NUCLEAR ENERGY

Nuclear energy is the energy in the nucleus, or core, of an

atom. Atoms are tiny units that make up all matter in
the universe. Energy is what holds the nucleus together. There is
a huge amount of power in an atoms dense nucleus. In fact, the
power that holds the nucleus together is officially called the
strong force.
Nuclear energy can be used to create electricity, but it must first
be released from the atom. In nuclear fission, atoms are split to
release the energy.
A nuclear reactor, or power plant, is a series of machines
that can control nuclear fission to produce electricity. The
fuel that nuclear reactors use to produce nuclear fission is pellets
of the element uranium. In a nuclear reactor, atoms of uranium
are forced to break apart. As they split, the atoms release tiny
particles called fission products. Fission products cause other
uranium atoms to split, starting a chain reaction. The
energy released from this chain reaction creates heat.
The heat created by nuclear fission warms the reactors
cooling agent. A cooling agent is usually water, but some
nuclear reactors use liquid metal or molten salt. The cooling
agent, heated by nuclear fission, produces steam. The steam
turns turbines, or wheels turned by a flowing current. The turbines
drive generators, or engines that create electricity.
Rods of material called nuclear poison can adjust how
much electricity is produced. Nuclear poisons are materials,
such as a type of the element xenon, that absorb some of the
fission products created by nuclear fission. The more rods of
nuclear poison that are present during the chain reaction, the

slower and more controlled the reaction will be. Removing the
rods will allow a stronger chain reaction and create more
electricity.
About 15 percent of the worlds electricity is generated by
nuclear power plants. Nations such as Lithuania, France, and
Slovakia create almost all of their electricity from nuclear power
plants.
Nuclear Food: Uranium
Uranium is the fuel most widely used to produce nuclear energy.
Thats because uranium atoms split apart relatively easily. Its
also a very common element, found in rocks all over the
world. However, the specific type of uranium used to produce
nuclear energy, called U-235, is rare. U-235 makes up less than
one percent of the uranium in the world.
Although some of the uranium the United States uses is mined in
this country, most is imported. The U.S. gets uranium from
Australia, Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan. Once
uranium is mined, it must be extracted from other minerals. It
must also be processed before it can be used.
Because nuclear fuel can be used to create nuclear weapons as
well as nuclear reactors, only nations that are part of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are allowed to import uranium
or plutonium, another nuclear fuel. The treaty promotes the
peaceful use of nuclear fuel, as well as limiting the spread of
nuclear weapons.
A typical nuclear reactor uses about 59,000 metric tons (65,000
tons) of uranium every year. Complex processes allow some
uranium and plutonium to be re-enriched or recycled. This
reduces the amount of mining, extracting, and processing that
needs to be done.

Nuclear Energy and People

Nuclear energy produces electricity that can be used to power
homes, schools, businesses, and hospitals. The first nuclear
reactor to produce electricity was located near Arco, Idaho, in the
U.S. The Experimental Breeder Reactor began powering itself in
1951. The first nuclear power plant designed to provide
energy to a community was established in Obninsk,
Russia, in 1954.
Building nuclear reactors requires a high level of technology, and
only the countries that have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty can get the uranium or plutonium that is required. For
these reasons, most nuclear power plants are located in the
developed world.
Nuclear power plants produce renewable, clean energy.
They do not pollute the air or produce greenhouse gases. They
can be built in urban or rural areas, and do not radically alter the
environment around them.
The steam powering the turbines and generators is
ultimately recycled. It is cooled down in a separate structure
called a cooling tower. The steam turns back into water and can
be used again to produce more electricity. Excess steam is simply
recycled into the atmosphere, where it does no harm as clean
water vapor.
However, the byproduct of nuclear energy is radioactive
material. Radioactive material is a collection of unstable
atomic nuclei. These nuclei lose their energy and can affect
many materials around them, including organisms and the
environment. Radioactive material can be extremely toxic,
causing burns and increasing the risk for cancers, blood diseases,
and bone decay.
Radioactive waste is what is left over from the operation
of a nuclear reactor. Radioactive waste is mostly protective
clothing worn by workers, tools, and cloths that have been in

contact with radioactive dust. Radioactive waste is long-lasting.

