Nuclear Energy :: essays research papers

atomic aught by definition is the energyconsumed or produced in modifying thecomposition of the nuclear burden. Nuclear energyis used for things such(prenominal) as atomic bombs, heat contentbombs and other nuclear weapons. Nuclearenergy can similarly be used for exponentingelectricity-generating plants all over the world.There ar umpteen arguments for and against nuclearpower. Nuclear power is an inexpensive cleansource of power. Others feel that because of the idle shaft of light emitted during the producingof the power and the radioactivity of the materialused that nuclear power is not as good as thealternatives which are fossil fuels and solarpower.(Hansen, 1993)If matter changes state or composition, it isaccompanied by the production of energy.Processes such as combustion produce energy byrearranging the atoms or molecules of thatsubstance.(Brain, 1998) An simulation of this is thecombustion of methane (natural gas) CH(4) + 2O(2) = CO(2) + 2H(2)O + energyIn this exam ple the amount of energy released is eight electron volts or 8 eV. The electron volt building blockis the unit used by nuclear physicists. The electronvolt represents the gain in kinetic energy when anelectron is accelerated through a voltage drop ofone volt.(Brain, 1998)The most common nuclear reaction is nuclear nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is the member in which aheavy nucleus combines with a neutron andseparates the heavy nucleus into two lighternuclei.(Roy, 1993) The most distinctive fissionreaction is that of uranium-235 it is as follows92 U235 + 1 neutron = 38 Sr96 + 54 XE138 + 2neutrons + energyAnother type of nuclear reaction is nuclear fusion.Nuclear fusion occurs when two light elementscombine to form a heavier atom.(Grisham, 1993)An example of this is1 H(2) + 1 H(3) = 2 He(4) +1 neutron + energyNuclear FissionNuclear fission is a complex process, but manyproducts are formed during this process. Not onlythe two nuclei but also neutrons, beta particles,neutrinos and gamma rays are created during thefission process.(Roy, 1993) There are more thanfifty different ways a nucleus may bear up under fission.Some of the ways are much more common thanothers. During the fission process the nucleusbreaks into to unequal parts, one lighter fragmentand a heavier fragment. These nuclei are formedwith excess energy that they do not normally have intheir ground state they must lose the free energy.They release this extra energy in the form ofgamma radiation or sometimes neutron emission.The primary fragments are rich in neutrons and areradioactive. Uranium-235 which contains 92protons and 143 neutrons are more likely to undergo fission when bombarded by low-energyneutrons.(Hansen, 1993)Nuclear Fission Used in BombsThe fission process was discovered in the late