Nuclear Energy

Transformation
By Aarohi, Ria & Parashie
Introduction to Nuclear Energy
What is Nuclear Energy?
➔ Nuclear energy is energy that is produced by the core/nucleus of an atom
➔ There is a lot of energy present in the bonds which clasp the nucleus together
➔ Nuclear energy can then be released when these bonds are broken
➔ This energy can be released in 2 ways: fission and fusion

Image of the Image of a Power

Nucleus Plant Creating
Nuclear Energy
What is Nuclear Fission?
➔ In the process of nuclear fission, atoms have a
large mass*, i.e. uranium
➔ The process includes the splitting of an atom
into 2 parts
➔ When these atoms are split, energy is released
➔ Furthermore, as a result of this process, new
elements are formed
➔ During this process, the splitting of the nucleus
results in a loss of mass as the 2 nuclei that have
been formed as a result of the split, together
Image of Process of Nuclear Fission
have less mass then the original nucleus
➔ This missing matter is converted into energy

*Mass refers to the amount of matter within an object

What is Nuclear Fission?
Additional Information:

➔ Nuclear fission is an
exothermic process releasing
kinetic energy in the form of
gamma radiation
➔ The reason for the energy
release is that the fission
products are more stable
than the parent nucleus
➔ It is also used to create
atomic bombs in many cases

Image of Atomic Bomb

Example of Nuclear Fission
➔ Uranium 235 is an example of an isotope that
is used in starting nuclear fission and several
chain reactions
➔ Uranium 235 is split by a neutron into 2
parts, hence, it releases energy and neutrons
➔ These neutrons which are released will split
into other atoms
➔ If there is enough uranium present in these Image of the Uranium 235 Chain Reaction
atoms, this will start a chain reaction
➔ Each uranium 235 atom will be split and will
send off into other uranium atoms Image of Uranium
➔ Only if this reaction is controlled will nuclear 235 itself

energy be produced
Example of Nuclear Fission
➔ Uranium 235 is not the only isotope used, but
it is the most widely used
➔ Another example is plutonium 239, although,
many people fear using it as it is to
dangerous
➔ Plutonium is poisonous but remains in fuel
pellets until it’s removed from the plant
➔ Some other examples also include uranium
238 and uranium 235

Image of Plutonium 239

What is Nuclear Fusion?
➔ Nuclear fusion is proven to be a better
energy source
➔ It is a process which includes light atoms
that are being smashed together to
produce energy
➔ The most famous example of nuclear
fusion is when the stars and the sun
generate light and heat as atoms of
hydrogen are joining together to make
atoms of helium, which is then releasing a
lot of energy

Image of Nuclear Fusion Taking Place in the Sun

Example of Nuclear Fusion on Earth
➔ Achieved on Earth by combining 2
isotopes: Deuterium & Tritium
➔ Hydrogen is the lightest of all elements
which is made up of one proton and one
electron
➔ Deuterium has an extra neutron
➔ Tritium has two extra neutrons
➔ In the fusion, tritium and deuterium are
combined to form helium
➔ Helium is the next heaviest element on the
Image of the Process of Fusion
periodic table
➔ This then releases a free neutron
Identifying the Problem:
Nuclear Waste Disposal
Introduction to the Problem
➔ Nuclear energy generates light and heat
for our homes
➔ There have been several disasters in
nuclear power plants as the storage and
disposal has not been treated carefully
➔ There have also been safety concerns in
terms of health for storing nuclear waste
➔ These power plants also create tons of
hazardous waste material every year
which is extremely hard to shift
Image of the Radioactive Waste Storage
Effects of Nuclear Waste Disposal
➔ Accidents
- Throughout history, there have been a number of accidents because of waste disposal
which includes nuclear waste being spread by dust storms populated by humans,
animals, water bodies etc.
➔ Scavenging
- In developing nations, people go scavenging for abandoned nuclear waste since third
nations countries cannot afford such expensive disposal, gence, they are willingly
risking themselves in order to earn money
➔ Transportation
- Transporting nuclear waste from power plants occasionally results in several problems,
for example, if poor shipping casks are used for the containment and there is even one
slight knock or bump, the contents can spill which can affect a wide radius
Effects of Nuclear Waste Disposal
➔ Health Effects
- When humans are exposed to radiation that is not disposed properly, they have long
term effects on their health. This includes the cause of cancer. Radiation can also
change a person’s DNA which also has some negative and positive impacts.
➔ Expense
- Hypothetically, if an accident does take place, which it has in history, the cost of
cleaning up everything and making the environment safe again for people, animals etc
is extremely high. Additionally, there is no easy route to cleaning up radioactive
material. It also takes years to ensure that the area is safe to live in again, in many cases,
it takes up to 10 years for things to become normal.
Advantages and Limitations:
Environmental Factor
Advantages → Environmental Factor
➔ For over 50 years, the United States has been constantly using/
experimenting on some sort of nuclear energy and according to
Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) even through they use about 3500
reactors a year of operation there have been no recorded health effects
till date

