Nuclear Power
- Submitted by: minicupcake30
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- Category: Science
- Date Submitted: 06/25/2014 09:17 AM
- Pages: 2
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What Is Nuclear Power?
Nuclear power originates from the splitting of uranium atoms in a process called fission. At the power plant, the fission process is used to generate heat for producing steam, which is used by a turbine to generate electricity.
Quick Facts on Nuclear Power
* 13% of the World’s electricity comes from Nuclear power plants that emit little to no greenhouse gases
* 1 in 5 houses or business’ in the US are electrically powered by Nuclear energy
* US Nuclear power plants produce 2,000 metric tons of radioactive waste every year!
The drawback with Nuclear Energy is as follows-
1. Nuclear energy produced by using Uranium is non-renewable.
2. Nuclear reactors are very expensive. The cost of installing nuclear reactors have been increasing by 15% every year for the past 30 years
3. Nuclear reactors need to be operated with care; little mistakes can cause catastrophic damages (e.g. Chernobyl Nuclear Resident Accident, in Ukraine (1986)
4. There is currently no good technology for safely managing nuclear wastes; most methods are very expensive.
5. Nuclear wastes or even the nuclear production material (e.g. Uranium pellets) can fall into the hands of those that would use them for destructive purposes.
Some of the advantages of Nuclear power plants are:
1. They do not produce smoke or carbon dioxide and so they do not contribute to the greenhouse effect;
2. They produce huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel (uranium), compared to other power plants.
3. They also produce small amounts of waste.
4. Nuclear Energy is a very reliable energy resource.
Pollution
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Chernobyl is a long way from the UK, but some of the radioactive pollution was carried here by the wind. That means that even 20 years later, sheep on hundreds of farms in hilly areas have to be tested for radiation before their meat can be eaten. After the explosions at the power plant, heat and smoke from the fires carried...
Nuclear power originates from the splitting of uranium atoms in a process called fission. At the power plant, the fission process is used to generate heat for producing steam, which is used by a turbine to generate electricity.
Quick Facts on Nuclear Power
* 13% of the World’s electricity comes from Nuclear power plants that emit little to no greenhouse gases
* 1 in 5 houses or business’ in the US are electrically powered by Nuclear energy
* US Nuclear power plants produce 2,000 metric tons of radioactive waste every year!
The drawback with Nuclear Energy is as follows-
1. Nuclear energy produced by using Uranium is non-renewable.
2. Nuclear reactors are very expensive. The cost of installing nuclear reactors have been increasing by 15% every year for the past 30 years
3. Nuclear reactors need to be operated with care; little mistakes can cause catastrophic damages (e.g. Chernobyl Nuclear Resident Accident, in Ukraine (1986)
4. There is currently no good technology for safely managing nuclear wastes; most methods are very expensive.
5. Nuclear wastes or even the nuclear production material (e.g. Uranium pellets) can fall into the hands of those that would use them for destructive purposes.
Some of the advantages of Nuclear power plants are:
1. They do not produce smoke or carbon dioxide and so they do not contribute to the greenhouse effect;
2. They produce huge amounts of energy from small amounts of fuel (uranium), compared to other power plants.
3. They also produce small amounts of waste.
4. Nuclear Energy is a very reliable energy resource.
Pollution
|
|
Chernobyl is a long way from the UK, but some of the radioactive pollution was carried here by the wind. That means that even 20 years later, sheep on hundreds of farms in hilly areas have to be tested for radiation before their meat can be eaten. After the explosions at the power plant, heat and smoke from the fires carried...