Aasia Ross 8th hour

Nuclear Power

In a  nuclear reactor  the energy released from continuous fission of the atoms in the fuel as heat is used to make steam. The steam is used to drive the turbines that produces electricity .

How it works

A group known as IRENA that advises about 140 member countries on making the transition to clean energy has stated nuclear power will not be included among other renewable technologies .

Nuclear power is seen as being too dangerous and harmful to be an object to any being.

Energy sources such as solar power are better alternatives and less expensive one.

Renewable/Nonrenewable

Cost for generation power from the newest nuclear plants is at 25 to 30 cents per kilowatt an hour.

Triples the current U.S electricity rate.

10 times the cost of energy efficiency

Building and customer cost

Low carbon dioxide .

Developed technology “ready” for market.

Large power-generating space able to meet industrial and city needs.

Existing nuclear waste can be reduced through waste recycling.

Positives

High construction cost cause of complex radiation containment systems.

Target for terrorism.

High-known risks in an accident.

Waste lasts 200 – 500 thousand years.

Negatives

Waste from nuclear power plants can remain active for hundreds of thousands of years.

Fish are inadvertently captured in the cooling system intake and killed. Cooling systems are used to keep nuclear power plants from overheating.

Nuclear power plants causes low levels of radiation into the environment. Long-term exposure to low level radiation has been shown to damage DNA.

Impact on environment

France- The use of nuclear electricity is used primarily as a energy source.

France has a higher megawatt capacity.

Shares a higher percentage of electric product.

Country use

The highest rate of nuclear power is used on the north eastern part of the US.

  

Location

Nuclear energy can be found in Minnesota.

The Prairie Island Nuclear Generating Plant is an electricity-generating facility found in Red Wing Minnesota.

It generates 20 percent of electricity used by the Xcel energy center in Minnesota.

Availability

http://205.254.135.7/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=104&t=3

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Describe_How_is_nuclear_energy_used_to_generate_electricity

http://www.cpsenergy.com/Services/Generate_Deliver_Energy/Nuclear/nuke_generation.asp

http://www.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power.htm

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/01/nuclear_power.html

Bibliography