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Nuclear Energy

Romy Bennett

A Nuclear Power plant

Three-Mile Island, New York.

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How does Nuclear Energy Work?

Nuclear Energy is the energy in the center (nucleus) of an atom.

First, a process called fission, breaks atoms apart. In fission, a tiny particle called a neutron hits a uranium atom.

Then, the atom splits, releasing more neutrons and generating a chain reaction. That reaction releases huge amounts of energy.

Next, the energy released can be used to generate electricity at power plants. That energy can boil water to create steam.

Finally, the steam causes turbines to spin, generating electricity in a power plant.

Where is Nuclear Energy Used?

Nuclear Energy is used all around the world.
The United States has 104 nuclear reactors, which produce about one-fifth of the electricity generated in the United States. Some local plants include:

Advantages of Nuclear Energy

It is the largest source of clean power and makes more than 800 billion kilowatt hours of electricity each year.

Disadvantages of Nuclear Energy

Nuclear power has impacts the environment through mining and water discharge. The uranium used to produce nuclear energy has to be mined and it release bad gases into the air. The power plants use water to cool the plant and the bodies of water they get it from get heated up and plants and fish can’t live there.

Nuclear power use a lot of water to produce energy. In 2015, the United States used 320 billion gallons of water to produce nuclear power.

Accidents can happen no matter how careful people are and a meltdown at a nuclear plant can have be terrible like what happened at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.

The waste created by nuclear power plants remains dangerously radioactive for thousands of years after it is created. Many issues arise when trying to figure out how to store this radioactive waste.

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