Nuclear energy, or nuclear power, is made in nuclear reactors (or power plants) These contain machines that can control ‘nuclear fission’ to produce electricity. The reactors need uranium for this process. Atoms of uranium are forced to break apart and as they split, they release tiny particles – ‘fission products’. Those fission products cause other uranium atoms to split, thereby starting a chain reaction. The energy that is released from this chain reaction creates heat.
The heat warms the reactor’s cooling agent (which might be water, liquid metal or molten salt) and subsequently this produces steam. The steam drives turbines and those drive generators, creating electricity.
In this section you will find essays on nuclear energy. Many argue the pros and cons of nuclear power, citing major nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima as examples of concerns. You will also find many essays discussing the environmental pros and cons of nuclear energy.
Introduction On March 11, 2011 a tsunami struck the east coast of Japan, which resulted in a disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. During the day commencing the natural disaster many decisions were made with regards to managing the crisis. This paper will examine these decisions made during the crisis. The Governmental Politics … Read more
6th Form Economics project: Nuclear power, the energy of the future of the 1950s, is now starting to feel like the past. Around 450 nuclear reactors worldwide currently generate 11% of the world electricity, or approximately 2500 TWh in a year, just under the total nuclear power generated globally in 2001 and only 500 TWh … Read more
Over the course of many decades, the human population has attempted several approaches to satisfy the demand for energy. As the population continues to grow exponentially, our alternatives to obtaining energy, from our houses to our jobs, have changed. In the spectrum of energies that exist today, there has been one that is the most … Read more
Radioactive contamination of the biosphere is the excess of the natural level of radioactive substances in the environment. Nuclear explosions and leakage of radioactive components as a result of accidents at nuclear power plants or other enterprises can cause it. Currently, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the number of operating reactors in … Read more
Date: 26 April 1986 Location: Pripyat, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union Cause: Inadvertent explosion of core during emergency shutdown of reactor whilst undergoing power failure test The Chernobyl disaster, which is also referred to as the Chernobyl accident was a big catastrophic nuclear destruction. It said to occurred on 25 to the 26 of April 1986 … Read more
In order to increase my understanding of energy and its relationship to sustainability for our project, I created a powerpoint outlining how different forms of energy are generated in the United States, in South Carolina, and in Greenville County. Biomass energy was the first topic I researched. Biomass is organic material that comes from plants … Read more
1 – Energy Problem Brief description: Egypt faces many problems and grand challenges like the lack of energy, blackouts and urban congestion and many other problems. While Egypt is oil, gas and other energy sources producer, the country remains a net importer of these products and it is also a net importer of hydrocarbon resources … Read more
“The prevention and detection of, and response to, theft, sabotage, unauthorised access, unlawful transfer, or other malicious activities involving nuclear material, other radioactive substances, or their associated facilities,” according to the IAEA. Nuclear security attempts to safeguard individuals, property, society, and the environment against ionising radiation’s negative consequences. The goal of nuclear security work is … Read more
During the Second World War, the United States’ Manhattan Project invented, developed and tested the ‘atomic bomb’. When two nuclear weapons were deployed in 1945 over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they signalled to the world what would become a new era of warfare. A single bomb could now cause catastrophic destruction as never … Read more
There are many different ways we create power and now we are to a point where we need to start looking into the pros and cons of each. Some of the energy sources we have use resources that will not be available forever and some can create a severe impact on the Earth, which are … Read more