Materials like clothes and tools can stay radioactive for thousands
of years. The government regulates how these materials are
disposed of so they dont contaminate anything else.
Used fuel and rods of nuclear poison are extremely
radioactive. The used uranium pellets must be stored in special
containers that look like large swimming pools. Water cools the
fuel and insulates the outside from contact with the radioactivity.
Some nuclear plants store their used fuel in dry storage tanks
above ground.
Chernobyl
Critics of nuclear energy worry that the storage facilities for
radioactive waste will leak, crack, or erode. Radioactive material
could then contaminate the soil and ground water near the
facility. This could lead to serious health problems for the people
and organisms in the area. All communities would have to
be evacuated.
This is what happened in Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986. A steam
explosion at one of the power plants four nuclear reactors caused
a fire, called a plume. This plume was highly radioactive, creating
a cloud of radioactive particles that fell to the ground,
called fallout. The fallout spread over the Chernobyl facility, as
well as the surrounding area. The fallout drifted with the wind,
and the particles entered the water cycle as rain. Radioactivity
traced to Chernobyl fell as rain over Scotland and Ireland. Most of
the radioactive fallout fell in Belarus.
The environmental impact of the Chernobyl disaster was
immediate. For kilometers around the facility, the pine
forest dried up and died. The red color of the dead pines earned
this area the nickname the Red Forest. Fish from the nearby
Pripyat River had so many radioactivities that people could no
longer eat them. Cattle and horses in the area died.

More than 100,000 people were relocated after the disaster, but
the number of human victims of Chernobyl is difficult
to determine. The effects of radiation poisoning only appear after
many years. Cancers and other diseases can be very difficult to
trace to a single source.
Future of Nuclear Energy
Nuclear reactors use fission, or the splitting of atoms, to
produce energy. Nuclear energy can also be produced
through fusion or joining (fusing) atoms together. The sun,
for instance, is constantly undergoing nuclear fusion
as hydrogen atoms fuse to form helium. Because all life on our
planet depends on the sun, you could say that nuclear fusion
makes life on Earth possible.
Nuclear power plants do not have the capability to safely and
reliably produce energy from nuclear fusion. Its not clear whether
the process will ever be an option for producing electricity.
Nuclear engineers are researching nuclear fusion, however,
because the process will likely be safe and cost-effective.
Source: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/nuclear-energy/

Imagine following a volt of electricity back through the wall

socket, all the way through miles of power lines to the nuclear
reactor that generated it. You'd encounter the generator that
produces the spark and the turbine that turns it. Next, you'd find
the jet of steam that turns the turbine and finally the radioactive
uranium bundle that heats water into steam. Welcome to the
nuclear reactor core.
The water in the reactor also serves as a coolant for the
radioactive material, preventing it from overheating and melting
down.
As of March 1, 2011, there were 443 operating nuclear power
reactors spread across the planet in 47 different countries
[source: WNA].
Uranium-235 isn't the only possible fuel for a power plant.
Another fissionable material is plutonium-239. Plutonium-239 is
created by bombarding U-238 with neutrons, a common
occurrence in a nuclear reactor.
Despite all the cosmic energy that the word "nuclear" invokes,
power plants that depend on atomic energy don't operate that
differently from a typical coal-burning power plant. Both heat
water into pressurized steam, which drives a turbine generator.
The key difference between the two plants is the method of
heating the water.
While older plants burn fossil fuels, nuclear plants depend on the
heat that occurs during nuclear fission, when one atom splits
into two and releases energy. Nuclear fission happens naturally
every day. Uranium, for example, constantly undergoes
spontaneous fission at a very slow rate. This is why the element
emits radiation, and why it's a natural choice for the induced
fission that nuclear power plants require.
Uranium is a common element on Earth and has existed since the
planet formed. While there are several varieties of

uranium, uranium-235 (U-235) is the one most important to the

production of both nuclear power and nuclear bombs.
U-235 decays naturally by alpha radiation: It throws off an alpha
particle, or two neutrons and two protons bound together. It's also
one of the few elements that can undergo induced fission. Fire a
free neutron into a U-235 nucleus and the nucleus will absorb the
neutron, become unstable and split immediately.
As soon as the nucleus captures the neutron, it splits into two
lighter atoms and throws off two or three new neutrons (the
number of ejected neutrons depends on how the U-235 atom
splits). The process of capturing the neutron and splitting happens
very quickly.
The decay of a single U-235 atom releases approximately 200
MeV (million electron volts). That may not seem like much, but
there are lots of uranium atoms in a pound (0.45 kilograms) of
uranium. So many, in fact, that a pound of highly enriched
uranium as used to power a nuclear submarine is equal to about a
million gallons of gasoline.
The splitting of an atom releases an incredible amount of heat
and gamma radiation, or radiation made of high-energy
photons. The two atoms that result from the fission later
release beta radiation (superfast electrons) and gamma
radiation of their own, too.
But for all of this to work, scientists have to first enrich a sample
of uranium so that it contains 2 to 3 percent more U-235. Threepercent enrichment is sufficient for nuclear power plants, but
weapons-grade uranium is composed of at least 90 percent U235.

