Difference between revisions of "Nuclear Energy"

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'''Nuclear energy''' is [[energy]] gained by the power of an [[atom]]. The main uses of nuclear technology is in nuclear reactors, which use the energy in an atom to create power, or nuclear weapons, which use the energy in warfare. There are two types of reactions, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.
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'''Nuclear energy''' is [[energy]] gained from the destruction of subatomic particles during nuclear fission or fusion. The main uses of nuclear technology is in nuclear reactors, which use the energy in an atom to create power, or nuclear weapons, which use the energy in warfare. There are two types of reactions, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.
  
 
==Theory==
 
==Theory==

Revision as of 03:29, June 29, 2008

Nuclear energy is energy gained from the destruction of subatomic particles during nuclear fission or fusion. The main uses of nuclear technology is in nuclear reactors, which use the energy in an atom to create power, or nuclear weapons, which use the energy in warfare. There are two types of reactions, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

Theory

The energy released from a nuclear fission device is given by the equation 2. Spelled out, mass multiplied by the speed of light squared. This equation is the formula for the energy contained in an atom. This energy is released in a nuclear weapon when a speeding neutron collides with the atom, blasting it apart, and releasing the binding energy of the atom. In a nuclear weapon, the atom blasted apart then releases other neutrons which collide with other atoms. This keeps occurring until there are no atoms left to destroy. This is known as a nuclear chain reaction. In a nuclear fission power plant, however, the nuclear core is designed so that a runaway chain reaction cannot occur, because there are not enough atoms for it.

Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, is based on putting atoms together, as opposed to breaking them apart in fission, heavier atoms often require less bonding energy than the combined original binding energies of the fusing lighter atoms.

Weapon

Nuclear "mushroom cloud" at Hiroshima, Japan

A nuclear weapon is a weapon designed with a nuclear warhead. Nuclear weapons not only produce mass devastation in the blast radius, but also create a nuclear fallout for many years to come. Recently, there has been much fear of a terrorist state or organization getting hold of either a Soviet weapon or creating one of their own.

Nuclear fission based weapons occur by the nuclear chain reaction system, while thermonuclear weapons create nuclear fusion in their reaction.

Power

Nuclear power plant

Nuclear fission has existed for power over fifty years, starting with the Manhattan Project. It currently supplies electricity to many of the nations of the world. The nuclear industry was booming in the 1960's and 1970's, but political opposition stopped nuclear construction in the USA. There is talk of renewing construction because it is the cleanest and cheapest source of large quantities of power, it doesn't depend on Mideast oil, and it doesn't emit greenhouse gases.

Nuclear fusion has been sought vigorously as a clean energy source, but the end result in every try has been less energy resulting in the reaction than was put into it. Nevertheless, several countries still invest heavily in nuclear fusion energy programs in the hope that someday they may become viable.

Culture

Nuclear weapons are often colloquially called "nukes."

A nuclear fusion reactor was a central part of the 2004 film Spiderman 2.