Research and debate: Environment, Privacy and Diversity - Essay Example

In facts, governments the world over are seriously considering renewable energy sources rather than risk the ignoble consequences of waste disposal of nuclear energy. First of all, there is the need to present a nuclear waste disposal plan that is safe and also contain such minimum risk that there will be no hazard to the environment at any point of time irrespective of any natural or manmade disaster. The Department of Energy has not yet come up with a plan that will satisfy the environmentalists.

Rising population in the Texas-Mexican region necessitates increase in the per capita energy consumption (The US-Mexico Border Energy Zone). Energy producing plants must be set up in order to meet the rising demand for power. Energy from fossil fuel is the automatic choice since it has the largest base for power production in the world including the United States. However, fossil fuel causes pollution. Other alternatives such as energy from renewable sources are expensive and not reliable since the sources happen to be natural and as such are subject to the vagaries of nature.

In such circumstance, nuclear energy should be the automatic choice. However, no matter how hard the Department of Energy tries, it is incapable of influencing the environmentalists. It is not only the environmentalists, but also health and non-proliferation groups who have steadfastly stood their ground against nuclear energy (Leonardo, Leo). Additionally, nuclear plants also face potential threats from terrorist groups (Stacy, Lee). The most devastating features that the Department of Energy has been unable to deal with are the earthquakes that frequent the Texas-Mexico region.

There have been 64 earthquakes in the region in the last 70 years. This increases the potential for recurrence of earthquakes and dents the probability for nuclear plant in the area at any time in the foreseeable future (Cevallos, Diego). The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 gives the