The Risks of a Nuclear Power Plant Facility Essay

The Risks of a Nuclear Power Plant Facility - Essay Example Considering the concept in the light of nuclear power plant, the focus will be on the detrimental effects accompanied by the presence of such a facility. It deals with the unprecedented effects of a potentially precarious activity or event that has not been eliminated or avoided. The radioactive material produced in the nuclear power plants exposes humans to the risk of cancer (Clapp, 2005). Risk Management and its Relevance after the Occurrence of a Disaster Because of the potentiality of a risk to produce undesirable and hazardous results, policies and strategies should be put in place to manage them whenever they occur. This brings in the concept of risk management. Risk management entails a well-structured and organized process of risk identification, and the subsequent measurement of the risk and enactment of systems to handle it. The process can be analyzed through the stages of hazard identification, assessment of the risk, control of the risk, and the monitoring and evaluation of the risk. A hazard is something potentially harmful to the people environment or the property. Any hazardous material in whichever form it is should have their effects analyzed. A nuclear power plant utilizes Uranium that is hazardous when mishandled. There are other radioactive elements that are produced during the reaction process, all of which should be disposed well. Otherwise, the accompanying effects may have a profound effect to the society and the environment for generations. In order to identify hazards in a nuclear plant facility, nuclear reactors incidences should be well documented through use of appropriate report forms. Other strategies will include conducting self-inspection, doing regular maintenance checks, regular observations and consultations, knowledge sharing with other nuclear plants operators and research institutions and seeking of specialists to assist in specific areas. Risk assessment is the second critical process in risk management. Upon realization of a risk, it is imperative that the likelihood of risk occurrence is evaluated. The likelihood of occurrence is a factor of the probability and frequency (Cohen, 2005). Therefore, the probability of a risk should be considered, in the light of the Fukushima Diiachi plant incidence it is evident that the disaster was unprecedented. Considering this fact, the probability and frequency of tsunami can predict the trend in which such disasters can occur. An evaluation of the underlying consequences should also be looked at. The effects of the radioactive material produced in the nuclear plants should be assessed and proper strategies put in place to dispose them and to ensure that in case of a disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes, and tsunamis among others the harmful material will not spread to harm the environment. In risk assessment it is also important to classify the magnitude of the risk, is it extreme medium or low risk. More focus is given to extreme risks without assuming the low risks. Aft er the risk is assessed, then control measures should be put in place. The adoption of risk control measures should be done in a manner that the most risky situations are given prevalence. In risk control, the main objective is to eliminate the risk, a situation that is not possible instantly. However, efforts should be made to reduce the risk to an extent that its chances remain negligible. A

Oil Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Oil Market - Essay Example In case the price of oil went down, then the price of such commodities were also stable, and if the price of this commodities went down, then these products also follows such occurrences. If we are to analyze this, one might ask, what is with oil that it has the power to control different scenario On the second thought, analysts particularly economists suggests that it is not only the oil that can have such a trend, but almost every product that is available to the market. This kind of occurrences is dictated by the demand of the customers and the availability of the product. In this case, the law if supply and demand comes into picture. Therefore, what is the law of supply and demand Before analyzing such a law let us first scrutinize the meaning of demand and supply with regards to economics perspective. The Columbia encyclopaedia (2005) described supply and demand as, 'Supply refers to the varying amounts of a good that producers will supply at different prices; in general, and a higher price yields a greater supply. Demand refers to the quantity of a good that is demanded by consumers at any given price. According to the law of demand, demand decreases as the price rises.' Upon analyzing this premise we can now have a clearer picture of what supply and demand has something to do with the oil market. It is now clear that oil will be regarded as the supply and the wanting of the consumers to get the oil to compensate their needs is the demand. Upon looking into this scenario, one might conclude that the oil as a commodity has the power to dictate its price regarding to the demand of world market. As stated on the first page that almost every human activities on earth needs the consumption of oil, therefore, it would be safe to conclude that there is a huge amount of demand for oil. From cooking meals, generating electricity and running automobiles, this kind of activities consumes oil. If we are to base such things with the aforementioned premises, the price of oils would tend to go up and it is due to the law of demand. The law of demand is defined as " a microeconomic law that states that, all other factors being equal, as the price of a good or service increases, consumer demand for the good or service will decrease and vice versa (answers.com 2006)." In this regard, the flow of the prices of oil would tend to go up if we are to base this phenomenon to the worldwide demand of oil. All over the world, oil is a necessity in life. On the second thought, one might ask that why it is that oil can dictate the flow of economics of some countries in the world Why is it expensive than other necessities The answer would be, it is because of the availability of the product. If we are to compare oil's prices in the majority of Middle East countries where oil is abundant against distant countries such as the Philippines where there is a minimal source of the said product, there is a huge amount of difference with regards to the amount of oil. In countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and the likes, oil prices ranges from $20-$30 centavos per liter to judge against $1.2 per liter. This is due to the following reasons: 1) the fact that oil production is limited, then the priorities of the distribution of oil would be in the countries were it was extracted and therefore, counties