Ddi Ss Topicality Nuclear Cards

SS Uranium is a single use resource ABS Alaskan, 08 (“Alternative Energy Information”, http://www.absak.com/library/alternativerenewable-energy) The term "alternative energy" (also: renewable energy) encompasses a variety of power generation sources. Generally, it refers to electrical power derived from "renewable" resources such as solar or wind energy, as opposed to "single-use" resources such as coal or uranium. The most common forms of alternative energy available for homeowner use today are solar power, wind power and "micro-hydro" power. Alternative energy excludes fossil fuels and nukes Harper Collins Environmental Science Dictionary, 92 (Gareth Jones et al, ed, p. 25) alternative energy, energy obtained from sources other than NUCLEAR POWER or traditional FOSSIL FUELS such as coal, oil, and gas. Unlike most energy resources currently in use, alternative energy resources are usually renewable and nonpolluting. The main alternative energy sources are tidal and WAVE POWER, SOLAR ENERGY, GEOTHERMAL POWER, and BIOMASS fuels, such as METHANE and ETHANOL. To this list can be added firewood and hydro power, although both have been extensively used for many thousands of years.

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Alternative energy definitions are influence by interest groups-prefer federal definitions Simon, 07 – professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno (Christopher, Alternative energy: political, economic, and social feasibility, p. 40-41) State-level variation illustrates the role politics plays in shaping the alternative energy paradigm. State-energy economic interests often impact the choices related to the adoption of alterantive energy policies. For example, in states with coal production, it is likely that interest groups representing fossil fuel industries and environmental interests will square off, seeking to shape the regulation of energy uses and production as well as the nature of redistributive policies intended to provide cleaner energy, the latter effectively benefiting individuals and groups who may bear environmental and health costs associated with fossil fuel use. In some cases, there are even different tiers or categories of “alternative energy,” depending on the source’s level or shades of “greenness” (Mandelbaum and Brown 2004: 1). Perhaps the most well-known recent example of very broadly defined and apparantly “relaxed” standards for the concept of “alternative energy” comes from the state of Pennsylvania, which has effectively moved away from more narrowly defined federal definitions. Adopted into law in November 2004, Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1030 identifies energy sources and relates these sources to relative “greenness,” which is by implication measured by the level of environmental emissions or potential for environmental harm. The alternative energy greenness divides types into Tier I and Tier II alternative energy sources. Tier I alternative energy sources are: (1) solar PV energy; (2) wind power; (3) low-impact hydropower; (4) geothermal energy; (5) biologically derived methane gas; (6) fuel cells; (7) biomass energy; and (8) coal mine methane. In scrutinizing these Tier I sources and the related definitions in the footnotes, the reader might dispute their categorization as relatively low impact forms of energy. Coal mine methane and biomass derived energy, for instance, produce greenhouse gases. Pennsylvania’s Tier II alternative energy resources provide an even broader view when it comes to common associations with “green” energy. The second-tier sources are as follows (1) waste coal (2) distributed generation systems (3) demand-side management; (4) large-scale hydropower; (5) municipal solid waste; (6) generation of electricity utilizing byproducts of the pulping process and wood-manufacturing process, including bark, wood chips, sawdust, and lignin in spent pulping liquors and (7) integrated combined coal gasification technology. The Pennsylvania statute illustrates the capacity of government to narrowly or broadly define alternative energy. Alternative energy cannot assumed to have certain properties, such as zero greenhouse emissions or complete disassociation from hydrocarbon energy sources. At the federal level, the expansion of nuclear energy policy has been proposed as a form of alternative energy, replacing the use of hydrocarbons to produce electrical or thermal energy. What is alternative energy? Simply put, it is not a unified concept. The lack of clarity and consistency in defintion, however, provides an opportunity for individuals and groups considering alternative energy sources for their communities, states, or nation. The lack of rigidity in definition reflects the likelihood that perspectives on alternative energy will be more likely related to a search process focusing on energy alternatives.

Infinite different combinations of reactors, fuels, reprocessing strategies, and waste disposal mechanisms make nuclear power way more than one case. Rodney Ewing, Donald R. Peacor Collegiate Professor and Chair in the Univ. Mich. Department of Geological Sciences and also has faculty appointments in the departments of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences and Materials Science & Engineering. 10/24/2006 “Plutonium or greenhouse gases? Weighing the energy options” http://www.innovations-report.de/html/berichte/umwelt_naturschutz/bericht-72672.html

In an effort to capture that complete picture, Ewing compared carbon-based fossil fuels with nuclear power, considering not only the technologies involved but also the environmental impacts. Similar comparisons have been made between different energy-producing systems, "but in the case of nuclear power, such an analysis is difficult because there are different types of nuclear reactors and there is not a single nuclear fuel cycle, but rather many variants, with different strategies for reprocessing and disposing of nuclear wastes," Ewing said.

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