Inside a Nuclear Power Plant

In order to turn nuclear fission into electrical energy, nuclear

power plant operators have to control the energy given off by the
enriched uranium and allow it to heat water into steam.
Enriched uranium typically is formed into inch-long (2.5centimeter-long) pellets, each with approximately the same
diameter as a dime. Next, the pellets are arranged into long rods,
and the rods are collected together into bundles. The bundles
are submerged in water inside a pressure vessel. The water acts
as a coolant. Left to its own devices, the uranium would
eventually overheat and melt.
To prevent overheating, control rods made of a material that
absorbs neutrons are inserted into the uranium bundle using a
mechanism that can raise or lower them. Raising and lowering the
control rods allow operators to control the rate of the nuclear
reaction. When an operator wants the uranium core to produce
more heat, the control rods are lifted out of the uranium bundle
(thus absorbing fewer neutrons). To reduce heat, they are lowered
into the uranium bundle. The rods can also be lowered completely
into the uranium bundle to shut the reactor down in the event of
an accident or to change the fuel.
The uranium bundle acts as an extremely high-energy source of
heat. It heats the water and turns it to steam. The steam drives a
turbine, which spins a generator to produce power. Humans have
been harnessing the expansion of water into steam for hundreds
of years.
In some nuclear power plants, the steam from the reactor goes
through a secondary, intermediate heat exchanger to convert
another loop of water to steam, which drives the turbine. The
advantage to this design is that the radioactive water/steam
never contacts the turbine. Also, in some reactors, the coolant
fluid in contact with the reactor core is gas (carbon dioxide) or
liquid metal (sodium, potassium); these types of reactors allow
the core to be operated at higher temperatures.
Once you get past the reactor itself, there's very little difference
between a nuclear power plant and a coal-fired or oil-fired power

plant, except for the source of the heat used to create steam. But
as that source can emit harmful levels of radiation, extra
precautions are required.
A concrete liner typically houses the reactor's pressure vessel and
acts as a radiation shield. That liner, in turn, is housed within a
much larger steel containment vessel. This vessel contains the
reactor core, as well as the equipment plant workers use to refuel
and maintain the reactor. The steel containment vessel serves as
a barrier to prevent leakage of any radioactive gases or fluids
from the plant.
An outer concrete building serves as the final layer, protecting the
steel containment vessel. This concrete structure is designed to
be strong enough to survive the kind of massive damage that
might result from earthquakes or a crashing jet airliner. These
secondary containment structures are necessary to prevent the
escape of radiation/radioactive steam in the event of an accident.

Pros and Cons of Nuclear Power

What's nuclear power's biggest advantage? It doesn't depend on
fossil fuels and isn't affected by fluctuating oil and gas prices.
Coal and natural gas power plants emit carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere, which contributes to climate change. With nuclear
power plants, CO2 emissions are minimal.
According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, the power produced by
the world's nuclear plants would normally produce 2 billion metric
tons of CO2 per year if they depended on fossil fuels. In fact, a
properly functioning nuclear power plant actually releases fewer
radioactivities into the atmosphere than a coal-fired power plant
[source: Hvistendahl]. Plus, all this comes with a far lighter fuel
requirement. Nuclear fission produces roughly a million times
more energy per unit weight than fossil fuel alternatives
[source: Helman].

