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Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy essay
Advantages of nuclear power
Nuclear energy pro and cons
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However, mostly due to fear and the lack of knowledge, many are adverse to the use of nuclear power. Nuclear energy comes from two methods, fusion and fission. Fusion brings together tritium and deuterium to create heat energy, helium, and a neutron (Duke Energy, 2013). Nuclear fusion releases more heat energy than fission, however it is more difficult to control, so it is not currently a viable energy process (Duke Energy, 2013). However, the sun is an example of nuclear fusion, in how it produces heat.
Nuclear fission, the process that takes place inside a nuclear power plant, actually produces 10 million times the amount of energy produced by fossil fuels. That’s more energy for less money! Nuclear energy has been used for more than just electricity as well. Its uses involve medical research equipment, industrial equipment, scientific neutron beams, and nuclear weapons. People say that nuclear energy is responsible for the atomic bomb and the hydrogen bomb which can wreak havoc on a large scale, like desolating a country, to a small scale, like altering DNA.
A nuclear reactor consists of a core. The core contains fuel that powers nuclear reactions. It is comprised of three parts: the fuel, the moderator, and the fuel rods. A chain reaction of nuclear fission generates heat
The heat then boils water, which creates steam that is needed to move the blades of a machine called the turbine. The turbine is connected to a power generator, which produces electricity. Also, a condenser cools down the boiling water inside the reactor so it can be recycled. One benefit of using nuclear power is the fact that nuclear power is 10% of our global energy.
In the circuit the reactor keeps the pressure of the steam. Both of these reactors have a job, which is to slow the neutrons. Therefore the slowing down of the neutrons during the fission process of Uranium causes the nuclear power plants to create our energy. Nuclear fusion is also apart of creating energy, but is not used in power plants. Nuclear fusion is the combining of nuclei.
Nuclear Power The united states is the leading country in the nuclear power industry with over 100 reactors (Martin 1). Nuclear power is the modern day energy source that one can obtain from nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactors are machines that make electricity from an element called uranium. Over the years, scientists have evolved to many new methods of obtaining nuclear energy with enhanced safety.
Nuclear energy is contained in the nucleus (core) of an atom. Atoms are very small particles that make up everything in this universe; therefore the bonding energy is very strong as we can see in the strength of objects we use on a daily basis. If done correctly, this energy can be harvested and used to generate electricity. There are two main ways to release this energy: Nuclear fusion and Nuclear Fission (National Nuclear Regulator, 2015)
Nuclear power is when you use a nuclear reaction to create nuclear energy to generate heat. That heat is then use to create steam the steam spins a turbine to generate and harness the energy. The reaction happens very fast and can be hard to control if not properly prepared. I will talk about the many pros and cons of nuclear power and what happens when one melts down. The origin of nuclear power was in 1934.
Nuclear Fission is a process that was discovered by German scientists, Otto Hahn, and his assistant Fritz Strassman on December 17, 1938. Nuclear Fission is a process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts. This will release free photons and neutrons, and releases a large amount of energy. If this energy is controlled, it can be used for nuclear energy for nuclear power plants. On the contrary, this process can be used uncontrollably in atomic bombs, such as the ones dropped in World War II.
Well as of now all of our nuclear power plants are nuclear fission reactors. Nuclear fission is the splitting of atoms in half. Fission reactors run on uranium which is a highly radioactive substance. Nuclear fusion on the other hand does not give off any waste. Nuclear fusion is the exact opposite of fission.
Nuclear fission, which is what is currently used by most power plants, works by bombarding heavy elements like Uranium-235, which are stable before the reaction, with neutrons. The neutrons are often absorbed by the atoms, causing the atoms to become unstable and break into smaller elements, and energy is produced. The process of fission is typically controlled by a machine called the light water reactor. Light water reactors work in a way that is honestly quite simple (Kurzgesagt), non-irradiated water is used to slow down the neutrons bombardment, the atoms moving around create
In power plants, heat is created by burning fossil fuels. However, in nuclear plants heat is created by nuclear fission (the splitting of atoms). In a nuclear plant, the nuclear reactor creates heat that is used to make steam. The steam then turns a turbine connected to an electromagnet, called a generator. This process creates electricity.
In this diagram, a neutron is absorbed by a uranium-235 nucleus, as a result, it turns of a small period of time to an excited uranium-236 nucleus, with the excitation energy provided by the kinetic energy of the neutron plus the forces that bind to the neutron. The uranium-236 then splits into two, smaller, lighter, fast-moving elements (these are known as fission products) and releases three free neutrons as well as gamma rays. Fusion and fission are nuclear reactions. Fusion is the binding of two atoms to produce a heavier atom while fission is splitting of an atom. Fusion releases more energy than fission and powers the stars.
They both heat water that produces steam and that steam is used to turn turbines which produce electricity. However, nuclear energy is produced by fission. Fission energy occurs when one atom splits in two. When this happens, an extreme amount of energy is created.
Nuclear energy is something that we`ve all heard about. It carries risk and potential. When an atom (Uranium and Plutonium in nuclear power plants) is bombarded by neutrons, it can be split, causing fission. This fission releases more neutrons, which causes a chain reaction. Nuclear power plants use this use the heat that is created by fission to heat water that spins their turbines (“Nuclear Energy”).
