7B+Nuclear+Power

__ Nuclear Power __ **By:** Eaindray **&** Phone Pyae

Introduction
Nuclear power is a very clean and with new technologies being used, a safe place to work at. Nuclear powers a lot of things with use of uranium which is found in mines and other underground places. The typical nuclear power plant takes less space and creates a lot of energy with the technique of fission; the splitting of heavy atoms. Although there has been disasters in previous years with nuclear power plants it is now seen as a very convenient way of creating electricity. Now enjoy the information that will either fascinate you or even startle you at the greatness and dangers of nuclear power.



** The Process of Nuclear Power **
The process of nuclear power starts of with [|uranium] being mined. Then, the uranium atoms use [|fission] to split the atoms apart. The uranium contains chemical bonds that when breaks apart creates [|heat energy]. Then, they release heat at a controlled rate to boil the water which creates steam. The steam is used to turn the turbines. The turbines would produce electricity and turn generators. The [|electricity] is then sent out to homes using transformers.



How Widespread is Nuclear Power?
A lot of countries are currently using this method of sending out electricity such as America, France, Japan, Russia, Germany, Ukraine, and Belgium. North America has more than 100 power plants that provides about 20% of their electricity which makes them the country that uses nuclear energy the most. France is the second country with the most nuclear plants at 59 power plants which provide roughly 77% of the total energy. The third country provides 30% of the total energy and has 55 power plants which happens to be Japan. Europe and East Asia also have a major usage of nuclear power plants. About a total of 56 countries in the world use nuclear energy.



Efficiency of Nuclear Power
90.5% out of 100% of the electricity is actually sent out to the people's homes. 33 to 35% of heat energy is needed and 1.5% of the uranium gets fission-ed. 1 ton of uranium is equivalent to 44 megawatts. 1 gram of uranium is equivalent to 3 tons of coal. Constructions cost about $2000 per installed watt. The construction of reactors cost about $3000 to $4000. The operation of plants roughly cost about 30 cents per KWH for the beginning 13 years. The building of new plants including interests cost about $5,000 to $6,000.



Benefits and Drawbacks  __Benefits__ __Drawbacks__ __Effect on Environment__
 * does not use fossil fuels therefore no air pollution
 * doesn't create a lot of air pollution
 * less fuel needed
 * a more reliable way of producing energy
 * power plants don't need a lot of land
 * environmentally friendly and clean
 * creates a huge amount of energy from small amount of fuel
 * produces [|radiation]
 * reactors produce nuclear waste
 * [|nuclear reactors] last only 40-50 years
 * waste is very dangerous, takes time for radiation to die away
 * storing and supervising of radioactive waste has high cost
 * non renewable energy
 * nuclear waste (causes health problems)
 * production of radioactivity
 * "clean source", doesn't release carbon dioxide
 * cancer for people who live near the power plants (rate increasing)



= Role in the Future = Nuclear energy will be less widespread in the future. Firstly, this method is very dangerous because there is the production of radiation which is very harmful to the lives of humans. Radiation damages biological tissues, causes cancer, damage to blood system, and human organisms are affected. If there is an accident with the nuclear reactors and the radiation is let out to the community/environment, it will be a disaster. Healthiness of all living things nearby will be harmed. Second, nuclear energy/power is a very expensive thing. The safety issues and the production or building the nuclear reactors will cost tons of cash as well. Then, the storage of radioactive waste will need a lot of land as well. Uranium is mined but it is not man-made therefore, it cannot be created. At one point, if people turn to using nuclear energy to supply electricity for their homes, there will be more uranium mined. Then, the uranium in this world will be used up. I think nuclear energy would be very successful in Burma. Like we have mentioned, you can create a big amount of electricity from such a small amount of uranium. Uranium is also a very common material found in the earth. And once you build a nuclear reactor, it lasts for a long time. However, if you think about it, Burma doesn't have the proper materials to build nuclear reactors. Secondly, we don't have the proper health facilities to rely on in case of a nuclear reactor meltdown.

 __Bibliography__ [|http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/nuclear_energy.html#] [] http://www.technologystudent.com/energy1/nuclear1.html [|https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/nuclear.htm&sa=U&ei=DMSgT9uEA6LSmAW6p-CnCA&ved=0CAcQFjAB&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNFVeuXUSXYY9t_JkP8q4itifg80VQ] [] [|http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/nuclear.htm#how] [] [] [] [] [] []
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