Nuclear+Energy

__**NUCLEAR POWER PLANT**__

__**Nuclear power plants provide:**__
 * About 6% of the world's energy
 * 13–14% of the world's electricity
 * United States, France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity.

__**Vocabulary:**__
 * nuclear fission -** this is what happens to the Uranium 235 in order to produce nuclear energy. The atoms will separate and the energy created will generate electricity.
 * control rods-** these rods are like pipe that will control the reaction, so it will not heat up and explode.
 * turbines -** when the energy produced by fission occurs, it will heat the steam that will turn the turbines to produce electricity.
 * Uranium** - Fuel used in power plant for fission
 * Fuel** - Anything you use that provides energy
 * Chernobyl -** Was a nuclear meltdown accident where many lives were lost and the area was entirely contaminated.
 * Three Mile Island** - a nuclear disaster that occurred in Pennsylvania, where a small radiation link but didn't escape containment building
 * Pressure vessel** - The 4th part of the reactor that surrounds and protects the reactor core.
 * Fusion** - Hydrogen atoms fuse together. Happens in sun.
 * Radiation**- The energy released from unstable elements.



[]
 * __Current Event:__**

Fukushima accident in 2011 was a nuclear power plant disaster. The nulcear power plant reactor stopped working correctly, heating it to a point that exploded. The radioactivity spread all over the region, contaminating the population.




 * __How does a nuclear power plant work?__**
 * THE MAIN BIT TO REMEMBER: **

Today, nuclear power plant stands on the edge among civilization’s greatest expectations and its deepest worries for the future. In one hand, atomic energy provides clean and efficient electricity, but in the other hand, it is dangerous and any accident can spread tons of radioactivity in the air, just like in Fukushima and in Chernobyl. You may be asking yourself, how a nuclear power plants work. Well, it is very simple to understand. Nuclear power is generated from the element Uranium. However, Uranium is mostly common found on Earth as the isotope 238, but the one used in the nuclear power is the Uranium 235. Thus, you need to enrich the uranium to make it useful. When you have the enriched uranium 235, you need to do nuclear fission, which is also known as the heart of the reaction. Without nuclear fission, there is no energy. Nuclear fission is when you split the atoms of the element, releasing energy in the air. This energy will be located inside the fuel rods, which is inside the core. Together with the fuel rods, there will be the control rods, with water to control the reaction so it won’t explode. Everything is controlled by the water near the power plant, which is usually a river. After the nuclear fission occurs, it will heat the water, which will create steam and this steam will turn the turbines generating electricity. When the process is complete, the water used in the reaction will be returned to the river. Nevertheless, this water will have a higher temperature than the water in the river, thus, it will over heat the water. If the water has a higher temperature, the organisms, which are not adapted to warmer environment, may die. Nuclear energy is still being the focus of most countries. It is an alternative source of energy, which is not required to use any fossil fuels. Nuclear power still brings the question of security in the world, because countries may produce an atomic bomb, just like the one USA dropped in Japan during WWII. Do you think nuclear power is the solution to our future?

__** Scientist **__ http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/oct/21/energy.greenpolitics

"The government's chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, has sent his clearest signal that Britain will need to revive its nuclear power industry in the face of a looming energy crisis and the threat of global warming". He said that the nuclear power had "the safest record of all the power industries in the world... We need indigenous energy sources so we don't rely on imported gas from Russia. We're the last in the pipeline across Europe, so a second requirement is that we have a secure energy supply. Indigenous supplies include all renewables and nuclear." Professor King is deeply concerned with the gas emission in Britain, and is urging the country to adapt the nuclear energy as another source, because is is pollution free. If you want to know more about it, read the article above.

__**Links**__ Alternative Sources of Energy Greenhouse effect Wind Energy include component="comments" page="Nuclear Energy" limit="10"