Nuclear+Power

= Nuclear Power = =// Even Homer uses it! //=

Created by Ryan Pasculano and Chloe Tinagero

nuclear power is energy which is produced with the use of a controlled nuclear reaction. The purpose of this webpage is to briefly explain how nuclear power is processed, why it is a good thing and a bad thing, and to give you a general idea of what it is. media type="youtube" key="TjDmyToTYBE" height="385" width="480" align="center"
 * __WHAT IS NUCLEAR POWER?__ **

This is a video displaying the democratic debate topic about Nuclear Power. [1]

media type="youtube" key="fjgdgAhOzXQ" height="385" width="640" This is a video explaining how nuclear power is produced [2]

A cartoon of a nuclear power plant [3]

__THE PROS AND CONS OF NUCLEAR POWER__ The biggest advantage of nuclear power is that it does not depend on fossil fuels, as compared to coal and natural gas power plants which emit CO2 (carbon dioxide,) into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change and global warming. However, nuclear power plants do not emit any, at //most// minimal CO2 into the air. The cost of nuclear power also isn't affected by turbulent oil and gas prices because it doesn’t depend on Fossil Fuels. Nuclear power also creates an immense amount of energy for an extremely small amount of fuel, wheras the fuel used to make other energies are pretty much proportional to the amount of energy created. After tens of thousands of years, nuclear fuel will eventually die down to classified as ‘safe’ radioactive levels, but as you can tell, it is a very long process. All nuclear waste has to be watched very carefully lest it fall into the wrong hands, in which case it can be extremely dangerous because the neutrons contain high levels of radiation and can be harmful to nearby life forms if they are exposed. Operators let the nuclear waste cool for years before mixing it with glass and storing it in massive cooled, concrete structures known as 'vessels'.[4]



This is a diagram of a nuclear power plant and how it works [5]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/europe/06sweden.html?pagewanted=2 Above is a link to an article about nuclear power. A town in Sweden decided to allow a nuclear power site to be installed, because it is better for the environment then coal power and fossil fuels, and would bring jobs into the town. Like many other energies, nuclear power depends on fission (the process when one atom splits into two). To convert nuclear power into electrical energy, operators must control energy released by enriched boiling uranium and heat water into steam. Listed below is the process explaining how this is done:
 * __HOW IS NUCLEAR POWER CONVERTED INTO ELECTRICAL ENERGY?__**

1.) Uranium rods and control rods are formed and put into bundles which are submerged in water inside a pressure vessel (the control rods control the temperature of the uranium and keep it from overheating). 2.) The water acts as a coolant to the uranium and prevents it from overheating or boiling. 3.) The control rods are taken out of the uranium bundles so the uranium can heat up a sufficent amount (fewer neutrons are absorbed leaving more uranium to heat up in less time). 4.) The uranium bundles, which are VERY high sources of heat, warm water and turn it into steam. 5.) The steam powers a turbine. 6.) The turbine spins a generator to produce electrical power. 7.) Some nuclear power plant's steam goes through a second heat generator. The advantage to this is that the radioactive water and steam never contact the turbine, therefore they don’t contaminate it. [7] __** HOW IS THE ENERGY CONVERTED? **__ In step one of this process, the chemical potential energy of the uranium is converted into the heat energy of the water. In step two of this process, the nuclear energy of the uranium is converted into the heat energy of the water. This is called Nuclear fission, which is the process which occurs when the nucleus of a heavily fissionable atom of Uranium is split. In step three of this process, the nuclear energy of the uranium is converted into the steam heat of the water. In step four of this process, the chain reaction of nuclear fission is slowed, stopped or sped up by the subtraction of control rods into the reactor core. In step five of this process, the thermal energy of the water is converted into the kinetic energy of the turbine. In step six of this process, the kinetic energy of the turbine is converted into… electrical energy!

neutron- A particle in the nucleus of an atom; it has no electric charge. proton- A particle in the nucleus of an atom; it has a positive electric charge. ** electron- A particle in an atom that circles the nucleus. It has a negative electric charge. fission- Splitting an atomic nucleus. radioactive- Describes a substance such as uranium that has unstable atoms that give off energy in the form of waves or streams of particles. nucleus- The central part of an atom. __**SOURCE**__ 1. YTdebates. "YouTube - What Is Your Stance on Nuclear Power?" //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// 23 July 2007. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. .
 * __IMPORTANT VOCABULARY__

2. Opgvideos. "YouTube - Nuclear Power - How It Works." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// 31 Oct. 2007. Web. 08 Apr. 2010. .

3. Beale, Scott. "Trojan Nuclear Power Plant Demolition." //Laughing Squid//. 11 May 2006. Web. 09 Apr. 2010. .

4. Brain, Marshall, and Robert Lamb. "HowStuffWorks "How Nuclear Power Works"" //HowStuffWorks - Learn How Everything Works!// Web. 09 Apr. 2010. [].

5. Kache Productions. "Nuclear Fuel Cycle." //Reaching Critical Will//. 2008. Web. 08 Apr. 2010. [].

6."A Town Says ‘Yes, in Our Backyard’ to Nuclear Site." //New York Times// (5 Apr. 2010): A10.

7. Morris, Neil. //Nuclear Power//. Mankato, Minn.: Smart Apple Media, 2010. Print.