7A+Nuclear+Power

__Nuclear Power Option __ By: Sophia And Raven __ Introduction __ When you flip on a light or start the television you are using electricity. There are many different ways to get power and electricity to your house, but one of the more popular ways is nuclear power. It is called nuclear power because the energy comes from the nucleuses of uranium atoms. __ How Does It Work? __

First, the uranium atoms must go through something called nulcear fission which splits the nucleus in two, creating energy. Then,rushing water is sent through the heat energy creating steam and removing the heat at the same time. The steam goes up and turns the turbines which starts up the generator with fuel. The magnets in the generator spins over the wires (or eletromagnetism) and that makes the electircty. Lastly, the electricity is send out to the houses or other buildings. How Widespread Is It? Nuclear power is responsible for 11% of the worlds electricity and energy, so it is used in every continent except Australia and Antarctica and is used in over 35 countries. It is used most in the USA but in Africa, South Africa is the only city with an actual power plant but other countries are planning to bulid them like Nigeria, Morroco, Tunisia and Ghana.

How Efficient Is It? The world sends out 370,461 megawatts which is way more energy then what goes in to generating nuclear power. One U-235 pellet (uranium) makes same amount of energy as 150 gallons of oil. If you are making nuclear power it is very expensive because one pound of uranium costs $25, but if you are using nuclear power it is very cheap.

Benefits And Drawbacks
 * Benefits**
 * Not expensive
 * Does not let of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide or smoke)
 * Lots of energy from little fuel
 * Small amounts of waste
 * Very reliable
 * Drawbacks**
 * Power plants are never stable (can fail anytime)
 * 3 types of radiation (alpha, gamma, beta)
 * 3 types of harm (external, ingestion, inhalation)
 * very dangerous radioactive waste
 * hot steam into air (less oxygen)

__ Role In The Future __ In the near future, I think that the use of nuclear power will increase because many countries are planning or currently building more nuclear power plants. If the population increases then the need for power will increase. Nuclear power is so easy to manufacture on mass, and it might be a better choice since more people need more electricity faster. But however further into the future, there might be less uranium which would result in no fuel for the nuclear power plants. Also, hydroelectric power, tidal power, geothermal power, solar power and wind power are all eco-friendly and less dangerous than nuclear power, so increase in those power will make the use of nuclear power to decrease. So for now, nuclear power will only be used more. Sites: Pics: Fuel-Pellet~ nuclear.duke-energy.com World_map~ howtosurvive2012.com radiation11254496251_medium~ prx.org nuclear-waste-storage-US-urgent~ coastalconservationleague.org nuclear~ atiactuators.com Nuclear_Power_Plant_Cattenom~ thelibertyvoice.com [|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_plant__] __http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_by_countr [|__http://www.nei.org/resourcesandstats/nuclear_statistics/costs/__] [|__http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/nuclear.htm__] []