Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Nuclear
power
Better the devil you know?
Nuclear power accounts for only around six percent of total primary
energy demand in the world, but it generates about fifteen percent
of global electricity. The main fuel for nuclear power is uranium, a
mineral that is fairly widespread around the world. Some twenty
countries mine it. Kazakhstan became the biggest producer in 2009,
with Australia and Canada close behind. Namibia, Niger, South
Africa, Russia and the US are also significant producers.
The basics
Built on the scientific discoveries about atomic physics that were made
between the two world wars, which led to the atomic bomb and then
the hydrogen bomb, nuclear reactors have been used to make electricity
since the mid-1950s. By the end of 2009, there were 436 reactors in 30
countries, with 52 more under construction and a further 135 planned,
according to the World Nuclear Association. Some 150 naval ships around
the world are also powered by nuclear reactors.
Reactors in nuclear power plants work just like any thermal power plant
- heating water into steam that drives a rotating turbine which generates
electricity. What creates the heat, in nuclear fission reactors, is the release
of energy when uranium atoms are split. There is an enormous amount of
energy in the bonds that hold atoms together, and when these atoms are
split, a massive amount of energy is released. The reason why uranium is
used is that its atoms are easier than those of other minerals to split apart.
