Luz's+notes+on+nuclear+power!!

= = =**Luz's notes on nuclear energy!**=

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Global warming is threatening our existence, ruining the environment, and creating droughts, hunger, extinction of species and many other dreadful consequences. We need to find an ecologically friendly alternative. Wind and Solar energy are not reliable at all times, and water damns in the US are being attacked by environmentalists that are concerned for wild fish population. Nuclear energy might be one of our best options. Believe it or not, a coal-fired plant releases 100 times more radioactive material than an equivalent nuclear reactor. And nuclear weapons, radiation containment and waste disposal are manageable problems, but global warming is not.

What is nuclear energy?
Nuclear energy is the energy released by the splinting (fission) of an atom. Atoms are the small particles all matter is made up from. Atoms are composed by neutrons, protons and electrons. The neutrons and the protons are inside the nucleus, and the electrons orbit the nucleus.

How do you split an atom?
The process of splinting an atom is called **fission**. Uranium is a highly unstable atom because it is one of the heaviest atoms in the periodic table. When the atom of uranium is bombarded with neutrons traveling at high speed, the atom splits. When the atom splits, the two smaller atoms that are formed weigh a little less than the initial atom. the weight that is lost is transformed into energy. The original atom of uranium has a lot of neutrons in it, and when the atom splits, some of this neutrons are released. The neutrons that are released have a chance of "hitting" other uranium atoms, which will split too and release more neutrons, therefore creating a chain reaction.

Radiation
Sometimes an atom is unstable and changes take place inside it. The elements heaviest (uranium, radium, etc.) are said to be radioactive. Rare forms of potassium, carbon and hydrogen are radioactive too. Any atom can become radioactive if it is bombarded with neutrons. Alpha radioactivity is made up from two protons and two neutrons, and can only travel a few centimeters in the air. Alpha radiation is not dangerous if it does not enter the body (through breathing, swallowing, or a break in skin). Beta rays are free electrons, they can travel a few meters in the air but they can be stopped by a sheet of aluminum or glass. Gamma rays are made from protons and are extremely penetrating, they can only be stopped by concrete or lead.

A nuclear power station
Nuclear stations are very similar to a plant that uses coal or oil as fuel. The difference is that in a nuclear power station, the heat comes from nuclear energy. There is ceramic pallets (rods of uranium) sealed into little tubes, inside water, and when the neutrons pass through uranium, fission occurs, and the energy produced is heat. This heats up the water around it, and the water is turned into steam, which turns a steam turbine.

Mining
Uranium can be extracted from both the surface, and underground mining. The miners have to be well protected against radioactivity and from particles of uranium dust because it is harmful for the lungs. There are two kinds of uranium, uranium 235 and uranium 238. They behave in exactly the same chemical way, but uranium 238 has three more neutrons and is far more likely to be struck by a neutron, and is far more likely to produce fission. But only 1% of the world's uranium is uranium 238.

Possible question
What are the consequences of nuclear energy in our life?