27 Interesting Fact about Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is a kind of energy that stored in the nucleus of an atom. Nuclear energy has to be released to produce electricity. That energy can be released by nuclear fusion or nuclear fission. Atoms are split to smaller atoms in nuclear fission, meanwhile in nuclear fusion atoms are fused or combined to a larger atom.

Nuclear fission is used by nuclear power plant to produce electricity. The uranium rods in a nuclear power reactor are used to generate heat and then generate electricity. Then, water and carbon dioxide is used to take the heat away, produce steam. The steam turns turbines that drive generators to produce electricity.

 

27 Interesting Facts about Nuclear Energy

1. Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist

2. Over a hundred nuclear power plant supply for more than 20 % US electricity. Since the 1979 and the Three Mile Island incident, there is no new nuclear power plant have been built.

3. Nuclear fuels are used in nuclear weapon, nuclear power plants, medical applications, space probes and robots, nuclear submarines and carriers and research.

4. While nuclear waste is an issue and the process of getting materials to build a nuclear plant created pollution, the process of producing and using nuclear energy has no significant impact to the environmental. Meanwhile, the production and use of fossil fuels contributes to pollution at every stage.

5. Kazakhstan produced 21,317 tonnes uranium in 2012. The uranium consumption of the US in 2013 is 19,622 tonnes

6. 31 countries are supplied by over 400 commercial nuclear reactors all around the world.

7. There have been 3 major disasters in the nuclear energy production history. Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima in Japan. Meanwhile, over than 10 major disaster related with fossil fuel in the past 25 years.

8. The former Soviet Union was the first country in the world that use nuclear energy to produce electricity. The Obninsk Power Plant operated in 1954.

9. The US was the second country that allow commercial reactors to produce electrical power. The Shippingport Power Plant operated in 1957.

10. The federal government is facing local state opposition to the US government plan to switch from storing nuclear waste in surface casks and cooling ponds by burying it underground in a special site on Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

11. The US was the first country to use a nuclear powered submarine. The first submerged vessel-USS Nautilus operated to travel under the North Pole since 1954 until 1980.

12. 3 million people live within 10 miles of 104 nuclear power plants in the US.

13. Nuclear fusion involves putting two atoms together to make one atom and it is the safest way to create power. Because of the nuclear fusion technology has never been implemented on a broad scale, the nuclear fission process is used in almost all nuclear power plants.  The fission-splits one atom into two is considered more dangerous.

14. Every nuclear power plant shuts down the plant in every year and a half to two years to allow for the removal of radioactive waste.

15. The South Africa is a first developed country to follow through on the agreements to cease production of nuclear weapons and destroy nuclear weapon stockpiles.

16. The US helped the former Soviet Union to create their first nuclear weapons.

17. Some research shows that people will get more radiation over their lifetime from being around their personal electronics than from being near a nuclear plant.

18. The sun is actually the largest nuclear reactor. The sun uses natural process of nuclear reactions to produce helium from hydrogen.

19. The Manhattan Project in 1942 with a research team based in Chicago produced the first functioning design of nuclear reactor.

20. The Pacific Proving Grounds that cover Marshall Islands and Nevada are place of The US tests their nuclear weapons.

21. In 1861, Tsar Bomba was tested over Novaya Zemlya, the mushroom cloud could be seen clearly from over than 600 miles away. This is the most powerful nuclear device ever created.

22. In nuclear weapon development, there are four different tests is used. They are the underwater, atmospheric, underground and the exoatmospheric tests.

23. In the nuclear disaster, you exposed to nuclear material, by remove all of your clothes will remove almost 90% of the radioactive material that you were just exposed.

24. The Fukushima event in 2011 led to many countries to stop their plans for increased nuclear power plants, while the others countries are staying on track. China and India as a growing countries are still pursuing nuclear energy.

25. Shearon Harris in North Carolina has the largest nuclear waste storage pool in the country.

26. It is more than 1 nuclear test in 1 week or over than 55 tests a year for 30 years.

27. Over 6 billion dollars are required for an existing plant to build one new reactor.

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