Scientists have long manipulated the process of fission, in which an atom splits into two smaller pieces. This occurs naturally as well as by human manipulation. The natural occurrence takes millions of years, but scientists now can speed up the process through induce fission.
The most common element used for nuclear power is uranium. Uranium's natural fission process takes millions of years. For example, the half-life of Uranium, or the amount of time for Uranium to lose half of its mass, takes 4.5 billion years.
We find Uranium in three natural forms: Uranium-238, U-235, and U-234. All forms will naturally go through fission as radioactive decay occurs. Since it takes so long, scientists may induce fission in U-235.
Overtime, Uranium will experience decay by alpha radiation, a natural occurrence in which an alpha particle, made up of two protons and two neutrons bound together, break apart from the nucleus of the atom. Scientist induce this process in Uranium-235 by emitting a neutron into the element's nucleus, after which the atoms split immediately.
Fission results in a lot of heat with gamma radiation. This radiation, also known as electromagnetic radiation, occurs as photons, the most basic particles of light, separate from the Uranium. The resulting particles eventually emit gamma and beat radiation.
For this entire process to work, all Uranium must be enriched with at least three percent -235. For a frame of reference, nuclear weapons require a minimum of 90% enrichment.
After creating the appropriate proportions, the Uranium is molded into small, 1-inch pellets. These pellets sit in a rod that hold in the radiation and can withstand exorbitantly high temperatures.
The scientists then collect many of these rods into a huge tub of water, which acts as a coolant. When the neutrons are shot into the rods, the fission occurs and the rods absorb the radiation and the heat. The rods then heat up the water turning it into steam.
In fact, engineers generate nuclear power much like they do with coal. As nuclear processes emit heat, the energy released, in turn, heats water into steam. This steam then turns turbines to transform mechanical energy into electricity.
In some plants, a secondary or intermediary tub of water will power the turbines, so that radioactive water never comes into contact with the turbines. In these cases, a different liquid may be used in the primary reactor, such as liquid carbon dioxide, potassium, or sodium, which can sustain higher temperatures.
The entire process espoused so far is housed by three different walls. The first wall is a large concrete barrier that contains all of the radioactive materials. The second wall, a large, steel barrier, houses the rest of the nuclear reactor and all plant staff. Finally, a third concrete wall closes in the rest of the power plant to avoid any possible accidents or to withstand any natural disasters.
The outside of the nuclear power plants also resemble coal plants. The main difference is that nuclear power plants hire much more safety personnel to monitor more closely all of the nuclear processes.
Likewise, nuclear costs are comparable to coal costs, while nuclear power plants do not emit anywhere close to the amount of carbon dioxide produced by coal plants. On the other hand, they do produce harmful, radioactive materials. But the structure of the plant itself, a large staff, and very responsible management will almost always avoid any exposure of radioactive material to the local environment.
Because there are so few nuclear power plants in the U.S. and the rest of the world, we should not worry about the amounts of radioactive material being produced by power plants. It's when these processes are in careless hands should we worry, as we saw in 1986 with the poorly managed nuclear plant Chernobyl in Ukraine.
As we continue to research new energy resources, nuclear power may top our options. Much research is being done to minimize the amount of waste produced in addition to finding the best ways to dispose of it. Likewise, many scientists have been researching nuclear fusion which produces much, much more energy with a minuscule amount of waste.
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