➔ According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “It is safer to work at

a nuclear plant than at a fast food restaurant or a grocery store or in
real estate."
Safety Measures taken

➔ Whichever country it is, if all the rules and regulations and safety
norms are followed, the nuclear power plants will never interfere with
the public’s health. Modern nuclear technologies have multi-layered
safety systems in place that offer a huge improvement on the older
power plants. But so much safety is very expensive for third world
countries so many of them take this for granted.
Advantages → Environmental Factor
➔ Nuclear energy actually has a much minor impact on the environment and including air, wildlife,
water, land, etc. than any other type of energy or fuel. It doesn’t produce any harmful greenhouse
gasses as such and requires very less space to generate its electricity

➔ You would have to live near a nuclear power plant for over 2,000 years to get the same amount of
radiation exposure that you get from a single diagnostic medical x-ray.

Radiation caused by X-ray

Disadvantages → Environmental Factor
➔ Nuclear power plants generally require massive amount of space,
preferably next to a water body. In order for this to be possible,
many forests are cleared and there is a huge deforestation rate
which muddles with the natural habitat of the flora and fauna that
lived there. It tampers with the ecological balance of the area
Forest clearing in Madagascar
➔ Studies have shown that due to the heat rejected in the water
body, millions of species of fish have been dying

➔ There is also an increased amount of sulfur dioxide in the air

which produces acid rain which then leads to:
- contamination of surface water bodies
- reduction of productivity of the soil
- negative effects on the region's vegetation
- human health.
Nuclear Power Plant beside a water body
Disadvantages → Environmental Factor
➔ The issue is that we as citizens of whichever country and even
animals are constantly under experimentation for nuclear energy
and no one really knows the harm it is going to cause us

➔ There is radioactive material around you in your air, soil and

surroundings just randomly affecting thousands of people
medically. This might not affect us a lot at this level but if it goes on Animals affected by Radioactivity
then it is going to affect our children and grandchildren who will
them condemn us for our selfishness.

➔ Uranium that is used for fuel in nuclear power plants is being dug
up underground and is releasing harmful radioactivity which
creates serious health and environmental problems not only for the
miners but the indigenous people who live there. They are either
Uranium mines
forced to evacuate or face some sort of cancer or tuberculosis.
 Real Life Disasters: Chernobyl Disaster, Ukraine, 1986
➔ Worst disaster in history. This disaster occured because of a very
poorly designed experiments where the workers shut down the
power regulating system and emergency safety systems and also
withdrew most of the control rods from the core to see if the
reactor can run at 7 percent power!

➔ Believe it or not, the core went out of out of control which

triggered several explosions and a fireball which released massive
amounts of radioactivity

➔ 30,000 inhabitants were evacuated and though it has been

almost 33 years since the accident, Chernobyl won’t be habitable
for the next 20,000 years.
Nuclear Explosion
*Control rods are used in nuclear reactors to control the fission rate of uranium and/or plutonium
Real Life Disasters: Fukushima Accident, Japan, 2011
➔ It was a nuclear accident where 4 successful nuclear reactors were affected and went through melt
down which released a lot of radioactivity.

➔ The main cause for this was because of a very severe earthquake and tsunami that hit the power
plant and the power went of which caused a melt down because there was no cooling system.

➔ All the food and water was contaminated and non edible. Many natural water bodies and the soil was
contaminated making that portion of Japan highly radioactive.

➔ 47,000 residents were evacuated immediately and many were exposed to high amounts of radiation.

