waste is very small in volume so can be easily buried underground. Moreover, nuclear power makes people independent from oil, so it prevents from fighting like Persian Gulf War. Finally, he claims nuclear power is safe by comparing the probabilities of reactor accidents with other risks. However, I believe that people should not work on using nuclear power. There are harmful problems in environment, politics, and safety.

First, Cohen states that “these wastes have the extremely important advantage of being very small in volume and can be easily contained so they can be buried deep underground”(para.14). However, it costs a lot of money to build facilities to bury radioactive waste. In addition, it is hard to select the places to lay wastes under the ground because everybody opposes the setting up of facility. After burying it, the waste that is toxic does not disappear. If there is something wrong with the facility, it causes soil contamination. Therefore, it is difficult to deal with nuclear wastes.

Second, using of nuclear power can lead to politics problems about nuclear weapons among foreign countries. In Japan, there are Three Non-Nuclear Principles. The policy declares that that Japan shall neither possess nor manufacture nuclear weapons, nor shall it permit their introduction into Japanese territory( Kristensen, 1999, para.5). Although some countries try to abolish having nuclear weapons like Japan, other countries try to invest weapons to assume control of the world. For example, North Korea launched Taepodong, a missile nuclear warhead to the Sea of Japan in 2006. In addition, it is said that the U.S. started Iraq war to destroy nuclear weapons that Iraq has. Nuclear power can be changed into nuclear weapons, so it can shake the security of world.

Finally, nuclear power cause major accidents. Cohen claims that “nuclear accidents are not an important problem, and their very low probability is a great advantage of nuclear power”(para.18). However, nuclear reactor accidents have bad influences on a lot of people. Remember the Chernobyl disaster. It was an accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people. After explosion, the sarcophagus was built to cover the plant and even now the surrounding near the area is restricted. There is still a little radiation near villages. The problem is that it is possible to escape radiation when the sarcophagus collapses. Nuclear accident causes the increasing incidence of cancer. Moreover, the forest near the plant is called red forest because all woods died by radiation. Therefore, this accident that influenced neighbors made known around the world that nuclear power is very dangerous.

Now nuclear power is expected to be alternative energy instead of fossil fuels. However, there is much risk of polluting environment in disposal of nuclear waste. In addition, nuclear power can be a cause of making a highly volatile political situation. Besides, it is possible for serious accidents to happen, like the Chernobyl disaster. Therefore, people have to solve these problems before utilizing nuclear power. The most important thing is not convenience but safety and future.

Reference
Cohen, Bernard. (n. d.). The nuclear power advantage.
Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy. Retrieved February 7, 2007 from http://www.ecolo.org/documents/
documents_in_english/nuclear_advantage

Kristensen, Hans. (1999, July 21). Nuclear umbrella, The Nautilus Institute.
Retrieved February 20, 2007
from http://www.nautilus.org/archives/nukepolicy/Nuclear-Umbrella/

Anti-TOEFL


Do you know what TOEFL is? It means Test of English as a Foreign Language. It was made in 1964 by Educational Testing Service for non-native people who want to study in America, Canada, and England. It is used not only for standards for admission, but also for scholarship programs and various institutions of governments. The author states, “Today, eight hundred thousand students take TOEFL in more than 90 countries every year around the world.” (“What is TOEFL”, (n.d.), para 1). Although a lot of people take TOEFL today, the PBT TOEFL should not be used to decide if non-native students can be accepted to an American university because of unfair questions, strange techniques, and uncertain scores.
First, PBT TOEFL is a not English test that measures students’ true English skills. It can not measure speaking skills. For example, it is said that Saudi Arabians are better at speaking English than they are at grammar or reading. However, there are listening, grammar, and reading sections in TOEFL. For them, TOEFL is not fair because they can not exercise their conversational ability. As a result, learners may ignore speaking and then students’ speaking ability loses. We can say the same opinion like that in writing. For university class, writing is very important. Students are required to write a lot of papers for exams or thesises for graduation. But students do not have to study it for TOEFL. TOEFL can not measure all abilities. Therefore, we should not say that PBT TOEFL is a perfect test.
Next, students have some strange techniques to get scores of PBT TOEFL. They can guess answers because there are four alternative answers. It means there is 25% probability that students can get a point without understanding. Moreover, they can cram for TOEFL. Book stores sell a lot of textbooks for TOEFL. You can prepare yourself just for TOEFL by learning a lot of information very quickly and check the tendency what part you should study. You can focus to study listening, grammar, and reading. If you study these sections for 10 days, your score will be better. Therefore, it is possible for students to consider their plans for TOEFL in advance. Some cunning students can get high score on the PBT TOEFL with special techniques.
Third, students’ score are unstable. It depends on their physical and mental condition. For example, if a student catches a cold, his/her score will not be good because he/her could not concentrate on TOEFL. Another example, if a student was turned down by his girlfriend before TOEFL, his score would be terrible. In addition, students are lucky to even comprehend the TOEFL. The level of difficulty changes every time. For instance, if there are many questions about history, some students who know well about it can get points. It depends on students’ background information. Therefore, PBT TOEFL score likely to change suddnely.
My opponents say that TOEFL is easy to use score. However, even students got high scores in TOEFL; it is not useful standard except for study in United States. TOEIC, Test of English for International Communication is more important than TOEFL for getting a job. In addition, TOEFL has the term of validity, of 2 years. For example, even if a student who has economic problem could get high score, he can not study abroad because of the life. On the other hand, people can use some English tests such as Test in Practical English Proficiency as qualifications through the whole life. Like this, a lot of people say PBT TOEFL is not good test.
In conclusion, TOEFL is a harmful test in several reasons. Through PBT TOEFL, students cannot come into their own ability. Good English tests should evaluate all abilities equally. Moreover, some students study just for TOEFL not for improvements of English with special techniques. Even if they get high score, actually they can not understand English and follow college classes. In addition, the difficulty of TOEFL varies widely every time. In the future, more and more people will be interested in foreign culture and study abroad will become usual. They need to take English tests like TOEFL for getting admissions from universities. The organization need reform this formation to produce many international people.

