In This Assignment I Wanted to Create a Document That Gave Relevant Information for Both

Methodology

In this assignment I wanted to create a document that gave relevant information for both world use of nuclear energy as well as specific information pertaining to the United States. I also wanted to give a brief outline of the nuclear generation process and the challenges that come with it.

The first portion of the fact sheet is the “General World Information” section. In this section I showed three things; the percentage of energy output by country, the distribution of reactors around the world as well as projected world capacity by the year 2100. For the first graph I took information from the Nuclear Energy Institute and made a graph depicting the percentage of nuclear energy certain countries use in relation to their total energy output. I also created the other graph titled “Projected World Capacity” by synthesizing a few different data tables from the World Nuclear Association, this graph shows the projected nuclear capacity over the next 100 years and has both high and low projections.

The portion titled “Environmental Concerns” was constructed using data from the EPA, I used all of the EPA’s information because I felt that it is the most reliable and accurate information regarding nuclear energy and its global impacts in the areas of air emissions, radioactive waste and water use. I included water use because when many think about energy production they predominantly think about polluting the atmosphere. Nuclear generation takes such large amounts of water that their geographic location must be scrutinized for years in advance in order to start construction on a new plant.

Although nuclear energy can be and is being utilized around the world I wanted to focus on the implications for the Unites States. One of the most pertinent limiting factors for nuclear use in the U.S. is the policy that restricts the construction and disposal of nuclear waste. Unlike the rest of the world, the government is not involved in the actual production and operation of nuclear reactors but instead they are heavily influential in safety, environmental, energy goals and R&D funding. I produced the pie chart in this section from data obtained from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and sorted them by region. I got the graph on the right from the EIA and it shows how the percentage of energy contributed by nuclear energy and that it has been steadily increasing since 1973.

In addition to information around the world I thought it was important to give a brief summary of how nuclear power generation actually works. I think it is very important for an uneducated individual to not only know facts and figures but also how the energy is actually produced, without this knowledge it is hard to grasp many of the concepts and issues surrounding nuclear power generation.

Annotated Bibliography

“Energy in Brief”. EIA.gov. U.S. Energy Information Administration, 14,

December 2014. Web. 10, April 2014. <http://www.eia.gov/energy_in_brief/article/nuclear_industry.cfm>

I used this source to get a few key facts about nuclear energy in the United States, particularly on reactor and energy generation facts. The data was last updated on December 14, 2014 so I know that the information I gathered was reliable. Also, this information was taken from the United States Energy Information Administration so I see no bias other than possible presentation that could reflect the current political agenda; also I am confident in the scientists and experts employed by the U.S. government so the information is accurate.

“Nuclear Energy”. EPA.gov. Environmental Protection Agency of the Unites

States, 22, October 2013. Web. 10, April 2014. <http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-and-you/affect/nuclear.html>

This source was primarily used for information regarding environmental implications of nuclear energy production. The Environmental Protection Agency is a very reliable source because it is a governmental entity and is morally responsible to produce reliable information. I do see a potential for bias because they are responsible for protecting the environment so some concerns could be overstated, I don’t think that this was present in the information that I used in this assignment.

“Nuclear Power in the USA”. World-Nuclear.org. World Nuclear

Association, 8, April 2014. Web. 10, April 2014. < >

I used information from the World Nuclear Association for facts about nuclear energy in the United States. I also used the middle figure on the left of the sheet to show the geographical representation of nuclear reactors in the United States. The WNA is an international organization that promotes nuclear energy production worldwide and supports many of the companies that comprise the global nuclear energy industry. That being said, I would expect some bias in the information they present because they are undeniably pro-nuclear. The information was updated April 8, 2014 so it is not outdated in any way.

“Nuclear Share of Electricity Net Generation, 1973-2011”. EIA.gov. U.S.

Energy Information Administration, March 2012. Web Image. 10, April 2014. <http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=nuclear_use>

This was only used for the image on the lower right-hand side of the fact sheet; it represents the percentage of nuclear energy produced in the U.S. as compared to total energy. This was obtained from the Energy Information Administration so I expect the information to be reliable and unbiased. Also, since the graph depicts a time period of 1973-2011, it may be somewhat outdated but I believe the change in three years is negligible.

"U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors – Operating

Reactors."Information DigestVol. 25: Appendix A, August 2013. Web. 13, April 2014. < http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1350/#pubinfo>

This source was a data table that gave information regarding the nuclear reactors in the United States. I used this information to produce the pie chart in the lower right of the fact sheet. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission gathered this information so it is accurate and unbiased. I repurposed the data to make the infographic presented, the report that contained this information was published in August of 2013 so the information is up to date.

“U.S. Nuclear Power Policy”. World-Nuclear.org. World Nuclear

Association, March 2014. Web. 10, April 2014. <

I used this source for the policy section of the United States information section. This was also from the WNA so there is potential biased. I do not think the facts they present are inaccurate in any way; it is very hard to fabricate information when it is related to material that is available from government-regulated sources. The information is also very up to date as it was last updated March 2014.

“What Is A Nuclear Reactor?”. Euronuclear.org. European Nuclear Society,

2014. Web. 10, April 2014. <

The information in the basic nuclear facts section was taken from this source, it depicted a very detailed outline of the operations of a nuclear reactor in which I picked out pieces of information to give a general sense of how a nuclear reactor works. The European Nuclear Society is the largest nuclear society for science and industry in Europe comprised of scientists and educated decision makers so the information presented is accurate. Nuclear technology changes very slowly so even though it was last updated in 2014, I do not think the information could be inaccurate or have an bias influence.

“WNA Nuclear Century Outlook Data”. World-Nuclear.org. World Nuclear

Association, 2014. Web. 10, April 2014. <

This data was produced from long-term projections carried out by the WNA. I used this data to produce the lowest graph on the left side of the sheet. This data does, however, have a great potential for biased although producing low and high projections potentially mitigated this biased. The WNA represents companies and organizations that are pro-nuclear so the data that they produce is likely to favor those who would like to see more nuclear energy in the future. The page was last updated 2014 but the only actual data they have is from 2008 so I believe they started the study around five years ago.

“World Nuclear Generation and Capacity”. NEI.org. Nuclear Energy

Institute, January 2014. Web. 13, April 2014. <

This source was used to create the first chart in the top left of the sheet. This was a data table produced by the Nuclear Energy Institute, whose mission is to promote the benefits of nuclear technology for various government organizations. I think there is a small potential for bias but it would be easily disputed and an organization of this size would not produce inaccurate information or they would no longer have any credibility. The data used was from 2012 but I do not this there are substantial changes in just two years time.