Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Waste The Good The
- Slides: 19
Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Waste The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly…
What is Nuclear Energy? • Nuclear energy is the energy that exists within the nucleus of an atom. • There are 2 types of Nuclear Energy: • Nuclear fission is the splitting of a large nucleus, releasing HUGE amounts of energy. • Nuclear fusion is the combining of smaller nuclei to form heavier nuclei, releasing HUGE amounts of energy.
How is Nuclear Fission Energy produced?
If a Nuclear Reaction is not controlled…
Nuclear Energy must be harnessed if used to make energy. • Nuclear reactions in a nuclear power plant occur at a controlled, manageable pace and release energy slowly. • Heat is generated and used to boil water, creating steam. The steam turns turbines which rotate electric generators, creating electricity. • Steam is released from the cooling towers. • (click on picture for more info)
How does a Nuclear Power Plant Work?
How much energy is produced? • Nuclear power is an extremely rich energy source. • One gram of Uranium 235 delivers as much energy as 3. 5 metric tons of coal!!! • One in every 5 houses in the U. S. is supplied with nuclear energy.
Where are Nuclear Power Plants located?
Pros for Nuclear Power • Rich energy source. • 1 gram of Uranium-235 delivers as much energy as 3. 5 metric tons of coal. • Reactors run for years without refueling or being shut down and need little maintenance. • No air pollution!
Cons about Nuclear Power • Produces Radioactive Waste • There is no permanent longterm disposal site for commercial nuclear waste. • There is a relatively short supply of 235 U (only enough left for 100~200 years) • Nuclear Power Plants are expensive to build. • Minor maintenance problems can be very expensive to fix. • Safety concerns!!!
Potential for Disaster! • Chernobyl meltdown in the former Soviet Union. – Hundreds died from radiation exposure. – Thousands contracted cancers from high levels of radiation exposure.
A Close Call at Home!!! • The most serious nuclear accident in the U. S. occurred in 1979 at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. • A small amount of radioactive gas escaped the containment structure.
Nuclear Waste • Plutonium, cesium, strontium, and other “ium” elements created in a nuclear reactor emit dangerous radiation that can literally knock electrons off the atoms of our cells, disrupting or destroying cell function or even causing cells to mutate into cancer cells. • Radioactive elements emit radiation because they are unstable; they’d rather be something else. • They achieve this by going to pieces; emitting particles and waves billions of times per second. This process is called a half-life.
What is a Half-Life? • Every radioactive element has a half-life • Half-life is the time it takes for half of its atoms to decay. • Half-lives range from a fraction of a second to billions of years – 4. 5 billion for uranium 238. • The longer the half-life, the less intense the radiation. • After 10 half-lives, an element is usually harmless
Types of Waste • High-Level Waste • The most dangerous radioactive waste • Spent fuel comes from nuclear reactors (52, 000 tons) • liquid and solid waste from plutonium production (91 million gallons). • About 70 percent of the available storage space is now filled with used fuel assemblies at Turkey Point.
Types of Waste Transuranic Waste – Includes clothing, tools, and other materials contaminated with plutonium, neptunium, and other man-made elements heavier than uranium. (11. 3 million cubic feet)
Types of Waste • Low and Mixed Low-Level Waste – Includes radioactive and hazardous wastes from hospitals, research institutions, and decommissioned power plants (472 million cubic feet) – Turkey Point produced annually on average about 2, 500 cubic feet of low-level waste. This amount of waste could be contained within an area about the size of a 30'x 30' room.
Types of Waste Uranium Mill Tailings • Residues left from the extraction of uranium ore (265 million tons).
- Radioactive nuclear waste
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