You are most likely only living as comfortable as you are today thanks to nuclear technology.
It is why your grandmother survived cancer.
It is why your house didn’t burn down when there was a small fire.
It is why we live happily.
Nuclear technology is beneficial to our lives.
This is true through: the benefits of nuclear energy; the benefits of nuclear medicine;
and the benefits of having a nuclear arsenal.
You may already be unawaringly relying on nuclear technologies.
Have you ever questioned where your electricity you use comes from?
62% of electricity in Ontario is produced by nuclear power plants.
Electricity is produced in nuclear power plants, where the energy from nuclear fission is used
to create steam, which then power generators.
This makes nuclear energy is clean: It only emits water vapour.
This helps reduce carbon emissions, which ultimately helps the environment.
“It has been determined that the amount of greenhouse gases have decreased by almost
half because of the prevalence in the utilization of nuclear power”.
Not only is nuclear energy environmentally friendly, it is inexpensive and reliable.
In Ontario, electricity from nuclear power plants cost 6.8 cents per kilowatt per hour.
Solar energy, the so called next big thing, costs 48.1 cents per kilowatt per hour.
Who wants to be paying half a dollar per kilowatt/hour, when you could be paying a tenth of a dollar?
Furthermore, solar energy can only be produced when the weather permits.
Nuclear, on the other hand, has the green light 24/7, 365 days a year.
With a reliable and cheap source of energy, and a clean environment, people can enjoy
their everyday life worry-free.
But what if you do get cancer from the pollution dirty sources of energy like coal emit?
Nuclear medicine is on your side!
PET scans can help diagnose patients with cancer by, to put it simply, using radioactive
atoms that are injected into your bloodstream.
That may sound a bit scary, but the radiation levels are low, and the benefits outway the
risks.
The worst that could happen is the injection site becoming sore.
Using this effective way of diagnosing cancer can help people get treated quickly.
Furthermore, radiation can be used to sterilize food to make them safer.
The whole idea of applying radiation to your food may concern some folks, but you do it
everyday.
Microwaving is the action of applying radiation to food, where the water molecules then vibrate
to heat the food.
In this case, applying radiation to the food exterminates the bacteria, but only heats
it about two degrees.
This process can even extend shelf life of potatoes and onions by preventing them from
sprouting.
This reduces the risk of food poisoning and the wasting of food.
A healthy life is a happy life.
Nuclear technology isn’t only used to save lives, but to end lives as well.
Some may find it hard to swallow the fact that having nuclear warheads makes our lives
better.
And that is understandable.
They are, after all, weapons of mass destruction.
Ironically though, nukes are what is keeping us from being nuked.
Yes, these weapons of mass destruction keep countries safe.
Such example is Israel.
Israel is a small country in the middle east, literally surrounded by larger enemies.
One of the reasons such a small country has survived for so long is nukes.
Israel, although not confirmed, is said to have over 80 nuclear warheads.
No country wants to mess with a country with such deadly weapons.
Sure, Israel has missiles flying at them often, but nothing is severe enough to issue the
press of the red button.
It’s like a smaller scale, aggressive Cold War, like what we had between the Soviets.
The only reason the Soviets didn’t nuke us is because they did not want to be nuked.
“There's never been a nuclear, or even a non nuclear, war between two states that possess
them”.
A recent example of this is between Pakistan and India.
Both countries now have nuclear weapons.
The two countries have fought multiple wars against each other since gaining independence,
but not once since getting their hands on nuclear weapons.
The two countries have toned down their provocations to avoid wiping each other off the face of
the Earth.
Nukes make countries powerful and safe, allowing a happier life for all.
Evidently, nuclear technology brings all kinds of benefits in our lives.
This includes nuclear energy, medical nuclear techechnology, and nuclear weapons.
As an immigrant from the only country in the world that has casualties from nuclear weapons,
and one of the two countries that has suffered a level 7 nuclear disaster, I know the dangers
of nuclear technology.
Even today, we have missiles that will be equipped with nuclear warheads flying over
our land from North Korea.
But I still stand on my position that I am pro-nuclear technology.
I still stand pro-nuclear because I understand the dangers, but see the benefits.
It’s like an airplane: they can have deadly accidents, but they’re an efficient method
of transportation that improve our lives.
So I hope the next time you are worried about the effects of nuclear technologies, you remember
the benefits they bring, and how they already have positively affected your life.