Throughout history, nuclear science has affected the US and Europe positively and negatively, some of the stuff that we use daily came from nuclear science. One of these things is nuclear energy, in which radioactive material is used to heat water into steam which is then used to spin turbines to create electricity. The nuclear process heat for industry is another thing we use today that have come from nuclear science. It works by taking heat from radioactive materials to heat things like tarred sand into oil. Another thing that nuclear science has done for us is in the field of nuclear medicine where they have the ability to use radiation to diagnose and cure different diseases like cancer. At this point in time let’s look closer into what each one of these three things has done for us in the modern world and what it will help us with in the future.
In Europe, there are about 128 Nuclear power reactors and in the US there are about 98 nuclear reactors all generating power in which about 20% of the US and 26% of Europe's population use in their daily lives (Nuclear power in the European/US). Based on an organization that represents the global nuclear industry known as the World Nuclear Association who promotes a wide understanding of nuclear sciences among the world by giving information on nucular sciences. This modern form of energy generates power through fission, which is the process of splitting uranium atoms to produce energy. The heat released by fission is used to create steam that spins a turbine to generate electricity which in turn is used by the US and Europe’s population for their electrical needs (History of nuclear energy, mission). But, this is only the beginning, nuclear energy in the future is said to be able to transmute long-lived radioisotopes in used nuclear fuel into shorter-lived fission products, such as Thorium. This will make nuclear energy more readily available since more energy can be produced from a smaller amount of material, revolutionizing how we make power and how much of it can be made (accelerator-driven). This might sound wonderful but there are still disadvantages. This one has the dangerous disadvantage of, nuclear meltdowns. The reactors that use nuclear ions to generate power get extremely hot, because of this the system has to be cooled, this usually happens by running cold water through it to collect heat. When the cooling system fails to cool the reactors a nuclear meltdown happens to cause the containment of radiation to be destroyed. In the long term, if the leak of radiation is big enough, it has the ability to cause health problems in the surrounding area (Raul, Nuclear energy). This can also cause explosions from the water in the tubes turning immediately into steam and expanding outwards (Hobbs).
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The nuclear process heat for industry, used by industrial companies, is another thing that nuclear science has come up with. This is when they use the heat coming off of the fission of nuclear fuel to heat up substances along the lines of tarred sand, and saltwater to produce things like oil, water, and bio-based ethanol. This use of nuclear energy is good for mass production. For example, nuclear heat for the industry has the ability to turn saltwater into regular water by heating it up and removing the salt from the water, this water can then be bottled, allowing for mass production of water for the places that do not have potable water in large amounts. The steam from the heated water can also be used to make energy for the people as well. This process produces temperatures of up to 900°C with different temperatures different things have the ability to be produced. Scientists at this point in time are trying to find a way to make it so that the nuclear reactors have the ability to reach 950°C for the production of Hydrogen gas which is used in lots of industrial goods such as tech (Nuclear process-heat, Hydrogen basics). All in all, it is a wonderful process that allows people to harvest resources from other things by heating it. This is a great way to make industrial oils from tared sands, water from saltwater and in the future hydrogen for the industry. It still has a disadvantage though and that is this process uses heat from radioactive materials and that radiation has the ability to leach into the oil and water and contaminate lots of people making them very sick and eventually they will die from the radiation they have absorbed (Nuclear Desalination).
Another thing nuclear science has brought to the modern world is how we use nuclear materials in the medical field. Nuclear medicine is a particular field of medicine that uses radioactive tracers to diagnose and treat disease or to assess a patient's various bodily functions. Radioactive tracers are a set of carrier molecules that are tightly bound to a radioactive atom. In each case, the radioactive tracer is administered to the patient and then tracked carefully with specifically designed cameras. Radioactive tracers have helped in much of our current understanding and knowledge of metabolic and physiological processes in the body and mind. Today, there are over 100 nuclear medicine imaging tactics, and every organ can be imaged. These techniques allow for the treatment and diagnosis of diseases such as cancer. The future of Nuclear medicine is bleak but a few things that have been going on are to understand the relationship between brain chemistry and behavior, such as eating disorders. In addition, nuclear medicine could be very useful in deepening our understanding of the metabolism and pharmacology of new drugs and lastly, the emerging field of 'personalized medicine.' If we use targeted radionuclide therapies to personalize treatment, we have the ability to accelerate the process of advancing patient care (The future of Nuclear medicine). Nuclear medicine just like the other two also has a disadvantage. This disadvantage is the word radiation and how people think that it will harm them, when, in fact, the radiation they are exposed to is the same amount of radiation that a patient is exposed to of other diagnostic scans, and even in a patient's day today, they are always exposed to certain small amounts of radiation. However, a woman should always tell their doctor if they are pregnant or breastfeeding so that the doctor has the ability to determine whether or not a certain nuclear medicine test is safe for the baby (McFarland).
In conclusion, Nuclear science has opened up a door of possibilities in the modern world in how people use radioactive material to create power by heating water, turning it to steam so it can then turn turbines, or how the heat has been used by industrial companies to create oil from tarred sand and create drinkable water from the salty seawater. It has even allowed doctors to diagnose and cure diseases through the use of radioactive tracers. Nuclear science has done many things for us, and in the future, it is predicted that it will do much more. There are still disadvantages to it though, with the majority of it in the form of radiation ether leaking into something or leaking out of something. But even with this the pros way out the cons.
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