Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Waste

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly…

What is Nuclear Energy?

• Nuclear energy is the energy that exists within the nucleus of an atom.
• There are 2 types of Nuclear Energy:

• Nuclear fission is the splitting of a large nucleus, releasing HUGE amounts of energy.

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• Nuclear fusion is the combining of smaller nuclei to form heavier nuclei, releasing HUGE amounts of energy.

How is Nuclear Fission Energy produced?

If a Nuclear Reaction is not controlled…

Nuclear Energy must be harnessed if used to make energy.

• Nuclear reactions in a nuclear power plant occur at a controlled, manageable pace and release energy slowly.
• Heat is generated and used to boil water, creating steam. The steam turns turbines which rotate electric generators, creating electricity.
• Steam is released from the cooling towers.
• (click on picture for more info)

How does a Nuclear Power Plant Work?

How much energy is produced?

• Nuclear power is an extremely rich energy source.
• One gram of Uranium-235 delivers as much energy as 3.5 metric tons of coal!!!
• One in every 5 houses in the U.S. is supplied with nuclear energy.

Where are Nuclear Power Plants located?

Pros for Nuclear Power

• Rich energy source.
• 1 gram of Uranium-235 delivers as much

energy as 3.5 metric tons of coal.

• Reactors run for years without refueling or being shut down and need little maintenance.
• No air pollution!

Cons about Nuclear Power

• Produces Radioactive Waste
• There is no permanent long-term disposal site for commercial nuclear waste.
• There is a relatively short supply of ²³⁵U (only enough left for 100~200 years)
• Nuclear Power Plants are expensive to build.
• Minor maintenance problems can be very expensive to fix.
• Safety concerns!!!

Potential for Disaster!

• Chernobyl meltdown in the former Soviet Union.
• Hundreds died from radiation exposure.
• Thousands contracted cancers from high levels of radiation exposure.

A Close Call at Home!!!

• The most serious nuclear accident in the U.S. occurred in 1979 at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
• A small amount of radioactive gas escaped the containment structure.

Nuclear Waste

• Plutonium, cesium, strontium, and other “-ium” elements created in a nuclear reactor emit dangerous radiation that can literally knock electrons off the atoms of our cells, disrupting or destroying cell function or even causing cells to mutate into cancer cells.
• Radioactive elements emit radiation because they are unstable; they’d rather be something else.
• They achieve this by going to pieces; emitting particles and waves billions of times per second. This process is called a half-life.

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What is a Half-Life?

• Every radioactive element has a half-life
• Half-life is the time it takes for half of its atoms to decay.
• Half-lives range from a fraction of a second to billions of years – 4.5 billion for uranium 238.
• The longer the half-life, the less intense the radiation.
• After 10 half-lives, an element is usually harmless

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Types of Waste

• High-Level Waste
• The most dangerous radioactive waste
• Spent fuel comes from nuclear reactors (52,000 tons)
• liquid and solid waste from plutonium production (91 million gallons).
• About 70 percent of the available storage space is now filled with used fuel assemblies at Turkey Point.

Types of Waste

Transuranic Waste

• Includes clothing, tools, and other materials contaminated with plutonium, neptunium, and other man-made elements heavier than uranium. (11.3 million cubic feet)

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Types of Waste

• Low and Mixed Low-Level Waste
• Includes radioactive and hazardous wastes from hospitals, research institutions, and decommissioned power plants (472 million cubic feet)
• Turkey Point produced annually on average about 2,500 cubic feet of low-level waste. This amount of waste could be contained within an area about the size of a 30'x30' room.

Uranium Mill Tailings

• Residues left from the extraction of uranium ore (265 million tons).

Types of Waste