And then there are the negatives. Historically, mining and

purifying uranium hasn't been a very clean process. Even
transporting nuclear fuel to and from plants poses a
contamination risk. And once the fuel is spent, you can't just
throw it in the city dump. It's still radioactive and potentially
deadly.
On average, a nuclear power plant annually generates 20 metric
tons of used nuclear fuel, classified as high-level radioactive
waste. When you take into account every nuclear plant on Earth,
the combined total climbs to roughly 2,000 metric tons a year
[source: NEI]. All of this waste emits radiation and heat, meaning
that it will eventually corrode any container that holds it. It can
also prove lethal to nearby life forms. As if this weren't bad
enough, nuclear power plants produce a great deal of low-level
radioactive waste in the form of radiated parts and equipment.
Over time, spent nuclear fuel decays to safe radioactive levels,
but this process takes tens of thousands of years. Even low-level
radioactive waste requires centuries to reach acceptable levels.
Currently, the nuclear industry lets waste cool for years before
mixing it with glass and storing it in massive cooled, concrete
structures. This waste has to be maintained, monitored and
guarded to prevent the materials from falling into the wrong
hands. All of these services and added materials cost money -- on
top of the high costs required to build a plant.

Nuclear Fission
If a massive nucleus like uranium-235 breaks apart (fissions), then
there will be a net yield of energy because the sum of the masses
of the fragments will be less than the mass of the uranium
nucleus. If the mass of the fragments is equal to or greater than
that of iron at the peak of the binding energy curve, then the
nuclear particles will be more tightly bound than they were in the
uranium nucleus, and that decrease in mass comes off in the form
of energy according to the Einstein equation. For elements lighter
than iron, fusion will yield energy.
The fission of U-235 in
reactors is triggered by
the absorption of a low
energy neutron, often
termed a "slow
neutron" or a "thermal
neutron". Other
fissionable isotopes
which can be induced
to fission by slow
neutrons are
plutonium-239,
uranium-233, and
thorium-232.

Uranium-235 Fission
In one of the most
remarkable
phenomena in nature,
a slow neutron can be
captured by a uranium235 nucleus, rendering
it unstable toward
nuclear fission. A fast
neutron will not be
captured, so neutrons
must be slowed down
by moderation to
increase their capture
probability in fission
reactors. A single
fission event can yield
over 200 million times
the energy of the
neutron which
triggered it!

Uranium Fuel
Natural uranium is composed of 0.72% U-235 (the fissionable
isotope), 99.27% U-238, and a trace quantity 0.0055% U-234. The
0.72% U-235 is not sufficient to produce a self-sustaining critical

chain reaction in U.S. style light-water reactors, although it is

used in Canadian CANDU reactors. For light-water reactors, the
fuel must be enriched to 2.5-3.5% U-235.
Uranium is found as uranium oxide
which when purified has a rich yellow
color and is called "yellowcake". After
reduction, the uranium must go
through an isotope enrichment
process. Even with the necessity of
enrichment, it still takes only about 3
kg of natural uranium to supply the
energy needs of one American for a
year.

Fissionable Isotopes
While uranium-235 is the naturally occurring fissionable isotope,
there are other isotopes which can be induced to fission by
neutron bombardment. Plutonium-239 is also fissionable by
bombardment with slow neutrons, and both it and uranium-235
have been used to make nuclear fission bombs. Plutonium-239
can be produced by "breeding" it from uranium-238. Uranium238, which makes up 99.3% of natural uranium, is not fissionable
by slow neutrons. U-238 has a small probability for spontaneous
fission and also a small probability of fission when bombarded
with fast neutrons, but it is not useful as a nuclear fuel source.
Some of the nuclear reactors at Hanford, Washington and the
Savannah-River Plant (SC) are designed for the production of
bomb-grade plutonium-239. Thorium-232 is fissionable, so could
conceivably be used as a nuclear fuel. The only other isotope
which is known to undergo fission upon slow-neutron
bombardment is uranium-233.

Nuclear Binding Energy

Nuclei are made up of protons and neutron, but the mass of a
nucleus is always less than the sum of the individual masses of
the protons and neutrons which constitute it. The difference is a
measure of the nuclear binding energy which holds the nucleus
together. This binding energy can be calculated from the Einstein
relationship:
Nuclear binding energy = mc2

For the alpha particle m= 0.0304 u which gives a binding energy

of 28.3 MeV.

The enormity of the nuclear binding energy can perhaps be better

appreciated by comparing it to the binding energy of an electron
in an atom. The comparison of the alpha particle binding energy
with the binding energy of the electron in a hydrogen atom is
shown below. The nuclear binding energies are on the order of a
million times greater than the electron binding energies of atoms.

