.Nuclear energy is about 16% of the world's electricity. All of the nuclear power in United States is used for electricity.
The energy must be first released from atoms. There are two ways that energy could be released. One is nuclear fusion and another is nuclear fission. In nuclear fission, energy is produced by atoms splitting apart to form a smaller one. Nuclear power plants use this energy to produce electricity. Nuclear fusion is atoms combined or fused together to form a larger atom. This is how the sun produces energy.
There is an core or nucleus made out of protons and neutrons. To make electricity from nuclear energy is by first putting uranium into the nuclear reactor's core. Then put the neutrons into the core. When a neutron hits the nucleus of the uranium atom, fission occurs and tremendous heat is released. When the nucleus is split, 2 or 3 neutrons are set free. Then, those split other atoms and sets more neutrons free. A chain reaction takes place and creates large amount of heat. The coolant, which is water, keeps the reactor from getting too hot and absorbs the heat produced by fission. It travels through the tubes until it reaches the steam boiler. Pressure in the tubes prevent the coolant from burning. At the steam boiler, the heat from the coolant passes through the tube walls and heats up sea water. The heated sea water turns into steam and travels through a pipe to a turbine. The steam causes the turbine to turn and turns the generator to create electricity. This just means that nuclear fission makes heat water into steam which makes the steam turn the turbine which makes the generator turn and makes electricity.
Where in the World is This Energy Source Being Used? Why is it Being Used?
Today, there is 31 countries that use nuclear energy. The countries are United States, France, Russia, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Ukraine, Canada, United Kingdom, China, Taiwan, Spain, Belgium, India, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Finland, Slovakia, Brazil, South Africa, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Mexico, Argentina, Slovenia, Holland, Pakistan, Armenia, and Iran. Countries such as Japan and France heavily depend on this energy source.
The reason that people use nuclear energy is that nuclear power is clean to the environment and the high oil prices took interest on people. There were 436 nuclear power plants in 2007. It is a technology and source of electricity that will with spread to the world and its importance will only increase in the future.
Does Japan Use This Energy source? Why or Why not? Explain.
Japan is a country that is heavily depending on this source. The reason is that since Japan needs to import 80% of its energy needs. Now, the new nuclear power plants made Japan be able to make its own electricity. The 54 reactors provide 30% of the countries electricity and is expecting to rise to 40% in 2017. The first nuclear reactor power started on 1966 and became a national strategic priority in 1973.
Japan started its research program in 1954 with 230 million yen used for the nuclear reactor. The Atomic Energy Basic Law, which is to only use nuclear technology peacefully, was introduced on 1955. Japan imported its first nuclear power reactor from the United Kingdom. It started operating on 1966 to 1988. After this unit, light water reactors, boiling water reactors, and pressurised water reactors have been constructed. In 1970, these were completed and started commercial operation. A major research established an Power Reactor in 1990.
What Are the Advantages of This Energy Source?
The advantages of this energy source is that the earth has limited supplies of coal and oil but nuclear power plants could still produce electricity after the coal and oil has depleted, nuclear power plants need less fuel than ones which burn fossil fuels (one ton o
f uranium produces more energy than several tons of coal or several million barrels of oil), and that coal and oil pollute the earth but well operated nuclear energy won't pollute the earth. Nuclear power produces small amounts of waste too.What Are the Disadvantages of This Energy Source?
The disadvantages of this energy source is that nuclear explosions create radiation and which harms the cell of a person. A possible type of a reactor disaster is called a meltdown which a fission reaction goes out of control and leads to nuclear explosions. In 1979, a nuclear reactor's cooler failed near Hamsburg and forced thousands of people to flee. It was solved minutes before a meltdown would have occurred. In 1986, a worse disaster occurred
in Russia. A large amount of radiation escaped from this disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people were exposed from this radiation and several dozen were killed in few days. After several years, thousands of people could get killed because of cancer from the radiation. Another thing is that uranium is not renewable.Another problem is the waste disposal problem. Radiators produce nuclear wastes which has dangerous radiation. Since they could kill people who touch it, they cannot be thrown away like an ordinary garbage. At 1957 in a dump site near Russia, buried nuclear wastes mysteriously exploded and killed several dozens of people. Currently, they are stored in a special cooling pool.
Is This Energy Source Sustainable? Explain.
Yes. Nuclear energy is sustainable. This energy source is sometimes considered as green energy because it brings out less carbon dioxide. Nuclear energy is sustainable because it is only using reactions with things that could last for a long time and when those depletes, scientists could find other sources.
Is This Energy Eco-Friendly?
Nuclear energy is Eco-friendly to the earth. The reason is that it wont pollute the earth and can sustain for way longer time than oil or fuels. The nuclear power plants never let out carbon dioxide so it is Eco-friendly to the earth. This is one of the reason that the whole world depends on it.
What is This Energy Used As?
Although nuclear energy wont pollute the earth and is sustainable, the explosion could be able to explode the earth itself. This nuclear power is used as bombs and weapons such as atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs. The United States dropped an atomic bomb in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 100,000 people were killed in Hiroshima and 40,000 people were killed in Nagasaki. The atomic bomb works by fission which brings out huge energy. The hydrogen bomb is thousands of times stronger than the atomic bomb. Like sun, it explodes from nuclear fusion. It needs so much heat that the atomic bomb is just used for providing the heat to fuse together.
