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By: Julian Kessell, Paul Blanco, Candyce Ha, and Sarah Sellman
● Naturally occurring element
that is highly radioactive
● Hard and heavy metal,
nonrenewable
● Formed when Earth was
created, found all over the
world
● Many isotopes found, but
Uranium-235 is most
commonly used for energy
production
● 1938: first fission of an atom
● WWII: first time nuclear fission
was used to make a bomb
● First nuclear power plant:
Shippingport, PA 1957
● No new plants after the 70s until
recently due to political
opposition
● Nuclear power plants are a
safety issue (radiation, burns,
explosions, radioactive waste)
● ex: 1986 Chernobyl, Ukraine
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Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo
Dresden, Illinois
Turkey Point, Florida
Seabrook Station, Maine
Beaver Valley, Pennsylvania
● Nuclear Fission: energy is
released when nuclei are split
apart by bombarding it with a
neutron
● Radiation released by atoms in
the form of alpha, beta, or
gamma radiation
● Form ions --electrically charged
particles-- in things they strike
● Fuel Mass to Energy Output:
80,620,000 MJ/kg
National and Abroad
● Production of electricity
● Agriculture
● Medical treatments
● Preservation of food
3rd Energy source after coal and
natural gas, providing 19.01% of
electricity in US and 13% of
world
● World leaders: US, France,
Russia, South Korea,
Germany, China
● Uranium itself is fairly
cheap and abundant
● Breeding- turning uranium
into plutonium (an even
better fuel), which would
extend reserves for 100s of
years
● 50 to 100 times less
greenhouse gas emissions
than coal
● minimal effects
● no air pollution
● no green house
gases
● water used in
process recycled
● Very small margin of error when
using nuclear fuel rods
● Much research and money put
into the construction and safety
of the plant
● Non-renewable: Uranium waste
releases radioactive particles
over long expanse of time (halflife is 4.5 billion years), putting
the surrounding environment at
risk if not stored correctly
● Create new design for reactors
that run at much higher
temperatures to obtain more
energy from same amount of
uranium, and would leave much
less waste with lower toxicity
and half-life
● create new design where the
plants run on nuclear waste and
cool down on their own
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http://www.periodictable.com/Samples/092.19/s13.JPG
http://nuclear-energy.net/applications-nuclear-energy.html
http://inapcache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/chernobyl_25th_anniv
ersary/bp2.jpg
boy-lawnmower-615.jpg
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/nuclearcomeback.html?nav=FEATURES
densitycomparison.jpg
http://need-media.smugmug.com/Graphics/Graphics/iwQB55bt/1/L/Uranium%20Fuel%20Cycle-L.jpg
http://www.gravitycontrol.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/nukes.jpg
http://www.timeslive.co.za/Feeds/Reuters_Images/2013/01/04/mdf22573-15-10-2012-15-1050-755.jpg/ALTERNATES/crop_630x400/MDF22573-15-10-2012-15-10-50-755.jpg
http://www.targetmap.com/ThumbnailsReports/2549_THUMB_IPAD.jpg