Philippine E-Journals

The Nuclear Option in the Energy Crisis

Bayani C. Rivero

Discipline: Social Science, Natural Sciences

 

Abstract:

The energy crisis in 1973 came as a shock not only to the western countries but more so to the "developing countries". It dramatically brought to focus the fact that oil is becoming scarces and that alternate forms of fuel must be found. Among the various alternate forms of energy mentioned such as solar, tidal, geothermal, wind, and others, nuclear power plays a special role. This is due to the following reasons: I) although hydroelectric, tidal, geothermal and other forms of power from earth sources do not require any new engineering development, their effective utilization depends to a large degree on their location, so that these forms of energy can only have a local effect and cannot be expected as a principal input to world power needs. 2) The use of solar energy and fusion power as energy sources are very promising and are worthy of serious attention. However, they are still in the research stage rather than in the development stage and for the near future, say up to the 1990's, they cannot be expected to .bring much of an impact. Energy·· experts believe that only nuclear fission is sufficiently developed to meet the requirements needed for an effective energy source, namely, abundant supply, low cost and minimal environmental effects. Whether or not this is true for nuclear energy remains to be proved.