➔ In all 6 Fukushima workers died, 573 deaths have been certified and 13 municipalities were affected.
Real Life Disasters: Fukushima Accident, Japan, 2011

Release of hydrogen gas Victims of the accident

Environmental Impact: Graph
True, but controversial:
Nuclear energy is not at
all sustainable and has no
place in a clean and safe
future because not only is
it very dangerous but it is
also very expensive.
Thought nuclear pollution
is invisible, it is extremely
toxic and instead of using
nuclear energy and fossil
fuels, we should be using
renewable energy.
Addressing the Problem:
Nuclear Waste Disposal
Addressing The Problem: Nuclear Waste Disposal
● High-level radioactive wastes are generally
stored in a container in order to avoid any
chance of radiation exposure to people or the
environment.
● The radioactivity of the wastes decays with time,
providing a strong incentive to store high-level
waste for about 50 years before being disposed.
● The disposal of low-level waste is
straightforward and can be undertaken safely (as
explained previously).
● For this reason, deep geological disposal is
considered to be the best solution for the final
disposal of high-level radioactive waste.
Addressing The Problem: Nuclear Waste Disposal
● Nuclear power is generated by splitting atoms to release the
energy held at the core, or nucleus, of those atoms.
○ Radioactive waste or nuclear waste is a byproduct of
this power generation
● Nuclear waste is hazardous for tens of thousands of years,
and if it is not disposed properly it could be very harmful for
the planet.

Low-level waste (created at hospitals, laboratories and industry)

is most of the time is not dangerous to handle, but still has to be
disposed properly. According to the World Nuclear Association,
low-level waste accounts for about 90% of all waste disposals.
Disposal for these wastes are commonly found in many countries
and are usually place in shallow landfill.
 Addressing The Problem: Nuclear Waste Disposal
The process of geological disposal centers
on burrowing nuclear waste into the ground
to the point where it is out of human reach.

● The waste needs to be properly protected to

stop any material from leaking out.
● Seepage from the waste could contaminate
the water table if the burial location is above
or below the water level.
● The waste needs to be properly fastened to
the burial site and also structurally supported
in the event of a major seismic event, which
could result in immediate contamination.
Citations
Citations
● World Nuclear Association "Storage and Disposal Options for Radioactive Waste - World Nuclear
Association." World-nuclear.org,
https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-waste/storage-and-
disposal-of-radioactive-waste.aspx. Accessed 4 Sept. 2019.
● Picot, Cynthia "Sustainable solutions for radioactive waste - OECD Observer." Oecdobserver.org,
http://oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/531/Sustainable_solutions_for_radioactive_waste
.html. Accessed 4 Sept. 2019.
● Franklin (Lynn) Orr. "Finding Long-Term Solutions for Nuclear Waste." Energy.gov,
https://www.energy.gov/articles/finding-long-term-solutions-nuclear-waste. Accessed 4 Sept. 2019.
● Ali, Subhan "Nuclear Waste Disposal Methods." Large.stanford.edu, 9 Mar. 2011,
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph241/ali2/. Accessed 7 Sept. 2019.
● N.a. "Is Nuclear Power Safe for Humans and the Environment? - Alternative Energy - ProCon.org."
Alternativeenergy.procon.org. n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2019.
<https://alternativeenergy.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=001270>
Citations
● N.a. "Impact of Nuclear Power Plants." Large.stanford.edu. 3 Aug. 2016. Web. 7 Sept. 2019.
<http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph241/jaffer2/
● Encyclopedia Britannica. "Fukushima accident | Summary, Effects, & Facts." Encyclopedia
Britannica. n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2019. <https://www.britannica.com/event/Fukushima-accident>
● Encyclopedia Britannica. "Chernobyl disaster | Causes & Facts." Encyclopedia Britannica. n.d. Web.
8 Sept. 2019. <https://www.britannica.com/event/Chernobyl-disaster>
● Duke Energy. "Fission vs. Fusion – What’s the Difference?." Duke Energy | Nuclear Information
Center. 30 Jan. 2013. Web. 8 Sept. 2019.
<https://nuclear.duke-energy.com/2013/01/30/fission-vs-fusion-whats-the-difference>
● Union of Concerned Scientists. "Nuclear Waste." Union of Concerned Scientists. n.d. Web. 8 Sept.
2019. <https://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear-power/nuclear-waste>
● N.a. "Nuclear Waste Disposal: Problems & Solutions." Geol-amu.org. 11 Apr. 2018. Web. 8 Sept.
2019. <http://www.geol-amu.org/notes/b8-3-8.htm>