What is Nuclear Energy ?

In the event of a disaster, should you be exposed to nuclear material – remove all of your clothes. This will also remove almost 90% of the radioactive material you were just exposed too.

The event at Fukushima in 2011 led to many countries stopping plans for increased nuclear power plants, while others are staying on track. It should be noted that growing countries, such as China and India, are still pursuing nuclear power.

The event at Fukushima also caused a downgrade and the predicted amount of energy that nuclear plants would provide to the global economy. This has led to concerns over what could be used to fill the gap in need by 2035.

Nuclear power plants use “nuclear fission” (the process of splitting an atom in two). “Nuclear fusion” (the process of combining atoms into one) has the potential to be safer but has not yet been developed to operate within a large power plant.

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 energy comes from uranium, a nonrenewable resource that must be mined.

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.

Every 18 to 24 months, a power plant must shut down to remove its spent uranium fuel, which becomes radioactive waste.

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

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 power plants generate about 20% of U.S. electricity.
Nuclear energy is being used in more than 30 countries around the world and even powers Mars rovers.

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

Nuclear power plants use large quantities of water for steam production and for cooling. Some nuclear power plants remove large quantities of water from a lake or river, which could affect fish and other aquatic life.

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.

More than 70% of America’s emission-free power comes from nuclear energy sources.

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.

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.

1 in 5 households and business in the US are electrically powered by nuclear energy.

Nuclear energy is the energy stored in the nucleus of an atom. It can be used to produce electricity.

However, when considering a transition to electric cars, according to the World Nuclear Association, electricity needed to power these vehicles would come from nuclear energy in many countries, because renewable energy does not generate sufficient amounts of energy to readily cover this extra need for electricity.

United States power plants produce 2,000 metric tons of radioactive waste every year.

But, before it can used, it must be released. The enormous energy that is stored in the bonds that hold atoms together can be released by two processes:

The report also states that if 10% of cars in France were electric, they would require 10% more electricity from nuclear sources.

nuclear fission or nuclear fusion. In nuclear fission, atoms are split to form smaller atoms, releasing energy whereas in nuclear fusion atoms are combined or fused to form a larger atom. This is how the sun produces energy.