What is Nuclear Energy ?

Shearon Harris in North Carolina is one of the primary areas that Homeland Security is securing against terrorist attacks. It has the largest nuclear waste storage pool in the country.

Nuclear tests don’t make the news often, so many people aren’t aware there were over 55 tests a year for 30 years. That’s more than a test a week.

It can cost over 6 billion dollars to build one new reactor for an existing plant.

The largest surface nuclear powered ship is not only over 50 years old, it’s still in service. The USS Enterprise was put into service in 1960 and is 1,122 feet long.

Project Prometheus is the NASA initiative to use nuclear power for long distance space exploration. The use of nuclear power as a primary fuel source could increase speeds and cut costs of missions.

Nuclear medicine is used to diagnose and treat many different diseases. It uses isotopes to explore the body. Another version of it is radiotherapy, which is used to treat certain cancers by using radiation to target and destroy cancer cells.

Uranium isn’t new. While using it as a source of power is new, during the middle ages it was used to transform the color of glass.

France produces so much electricity through nuclear power that it exports the surplus to other countries. France supplies 72% of country’s electricity from nuclear power and exports the surplus to Italy, UK, Spain, Switzerland, and Belgium.

Nuclear energy produces approximately 20% of the electricity used by the United States. In 2016, the U.S. nuclear power plants generated over 800 billion kWh of electricity, which is twice as much as France has produced, but the U.S. also wastes 25-40% of all electricity that is produced by the inefficient usage.

Improving the fuel economy of vehicles has a much greater impact on reducing the demand for foreign oil than the generation of nuclear power does. Better fuel efficiency can be achieved by reduction of the weight of vehicles. And surprisingly, lower weight equals also higher safety of passengers

The production of electricity using nuclear energy emits comparable amounts of greenhouse gases as wind, water or biomass energy. Solar releases three times more greenhouse gas emissions than nuclear energy. This makes nuclear energy more climate friendly than fossil fuel energy. Just for comparison, coal releases 30 times more greenhouse gases than nuclear

Uranium was discovered in 1789 by German Chemist Martin Klaproth while studying samples of minerals from all over the world. Uranium oxide was present in a sample from a silver mine in Jachymov, Czech Republic.

In 1895, Wilhelm Rontgen first discovered the power of ionizing radiation when he produced continuous x-rays while passing an electrical current through a glass tube

The reliable electrical power necessary for long-term space missions can only be generated by harnessing the energy of the sun’s rays or through the heat generated during the natural radioactive decay of an isotope such as plutonium-238 [8]. Plutonium has proven to supply steady source of heat without emitting radioactive energy to harm people or distort devices of a spacecraft.

There are approximately 447 large commercial nuclear reactors in operation today with 60 more being built and 160 planned. Interestingly, not all these reactors generate electricity, many are actually used for scientific research, or production of medical isotope

Nuclear fission occurs when an atom splits in two parts and then releases energy. This process can occur through natural decay or under laboratory conditions. Nuclear power plants harness energy by breaking the nucleus of atoms in controlled conditions, while nuclear weapons work on the basis of uncontrolled nuclear fission

Nuclear fission occurs when an atom splits in two parts and then releases energy. This process can occur through natural decay or under laboratory conditions. Nuclear power plants harness energy by breaking the nucleus of atoms in controlled conditions, while nuclear weapons work on the basis of uncontrolled nuclear fission

Nuclear fission occurs when an atom splits in two parts and then releases energy. This process can occur through natural decay or under laboratory conditions. Nuclear power plants harness energy by breaking the nucleus of atoms in controlled conditions, while nuclear weapons work on the basis of uncontrolled nuclear fission

Nuclear energy can be produced through fission (the splitting of atoms) or through fusion (the joining of atoms together). Nuclear fusion is constantly taking place on the sun, as hydrogen atoms join to make helium. But nuclear fission is the process that takes place in nuclear reactors.

Uranium-235 is the most commonly occurring fissionable atom and is used in most nuclear reactors. Uranium can be found in the Earth’s crust in two different isotopes – uranium-238 and 235. The commonly used isotope 235 makes only 0.7%, while the other isotope 238 accounts for the remaining 99.3%.

However, it is not suitable for nuclear fission as it decays extremely slowly. Its half-life is the same like the age of our planet

Kazakhstan has 50 vast uranium deposits. Nearly 40% of the world supply of uranium in 2016 came from this largest landlocked country. And the country has been one of the world’s major suppliers of uranium for the last 50 years

The energy produced by one ton of natural uranium is so dense that it equals the energy produced by the burning of 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil

Naturally-occurring uranium has a 2,000 year use history of coloring for glass, producing a yellow to greenish hue. Until 1990s uranium glass was a fashionable household accessory.

In general, 2% of uranium oxide were added to a glass mixture to achieve the specific shade of yellow and green

Uranium burns at an air temperature of 150-170 degrees Celsius (300-350 degrees Fahrenheit) and starts to melt from 3,800 degrees Celsius (6,900 degrees Fahrenheit)

We are surrounded by naturally occurring radiation. Only 0.005% of the average American’s yearly radiation dose comes from nuclear power; 100 times less than we get from coal [1], 200 times less than a cross-country flight, and about the same as eating 1 banana per year