Monday, February 21, 2011

Nuclear Power!


Another type of nonrenewable resource is derived from the metallic element found underground called Uranium. Nuclear power, when we create electricity by obtaining energy from splitting Uranium atoms, is an alternative to burning fossil fuels. There are many pros and cons to nuclear power and in the next week we will spend some time analyzing them. First, let's figure out how it works.

BlogWork

Go to the following website: HowStuffWorks.com

Read through the first two pages on this link.

Write a paragraph description of what nuclear energy is and how it works.

17 comments:

el muchos said...

Nuclear power plants have many similarities to coal burning plants. They both involve heating water, but unlike coal plants, nuclear plants depend on uranium. Uranium-238 is by far the most common form of uranium. There are rarer forms like U-235 and U-234, which have slightly different characteristics. The nuclear power plants don't just use uranium because it sounds cool, they use it because induced fission can be applied to it. fission, is when an atom splits, when a uranium atom splits it emits a lot of heat and radiation.

ikc said...

­Nuclear radiation can be both extremely beneficial and extremely dangerous. It just depends on how you use it. Nuclear materials (that is, s­ubstances that emit nuclear radiation) are fairly common and have found their way into our normal vocabularies in many different ways. You have probably heard (and used) many of the following terms:

Uranium
Plutonium

kujo93 said...

Nuclear energy, it is not all that different from the energy created by fossil fuels. Both heat water to rotate a steam powered generator thus creating electricity to power practically everything we use in day-to-day life. Then what is the difference you ask? Well, instead of burning really, really old plants, we use our friend nuclear fission. Nuclear Fission is when one atom splits into two atoms; this apparently causes enough heat to boil the water needed to turn the turbine. Greener, right? Not so much, the process still emits CO2 and even the presence of nuclear fuel is a contamination risk. Not to mention the fact that historically, uranium is never mined or purified cleanly. So nuclear energy, just as bad as fossil fuel.

sir laughs alot the great said...

Nuclear power is a dangerous way of creating electricity. It consists of the same kind of way of creating electricity as fossil fuel, heat makes steam and that steam powers a turbine. The only difference is that fossil fuel uses fossil fuels to burn and create the heat, and nuclear uses uranium. There are three kinds of a intrusting fact is that uranium when given a extra neutron, splits in half, which creates heat and radiation.

Bobby said...

Nuclear energy can be created in one of two ways nuclear fission, or nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission is when the nucleus of a atom splits into multiple smaller parts, and produces neutrons and photons. Nuclear fusion is when two or more atomic nuclei' join together to form a larger nucleus and releases large quantities of energy. Nuclear power is when heat is created by nuclear fission, or fusion and the heat boils water which turns into steam, which creates pressure that moves a turbine. Usually uranium or plutonium is used. Although isotopes of graphite have been used.

insanity prawn boy said...

Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest sources of energy, it is also one of the most dangerous. Since 2007, nuclear energy has made up about 15 percent of the world's electricity. Though these power plants use atomic energy to stay running, they work almost the same way that coal burning plants work,they both heat water for steam, which drives their turbine generators. The difference with these two plants is the way that they heat the water, while coal plants burn on fossil fuel to work, nuclear plants depend on the heat caused during nuclear fission, the event when atoms split into two. That is what nuclear energy is and how it works. THAS RIGHT!

Nuclear cookie said...

Nuclear power plants are many things from very beneficial and helpful, to extremely dangerous for us and our planet. The power plants are slowly getting larger and larger as the years go on. in 2008 there were 430 nuclear power plants and they provided over 15% of the worlds electricity. The nuclear plants run on uranium and most commonly Uranium-238 (which makes up 99% of the earths uranium. Not only is Uranium used in the plants but is also used to make nuclear bombs. Even though when people think of nuclear things that think big and bad the power plants are really not so different from coal burning plants, for instance they both use water, which they then make into pressurized steam, that thens turns a turbine generator. the main (and biggest) difference is the water heating method. yet over all as big as you may think when you think nuclear, over all the power plants are not really that amazingly huge.

secretroomintheatticyea said...

Nuclear power plants split molecules of Uranium to boil water. Uranium 235 throws off a alpha particle to decay naturally. In the United States there are 104 nuclear power plants. These plants supply 20% of the country's electricity. These plants heat water then push the steam into turbines. There are different options on nuclear power;some say in is little in cost and admissions.

L said...

Nuclear energy works a lot like burning coal. There is one difference however; the place the energy comes from. In nuclear energy the water is heated by the energy of separating atoms. When a proton comes in contact with a uranium atom (uranium is one of the few substances that can survive having its atoms split) the atom breaks apart and the energy from that breaking heats the water. Protons from the broken atom then go on to break more uranium atoms so the cycle can go on and on.

thing One! said...

Nuclear power plants works almost exactly like burning coal. But instead of fossil fuels, for nuclear energy depends on nuclear fission, that is when one atom splits into two. Nuclear energy is very useful and helpful, nuclear energy provides about 15% of the wolds electricity. However nuclear energy can be very dangerous because it causes big amounts of radiation, witch can cause radiation poisoning. Some people have actually died from this poisoning, there has also been leaks of poisons material that has run people out of their homes.

Donna Elder hates me! said...

Nuclear power plants are almost exactly the same as coal burning plants. But the technique of heating the water is much different. In a coal-burning plant, coal is burnt, but in a nuclear power plant, uranium is used. When the atoms of uranium are split using some weird technology or something that I didn't understand, the uranium creates radiation and heat. There are both pros and cons to this.

danceMAGICdance said...

Nuclear power is a way to make electricity. Coal heats up water to make steam that powers a generator that makes electricity. Nuclear power heats water differently. The uranium atoms are split, releasing the energy that heats the water.
Nuclear energy is good because if you burned coal all the time we'd run out. It's bad because if they were in everyone's backyard, everyone would have cancer.
Coal is bad because of smoke.

Isys said...

Nuclear power, what can I say? Is it good? Is it bad? These are the questions. The answer to that is both. It is good and bad. It definetly helps for electricity, it just uses uranium. Both has the same prosess in making the electricity. It's just a toss up between weather it is a good use or not.

A.L said...

Nuclear power provides electricity for a significant percentage of the population. Nuclear power plants give off about 15% of the earths electricity. In the U.S 104 nuclear power plants provide 20% of the electricity in general, with some states benefiting more than others.

Thing Two :) said...

Nuclear energy is similar to how other plants create their energy. heat water to create steam and then guide the steam to a turbine generator but nuclear plant uses the nuclear fission when others burn fossil fuels. When a neutron collides with a uranium atom, the atom will separate in two releasing 3 new neutrons.

1sweet1 said...

The Nuclear power plants are some what helpful and dangerous. It can be helpful for energy by giving us energy for computers and for our t.vs. It can be bad because of pollution and also the environment.

REO said...

Nuclear power plants are like coal burning pants. How they work Is they heat water into pressurized steam which turns the generator on the only difference is how they heat the water the older coal plants burn fossil fuels the nuclear ones use the heat the occurs during nuclear fission, what happens is one atom splits in two