Page 57 - Grasp English C1 (Student Book)

Energy 4

C. Read an essay outlining someone’s personal views on nuclear power. Is the writer in favour of
nuclear power or against it? Underline the writer’s points that support his opinion.

As oil, coal and gas supplies diminish, there is a general feeling that nuclear power will fill the gap. This fuels
the fire for environmentalists who oppose growth in nuclear power, concerned about the risks of nuclear
disaster and cancer from radioactive waste. Environmentalists are right to contest nuclear power, but their
apprehensions are misplaced. There are other fundamental reasons why nuclear is not the solution.
The first problem is that nuclear power keeps getting more expensive while alternatives get cheaper. A
few years ago, it stopped being competitive compared to natural gas generation. Then onshore wind,
followed by solar power and off-shore wind became cheaper options. Efforts to generate nuclear power
more cheaply have been unsuccessful. The Toshiba Westinghouse AP1000 power generator was meant to
be easy to build and cheap, but in reality, it was extortionate and led Toshiba Westinghouse to bankruptcy.
Meanwhile, nuclear fission, hailed to be a potential solution to the global energy crisis, has so far cost
$2 billion in research with barely any progress, and it is predicted that no commercialisable fission technology
will be available until 2070.

The second problem is that nuclear power is an inflexible and wasteful form of power generation. It is not
possible to make small or large scale power stations to match demand, nor to turn off generators at non-
peak times. As a result, surplus energy is created and often wasted.

The third problem is the geopolitical concerns related to the expansion of nuclear power. It is vital that
security over radioactive material and nuclear waste is maintained to ensure public safety, and this would
become more difficult with nuclear proliferation. Moreover, uranium enrichment technologies, which also
serve to create nuclear weapons, require strict monitoring in countries where politics are unstable.
As long as the nuclear power stations generating energy today remain economically viable, it is worth
keeping them going. However, given its shortcomings, it is foolish to invest exorbitant amounts of money on
nuclear power, while safe, scalable and increasingly cheap renewable options are available.

D. Read the tips about argumentative/persuasive essays. Find two examples of each tip in the text.
An argumentative or persuasive essay:

1. can state a strong, subjective opinion.

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2. can use emotive and non-gradable adjectives.

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3. do not use hedging language like may, tend to and can. Opinions may be stated in absolute terms.
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E. Argumentative essays can be one-sided, biased F. You are going to write an argumentative/
and opinionated. They may contain questionable persuasive essay in favour of one kind of energy
information or lack supportive evidence. Identify source. Choose from:
sentences in the essay that you consider biased, 1. nuclear power
then compare with a partner.
2. wind power

3. solar power

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