Chemistry.: NUCLEAR ENERGY: Juan and Clifford

NUCLEAR ENERGY

BY: CLIFFORD AND JUAN

1) About Nuclear Energy:

- Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest source of energy that produces energy efficiently. It is very conservative form of energy as the same amount of Uranium-235 produces 10 million times more energy than the same amount of coal burnt. However, maintaining a nuclear power plant is very troublesome and dangerous as there are mountains of radioactive wastes as well as getting near the plant is very radioactive.

ßß Example of a Nuclear Power Plant

2) Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy (Blue = pros, Red = cons):

- It produces almost no greenhouse gases, reducing global warming problems.

- It is a very reliable energy source, because very little reactants to produce energy is needed everytime, hence there are almost never shortage of supply.

- By far, nuclear power plant produces the most energy out of the rest of the energy power plant. Nuclear power plant produces phenomenal amounts of energy despite its little requirements to produce.

- Although nuclear power plants do not emit greenhouse gases, they produce radioactive wastes, which are harmful to the environment and they are very difficult to remove.

- Nuclear power plants are very difficult to manage and very dangerous. These power plant expose workers to excessive radiation, which harms their lives. Even during the mining of Uranium-235, exposure to radioactivity is possible.

- Nuclear power plants are prone to massive disasters. An example of this is the chernobyl incident that happened in the Ukraine in 26th of April 1986.

ßß Cross section of a nuclear power plant.

ßß Aftermath of the Chernobyl Disaster.

3) How is the nuclear energy formed?

- A nuclear power plant produces its energy from Uranium-235. Energy is produced through a process called nuclear fission. In nuclear fission, neutrons collides with the Uranium-235 atoms, creating an unstable atom. These atoms then split, producing huge amounts of energy while splitting. However, after the split, neutrons are released by the atoms, creating more neutrons to collide with another Uranium-235 atoms, creating a chain reaction. The energy produced is calculated by a famous Einstein equation, E= mc² where E= energy, m= mass, and c = speed of light (3x10⁸ m/s). That is a humongous amount of energy.

- This amount of energy is released by rods of Uranium-235, into the water and the water turned into steam. These steams then turn the turbines to produce energy.

- Other methods of producing energy (nuclear energy) is possible. Examples of it are nuclear fusion and etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7C14UIKuv8 à This is a video explaining the nuclear fission in detail.

ßß Illustration of a nuclear fission.

4) The uses of nuclear energy

- Food and Agriculture
The use of isotopes and radiation techniques in agriculture come under this category. Leading organizations have been working on the technology to increase agricultural production, improve food availability and quality, reduce production costs and minimize pollution of food crop.

- Human Health
One very common application of nuclear energy is in the treatment of cancer - radiotherapy. Radiotherapy can also be used to cure cancers like breast cancer, lung cancer, etc. Also, small amounts of radioisotope tracers are used for diagnostic and research purposes. These techniques have helped in monitoring the levels of toxic substances in food, air and water. This is one of the benefits of using nuclear energy.

5) Reasons to use nuclear energy

Reduces the Dependence on Fossil Fuels
There has been an increase in production and supply of fossil fuels like oil and gas, as the world has been using them at an tremendous pace. Their deposits are emptying. On the other hand, nuclear energy requires very little quantity of fuel to produce large quantities of energy. Consider this; one ton of uranium can produce energy that is more than that of several million tons of coal and oil.

Clean Water
The water discharged from nuclear power plants is very safe, free of any radiation or harmful pollutants, and meets all regulatory standards. Hence, helps in protecting the aquatic life and conserving wildlife. Some energy creates a pollution called water pollution and nuclear energy does not pollute the water and polluting the water can harm the aquatic lives.