Reference
What is TOEFL? (n.d.). CIEE ETS Products Official Page. Retrieved January 28, 2007, from http://www.cieej.or.com/toefl/index.html

EAP2, Writer’s Workshop
Heidi Wright


Good Bye, Nuclear Power!

Now nuclear power has received nationwide media attention. France, according to Bollaert (2001), uses nuclear power plants which account for 80 percent of electrical production of the whole energy (2001, para.1). However, I am just afraid of nuclear power because in 1945, The war were dropped two atomic bombs on Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. during the Second World War. The lethal weapon killed over 200,000 people (Miller, 1994, p.99). Even now, many old people are still suffering from illnesses caused by the nuclear bombs. So using nuclear energy will lead to a catastrophic situation that will rock the whole world. Therefore, people should not adopt the use of nuclear energy because it is harmful for economy, environment, politics, and safety.

The definition of nuclear power is a force that is produced from the nucleus. Nucleus means “the central part of an atom which consists neutrons, protons, and other elementary particles” (Longman Advanced American Dictionary, 2000). As a nucleus splits, it releases energy that is converted largely into the heat. A nuclear reactor is a system in which a controlled nuclear chain reaction is used to liberate energy” (2005, para.1). Nuclear power is a relatively new resource. According to Eardley, “the nuclear reactor was invented by Enriko Fermi in 1942. The world relies on nuclear power, with 28 new reactors under construction. There are 442 nuclear plants operating in 30 countries and producing one-sixth of the world’s electricity (Brown, 2006,para.4). Until now, some countries such as China, France, and Russia acknowledge nuclear weapons (Countries with Nuclear Weapons Capability, 2005, p.1). People who have a progressive way of thinking like politicians forward the development of nuclear energy for their countries' prosperity. However, many ecologists and people who live near nuclear plants oppose the use of nuclear power because of several negative points.

The first nuclear power problem is the high cost. Elston states, “nuclear power is financially unsustainable in an open electricity market. It cannot compete with coal, natural gas or some renewable sources of electricity” (2007, para.7). Initial costs for yielding nuclear power are expensive. It costs more money to build a nuclear facility because nuclear power is so strong and dangerous. The problem is to decommission nuclear reactors in the early twenty-first century. It will cost more than one billion dollars per a plant (“Nuclear Power”, n.d., p.7). This energy is not economical for the expense. Moreover, it is hard to select places to build the facility because citizens opposed to build it. In “Nuclear Power”, the author said, ”the federal government has encouraged political controversy and public opposition when it has sought to identity potential permanent nuclear waste sites. Since 1986, it has been unsuccessful in finding an acceptable site” (n.d., pp.6-7). It is doubtful whether nuclear power should be used even if it will happen a fiscal crisis.

