5. Nuclear Energy

Nuclear power plants are one form of alternative, renewable energy. Photo courtesy of CK-12. 

Splitting atoms releases enormous amounts of energy. To be useful rather than destructive, nuclear power plants must be safeguarded, but this attempt is not always successful. When the nucleus of an atom is split, it releases a huge amount of energy called nuclear energy. For nuclear energy to be used as a power source, scientists and engineers have learned to split nuclei and to control the release of energy. 

Nuclear power plants use uranium, which is mined, processed, and then concentrated into fuel rods. When the uranium atoms in the fuel rods are hit by other extremely tiny particles, they split apart. The number of tiny particles allowed to hit the fuel rods needs to be controlled, or they would cause a dangerous explosion. The energy from a nuclear power plant heats water, which creates steam and causes a turbine to spin. The spinning turbine turns a generator, which in turn produces electricity.

Nuclear power is clean. It does not pollute the air. However, the use of nuclear energy does create other environmental problems. Uranium must be mined. The process of splitting atoms creates radioactive waste, which remains dangerous for thousands or hundreds of thousands of years. As yet, there is no long-term solution for storing this waste.

The development of nuclear power plants has been on hold for three decades. Accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, Ukraine verified people’s worst fears about the dangers of harnessing nuclear power.

Recently, nuclear power appeared to be making a comeback as society looked for alternatives to fossil fuels. After all, nuclear power emits no pollutants, including no greenhouse gases. But the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan may have resulted in a new fear of nuclear power. 

Source: Nuclear Power. Retrieved from http://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Earth-Science-Concepts-For-High-School/r16/section/12.10/ on August 27, 2013.