nuclear power

Examples of nuclear power in the following topics:

• Present Sources of Energy

  • Present sources of energy include fossil fuels, various types of renewable energy, and nuclear power.
  • Nowadays, coal, natural gas, and nuclear power are the most popular fuels for electricity generation.
  • Since commercial nuclear energy began in the mid 1950's, 2008 was the first year that no new nuclear power plant was connected to the grid, although two were connected in 2009.
  • Annual generation of nuclear power has been on a slight downward trend since 2007, decreasing 1.8% in 2009 with nuclear power still meeting 13–14% of the world's electricity demand.
  • Nuclear (fission) power stations, excluding the contribution from naval nuclear fission reactors, provided about 5.7% of the world's energy and 13% of the world's electricity in 2012.

• Binding Energy and Nuclear Forces

  • Binding energy is the energy used in nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons.
  • The nuclear force is now understood as a residual effect of an even more powerful "strong force" or strong interaction.
  • This more powerful force is mediated by particles called gluons.
  • Gluons hold quarks together with a force like that of an electric charge (but of far greater power).
  • These nuclear forces are very weak compared to direct gluon forces ("color forces" or "strong forces") inside nucleons, and the nuclear forces extend over only a few nuclear diameters, falling exponentially with distance.

• Nuclear Fission in Reactors

  • Nuclear reactors convert the thermal energy released from nuclear fission into electricity.
  • Just as conventional power stations generate electricity by harnessing the thermal energy released from burning fossil fuels, the thermal energy released from nuclear fission can be converted in electricity by nuclear reactors.
  • The power output of the reactor is adjusted by controlling how many neutrons are able to create more fissions.
  • Nuclear power plant accidents include the Chernobyl disaster (1986), the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), the Three Mile Island accident (1979), and the SL-1 accident (1961).
  • The nuclear power industry has improved the safety and performance of reactors and has proposed new safer (but generally untested) reactor designs.

• Nuclear Weapons

  • The proliferation of nuclear weapons, explosive devices which derive force from nuclear reactions, is a key challenge of foreign policy.
  • The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons—and that acknowledge possessing such weapons—are (chronologically by date of first test) the United States, the Soviet Union (succeeded as a nuclear power by Russia), the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.
  • Because of the immense military power they can confer, the political control of nuclear weapons has been a key issue for as long as they have existed; in most countries the use of nuclear force can only be authorized by the head of government or head of state.
  • By the 1960s, steps were being taken to limit both the proliferation of nuclear weapons to other countries and the environmental effects of nuclear testing.
  • The Partial Test Ban Treaty (1963) restricted all nuclear testing to underground facilities, to prevent contamination from nuclear fallout, while the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1968) attempted to place restrictions on the types of activities signatories could participate in, with the goal of allowing the transference of non-military nuclear technology to member countries without fear of proliferation.

• Nuclear Reactors

  • In many countries, nuclear power is seen as an environmentally friendly alternative to fossil fuels, which are non-renewable and release large amounts of greenhouse gases.
  • However, nuclear reactors produce nuclear waste containing radioactive elements.
  • When the reactor's neutron production exceeds losses, characterized by increasing power level, it is considered "supercritical."
  • When losses dominate, it is considered "subcritical" and exhibits decreasing power.
  • Just as many conventional thermal power stations generate electricity by harnessing the thermal energy released from burning fossil fuels, nuclear power plants convert the energy released from nuclear fission.

• Nuclear Weapons

  • A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions—either fission, fusion, or a combination.
  • A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion.
  • The only countries known to have detonated nuclear weapons (and that acknowledge possessing such weapons) are, as listed chronologically by date of first test: the United States, the Soviet Union (succeeded as a nuclear power by Russia), the United Kingdom, France, the People's Republic of China, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.
  • In addition, it is also widely believed that Israel possesses nuclear weapons (though they have not admitted to it).
  • The first nuclear weapons were gravity bombs, such as this "Fat Man" weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan.

• The Nuclear Arms Race

  • The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
  • The nuclear arms race was a competition for supremacy in nuclear warfare between the United States, the Soviet Union, and their respective allies during the Cold War .
  • The first nuclear weapon was created by U.S. during the World War II and was developed to be used against the Axis powers.
  • However, none of these defensive measures were secure, and in the 1950s both the United States and Soviet Union had amassed enough nuclear power to obliterate the other side.
  • Both Soviet and American experts hoped to use nuclear weapons for extracting concessions from the other, or from other powers such as China, but the risk connected with using these weapons was so grave that they refrained from what John Foster Dulles referred to as brinkmanship.

• Nuclear Binding Energy and Mass Defect

  • Once mass defect is known, nuclear binding energy can be calculated by converting that mass to energy by using E=mc2.
  • This energy—available as nuclear energy—can be used to produce nuclear power or build nuclear weapons.
  • Nuclear binding energy is also used to determine whether fission or fusion will be a favorable process.
  • As such, there is a peak at iron-56 on the nuclear binding energy curve.
  • Calculate the mass defect and nuclear binding energy of an atom

• Nuclear Fission

  • Nuclear fission occurs when an atom splits into two or more smaller atoms, most often the as the result of neutron bombardment.
  • The strong nuclear force is the force between two or more nucleons.
  • This force binds protons and neutrons together inside the nucleus, and it is most powerful when the nucleus is small and the nucleons are close together.
  • In atoms with small nuclei, the strong nuclear force overpowers the electromagnetic force.
  • As the nucleus gets bigger, the electromagnetic force becomes greater than the strong nuclear force.

• Nuclear Fusion

  • Fusion is the process that powers active stars, releasing large quantities of energy.
  • This force, called the strong nuclear force, overcomes electric repulsion in a very close range.
  • Fusion reactions of light elements power the stars and produce virtually all elements in a process called nucleosynthesis.
  • At nucleus radii distances, the attractive nuclear force is stronger than the repulsive electrostatic force.
  • Describe the electrostatic and strong nuclear forces and how they act to oppose or promote a fusion reaction