Fission and fusion can yield energy

Nuclear Binding Energy Curve

The binding energy curve is obtained by dividing the total nuclear
binding energy by the number of nucleons. The fact that there is a
peak in the binding energy curve in the region of stability near
iron means that either the breakup of heavier nuclei (fission) or
the combining of lighter nuclei (fusion) will yield nuclei which are
more tightly bound (less mass per nucleon).
The binding energies of nucleons are in the range of millions of
electron volts compared to tens of eV for atomic electrons.
Whereas an atomic transition might emit a photon in the range of
a few electron volts, perhaps in the visible light region, nuclear
transitions can emit gamma-rays with quantum energies in the
MeV range.
The iron limit

The buildup of heavier elements in the nuclear fusion processes in

stars is limited to elements below iron, since the fusion of iron
would subtract energy rather than provide it. Iron-56 is abundant
in stellar processes, and with a binding energy per nucleon of 8.8
MeV, it is the third most tightly bound of the nuclides. Its average
binding energy per nucleon is exceeded only by 58Fe and 62Ni, the
nickel isotope being the most tightly bound of the nuclides.

Fission and Fusion Yields

Deuterium-tritium fusion and uranium-235 fission are compared in

terms of energy yield. Both the single event energy and the
energy per kilogram of fuel are compared. Then they expressed in

terms of a nominal per capita U.S. energy use: 5 x 10 11 joules.

This figure is dated and probably high, but it gives a basis for
comparison. The values above are the total energy yield, not the
energy delivered to a consumer.

Light Water Reactors

The nuclear fission reactors used in the United States for electric
power production are classified as "light water reactors" in
contrast to the "heavy water reactors" used in Canada. Light
water (ordinary water) is used as the moderator in U.S. reactors
as well as the cooling agent and the means by which heat is
removed to produce steam for turning the turbines of the electric
generators. The use of ordinary water makes it necessary to do a
certain amount of enrichment of the uranium fuel before the
necessary criticality of the reactor can be maintained.
The fission of a U-235 nucleus in one fuel rod releases an
average of 2.4 fast neutrons per fission. These neutrons are
slowed down or "moderated" by the water between fuel rods,
increasing the cross-section for neutron capture and fission by a
U-235 nucleus in a neighboring fuel rod.
The two varieties of the light water reactor are the pressurized
water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR).

Uranium Enrichment
Natural uranium is only 0.7% U-235, the fissionable isotope. The
other 99.3% is U-238 which is not fissionable. The uranium is
usually enriched to 2.5-3.5% U-235 for use in U.S. light water
reactors, while the heavy water Canadian reactors typically use
natural uranium. Even with the necessity of enrichment, it still
takes only about 3 kg of natural uranium to supply the energy
needs of one American for a year.
Uranium enrichment has historically been accomplished by
making the compound uranium hexaflouride and diffusing it
through a long pathway of porous material (like kilometers!) and
making use of the slightly higher diffusion rate of the lighter U235 compound. There have been tests of centrifugal separators,
but modern efforts are directed toward laser enrichment
procedures.
The uranium fuel for fission reactors will not make a bomb; it
takes enrichment to over 90% to obtain the fast chain reaction
necessary for weapons applications. Enrichment to 15-30% is
typical for breeder reactors.
Uranium Diffusion Enrichment
To produce the highly enriched uranium-235 needed for the
development of nuclear weapons, a huge diffusion plant was built
during World War II at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Two other massive
plants for uranium enrichment were built at Paducah, KY and
Portsmouth, OH after the war. The compound uranium
hexafluoride was produced and allowed to diffuse through
thousands of stages of porous material, making use of the fact
that the slightly lighter U-235 compound would diffuse faster than
the U-238 compound. While electric power reactors require only
enrichment from the 0.7% of natural uranium ore to about 3% U235, the weapons applications required enrichment to over 90%

U-235. Part of the enriched uranium was used to breed plutonium239 for the more widely used plutonium devices.
Heavy Water Reactors
Nuclear fission reactors used in Canada use heavy water as the
moderator in their reactors. Since the deuterium in heavy water is
slightly more effective in slowing down the neutrons from the
fission reactions, the uranium fuel needs no enrichment and can
be used as mined. The Canadian style reactors are commonly
called CANDU reactors.
Heavy water (D2O) is 10% heavier than ordinary water and has a
neutron moderating ratio 80 times higher than ordinary water. As
of January 2002, 32 of the 438 nuclear reactors in operation
around the world were of CANDU type.