Nonrenewable Energy

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Nonrenewable Energy

• Nuclear Energy

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Nuclear Energy

• Nuclear energy- released by a nuclear fission or
  fusion reaction.
• Nuclear force 1,000,000 times stronger than
  chemical bonds between atoms
• Uranium atoms used as fuel in nuclear power plants

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Nuclear Fission

• Splitting of the nucleus into two or more
  fragments
• Chain reaction

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Nuclear Fission
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How it Works

• Heat energy is released
• Closed loop of water heats another water source
• Water boils producing steam
• Steam drives a turbine which in turn produces
  electricity

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How it Works

• Reactor contained in a thick pressure vessel
  thats filled with cooling fluid
• Surrounded by concrete
• Metal fuel rods contain Uranium pellets which are
  bombarded with neutrons
• Control rods, made of Boron and Cadmium, lower to
  slow or stop the chain reaction

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Nuclear Power Plant
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Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy

• Advantages
• Very concentrated energy source
• No air pollution
• Release less radioactivity than coal
• Can rely on when fossil fuels are limited

• Disadvantages
• Safe reactors-expensive
• Expense not competitive
• Investors hard to predict
• Storage of waste must be stable for 1,000s of
  years
• Fission can be dangerous if not controlled

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Nuclear Accidents

• Chernobyl of the Ukraine, 1986
• Unauthorized tests unsafe
• Explosions destroyed plant and released large
  amounts of radioactivity
• 100s died from radiation exposure
• Areas still radioactive

• Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in
  Pennsylvania, 1979
• Human error
• Blocked valves
• Broken pumps
• Small amount of radiation released

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Future of Nuclear Power

• Safer nuclear power plants
• Researching transmutation, recycling of
  radioactive waste into nuclear fuel
• U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission- 300 safety
  regulation improvements

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Nuclear Fusion

• Combination of smaller nuclei into larger nuclei
• Large amounts of energy
• Less dangerous radioactive byproducts
• Same reactions that comprise stars, including our
  sun

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Disadvantages of Nuclear Fusion

• Technically difficult
• Three things must occur simultaneously
• Extremely high temperatures (100,000,000 C or
  180,000,000 F)
• Nuclei must be concentrated
• Nuclei must be properly confined

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Nuclear Fusion
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Chernobyl Radiation Results
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Hiroshima
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Radiation Results