Second, nuclear power pollutes the whole earth including creatures. My opponents say that nuclear power does not produce carbon dioxide (Cohen, n.d., p.1). Certainly, it avoids various environmental problems such as global warming, acid rain, coal mining, and spilled oil. However, Bradford (2006) states that “Nuclear power cannot be a magic bullet answer to climate change. Even if it is scaled up much faster than anything now in prospect, it cannot provide more than 10 per cent of the greenhouse gas displacement that is likely to be needed by mid-century. Not only can nuclear power not stop global warming, it is probably not even an essential part of the solution to global warming” (para.3). In addition, radiation which is a substance coming from nuclear structure pollutes the environment because shortwave radiation passes easily through the earth's atmosphere. Once it strikes and warms the earth's surface, longwave radiation is emitted and goes back into the atmosphere. While some of this longwave radiation or heat escapes into space, most of it is absorbed or held by carbon dioxide that exist a little bit in the atmosphere (Collins, 2001, p.1). As a result, nuclear power pollutes the environment. Another example, the forest near the Cernobyl plant is called Red Forest, where dead pine leaves turned rusty brown. This is because all woods died from radiations that fall out from the accident (Connor, 2000. para.11). Moreover, many people point out the difficulty of how to dispose nuclear wastes. Nuclear wastes are semi permanent. It takes a thousand years to disappear because the proponent is not a natural element. In the article, “Nuclear Power,” the author states, “Nuclear material is contained in fuel rods. When spent fuel rods and other waste products fill storage capacity at utility plants, the plants must either expand their storage capacity or find permanent off-site storage”(1998, p.6). Nuclear waste is semi permanent. Thus, it cannot be denied that nuclear power destroys environment.

Third, there is a much possibility that nuclear power can be used for weapons. Cohen claims that nuclear power is not like oil that only Middle Eastern countries have. Thus, it contributes to avoidance of nuclear warfare (n.d., p.5). However, it can also cause a war or a conflict. North Korea and Iran try to turn nuclear power into nuclear weapons for domination of the world. Therefore, nuclear power can cause struggles like the big war. For example, Calabresi said that “With war in Iraq looming and North Korea defiantly pursing its own nuclear program” (2003, para.1). In the article, “Red Scare,” the author claims, ”On February 10, the North Korea government announced that it had “manufactured nukes for self-defense to cope with the Bush administration’s ever more undisguised policy to isolate and stifle [North Korea]”, an official statement read”(2005, para.4). Actually, North Korea launched Taepodong, a missile nuclear warhead to the Sea of Japan in 2006(North Korea test-fires 7th missile, 2006, para.1). In “Nuclear Power,” the author explains about a new concern that it became apparent that terrorists commandeering airplanes might crash into a nuclear power plant or might try to damage such a plant with conventional explosives. Therefore nuclear power can influence an international situation (n.d., p.7). Nuclear power is the link to the weapon.

Finally, nuclear power causes the worst accidents. Bernard claims that “nuclear accidents are not an important problem, and their very low probability is a great advantage of nuclear power” (para.18). However, if the nuclear accidents happen, the influence of it has a significant impact on the earth. For example, The Mile Island, where there is a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania of the United States, happened nuclear accident by either a mechanical or electrical failures. According to “Nuclear Power”, the author states, “a serious accident art Three Mile Island in 1979 proved to be a major turning point for nuclear power in the United States, and nuclear generators have been ordered since”(n.d., p.4). Remember the Chernobyl disaster. It was an accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986 resulting in the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people. The radiation that caused by the accidents had bad effects on human body. It led to illnesses such as cancer, leukemia, and sterility (Bollaert, 2001, para.2). The immediate cause of this accident was mismanaged electrical- engineering experiment. Furthermore, according to Rhodes, “radioactive gas and dust high into the atmosphere, where winds dispersed it across Finland, Sweden, and central and southern Europe”(n.d., para.26). After explosion, the sarcophagus was built to cover the plant and even now the surround was kept out. There is a little radiation near villages still. The problem is that it is possible to escape a massive does of radiation when the sarcophagus collapses. It causes the increasing incidence of cancer (Nuclear Power, n.d.). According to “Is Nuclear Power Ethical?,” the accidents was expensive in dollars as well as in loss of public confidence (2007, para.5). If reactor accidents happen, it will be radioactive contamination. Obviously, this accident that influenced neighbors was knew around the world that nuclear power is very dangerous.

Therefore, it is difficult to work on nuclear power because this is a delicate energy. Nuclear energy is expensive in several ways. Likewise, nuclear energy causes environment pollution indirectly. Moreover, there are difficulties to restore and dispose the energy, and to find places for the industrial waste. Besides, nuclear power can lead to dangerous troubles about nuclear weapon and cause the worst accidents like the Chernobyl disaster for human. Fossil fuels that people use are running up and nuclear power is expected to be alterative energy instead of fossil fuels. However, there is much risk to use nuclear power. When people invest new energy for the future, understanding of citizens and security are required. We need consider how energy and environment match and invest a new energy to cope with change of international situation because the most important thing is not convenient but safety.