The proverb runs: Every coin has two sides. Apparently, every phenomenon has both merits and flaws

11

The proverb runs: Every coin has two sides. I can’t but agree. Apparently, every phenomenon has both merits and flaws. But there are some disputable things which arouse a number of contradictions in the society. The most relevant example of such an issue is nuclear energy.

Since the discovery of radioactivity this phenomenon has been both massively pernicious and advantageous for the mankind. So the atomic bomb, which functioning principle is based on radioactivity, became world-wide infamous after the 8th of august, 1945. It was dropped on Hiroshima town, Japan. The consequences were hugely destructive, and moreover highly wicked for any creature alive. Only then the mankind realized the power it had acquired.

Luckily, apart from the nuclear weapons, a bit more sound use was found for the nuclear power. So the humanity learnt to produce nearly vast amounts of energy, disintegrating radioactive molecules at nuclear power plants. So the nuclear power plants became widely spread throughout the world. The cost of electricity gained in such a way was a lot lower, comparing, for instance, to burning fossil fuels. Besides, there were no harmful releases into the atmosphere at all.  With no doubt, it was a tremendous accomplishment, which made human life a bit easier. Some minor incidents took place, but on the whole, this way of energy producing was reckoned quite safe. Until 1986.

In fact, this was the year of a great tragedy that turned the world upside down. On the 26^th of April, 1986 a great explosion of the core reactor occurred. Bloody amounts of nuclear fuel were released into the atmosphere. The resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive smoke fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area, including Pripyat. The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union and Europe. From 1986 to 2000, 350,400 people were evacuated and resettled from the most severely contaminated areas of Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. About 60% of the fallout landed in Belarus. The air, water and soil were badly contaminated. That was the worst nuclear catastrophe ever.

But the principal impact was imposed upon human. The adverse consequences of the nuclear core eruption and the fall outs following it can be barely estimated. Lots of diseases have been linked with the disaster. There was an evident steep increase in cancerous and infectious maladies.

Basically, we have encountered plenty of controversy concerning the construction of atomic power plant here in Belarus. The decision’s been already made. Apparently it is a must taking into account the nowadays economical issue. Actually, it’s the cheapest source of energy ever discovered. Besides, this one is quite environmentally, friendly, but of course, only providing all the strict safety measures are fulfilled. The nuclear wastes are buried safely and will eventually disintegrate after a while.

But in case of an accident, the terrifying aftermath follows. Needless to mention the destructive consequences of Chernobyl. However, the humanity hasn’t learnt that lesson and an awful catastrophe occurred in spring of 2011, at Fukushima power plant, Japan. The happening of such a disaster was the necessary condition for the governments to take the decision about disposing of all the nuclear energy. Even though it costs Japan more than 30 bln euros a year, this country is going to abolish nuclear power. The same solution was made in Germany as well.

So, there’s always a risk of an awful catastrophe. Though it’s really marginal, the history shows that such accidents as the one at Chernobyl are unavoidable. The only ultimate solution would be getting rid of such energy and turning to the safer renewable one.