Nuclear Energy | Good or Bad

NexPlan Recycling & Renewable Energy

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is energy in the nucleus (core) of an atom. Atoms are tiny particles that make up every object in the universe. There is enormous energy in the bonds that hold atoms together. Nuclear energy can be used to make electricity. But first the energy must be released. It can be released from atoms by either nuclear fusion or nuclear fission. In nuclear fusion, energy is released when atoms are combined or fused together to form a larger atom. This is how the sun produces energy. In nuclear fission, atoms are split apart to form smaller atoms, releasing energy. Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce electricity. The fuel most widely used by nuclear plants for nuclear fission is uranium. Uranium is nonrenewable, though it is a common metal found in rocks throughout the world.

Nuclear power plants provide about 15 percent of the world's electricity. Some countries depend more on nuclear power for electricity than others. In Canada and the United States, nuclear power supplies about 15 percent of the electricity overall. There are more than 400 nuclear power plants around the world, with more than 100 in North America.

There are many advantages of nuclear power. Nuclear power plants need little fuel, so they are less vulnerable to shortages. Nuclear energy is cleaner than coal, which contributes to greenhouse gases and global warming. As demand for electricity rises, the pollution produced from fossil fuel-burning plants is heading towards dangerous levels. Coal, gas and oil burning power plants are already responsible for half of North America's air pollution. Burning coal produces carbon dioxide, which depletes the ozone layer. Coal also contains radioactive material. A coal-fired power plant emits more radiation into the air than a nuclear power plant. Nuclear energy plants produce electricity by the fissioning of uranium, not the burning of fuels. As a result, nuclear plants don't pollute the air with sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, dust or greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide. A single kilogram of uranium can produce more energy than 200 barrels of oil, and uranium is about as common as tin. Thorium, three times more abundant than uranium, can also be transformed into uranium-233, which is too unstable to be used for bombs, and broken down for comparable quantities of nuclear energy. Nuclear power plants they are relatively expensive to build, although relatively cheap to operate.

There are concerns about nuclear energy as well. Plutonium is a man-made waste product of nuclear fission, which can be used either for fuel in nuclear power plants or for bombs. There is enough plutonium produced each year to create thousands of nuclear weapons. Most of us are aware of the dangers of nuclear technology that can be diverted into making weapons. Nuclear waste is another issue of concern. Nuclear waste is produced in many different ways. There are wastes produced in the reactor core, wastes created as a result of radioactive contamination, and wastes produced as a byproduct of uranium mining, refining, and enrichment. The vast majority of radiation in nuclear waste is given off from spent fuel rods. A typical reactor will generate 20 to 30 tons of high-level nuclear waste annually. Nuclear waste is very expensive to dispose of properly. There is no known way to safely dispose of this waste and it could remain dangerous for thousands of years and, remains dangerously radioactive until it naturally decays. Although there are various safety features and precautions in nuclear energy plants, there is potential danger from a nuclear accident-whether it be a small leak of radioactive material or the meltdown of a reactor. Whether it be as a result of an earthquake, sabotage or human error the risk is there. In 1986, the world's worst nuclear power accident occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 80 miles north of Kiev in the Ukraine (the former Soviet Union). The accident has been described by the United Nations as "the greatest environmental catastrophe in the history of humanity". Since 1986, the rate of thyroid cancer in affected areas has increased by ten times. The risks from nuclear energy are real, inherent and long-lasting.

There is certainly much debate worldwide on the pros and cons of nuclear energy. It is a source of energy that cannot be overlooked, however we need to be aware of the dangers. Do the benefits outweigh the risks? That is an answer that is hard to define.

Canadian Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy plays a huge part in Canada's energy needs. According to the Canadian Nuclear Assocition, in 2007, 17 reactors produced close to fifteen percent of Canada's electricity. Nuclear power plants release no pollutants into to the environment. Therefore, they do not contribute to global warming, acid rain, or smog. Canada's existing nuclear power plants avoid the emission of 100 million tones of CO2 each year that would result if this electricity were produced by fossil-fuelled plants. Nuclear plants also do not emit any SO2 or nitrous oxides, the major contributors to and acid rain and smog. Canadian nuclear power plants emit low levels of both airborne and waterborne radiation into the environment, mainly through normal operational leakage in heavy water systems within the containment building. Another less known benefit Canadians and the world receive from the Canadian nuclear energy program has been in the production of radioisotopes for use in the field of nuclear medicine and in industry.

There are 17 operating CANDU reactors in Canada and 12 abroad. In addition to Canada there are four in South Korea, two each in China, India, and Romania, and one each in Argentina and Pakistan. The CANDU reactor is a Canadian-invented, pressurized heavy water reactor developed initially in the late 1950s and 1960s by a partnership between Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the Ontario Power Generation,.GE Canada, as well as several private industry parners. The acronym "CANDU", a registered trademark of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, stands for "CANada Deuterium Uranium". It's a Canadian-designed Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor that uses heavy water, or deuterium oxide, for moderator and coolant, and natural uranium for fuel. Heavy Water is the common name for D2O, deuterium oxide. It is similar to light water (H2O) in many ways, except that the hydrogen atom in each water molecule is replaced by heavy hydrogen, or deuterium. The deuterium makes D2O about ten percent heavier than ordinary water. All current power reactors in Canada are of the CANDU type. Canada markets this power reactor abroad. These reactors are used in nuclear power plants to produce nuclear power from nuclear fuel. The nuclear fuel cycle is the term used to describe the entire progress of nuclear fuel, from uranium as it is mined from the ground, refining and fabrication of uranium into pellets for fuel bundles, through the year or so each bundle spends producing energy in a reactor, to eventual disposal. A nuclear reactor is a device, which produces heat. In a nuclear power station, the reactor performs the same work as a boiler in a coal, gas or oil-fired station. Heat is required to turn water into steam. This steam spins large turbines, which in turn drive the generators that produce electricity.

Located approximately 40 km west of Saint John and on the shores of the Bay of Fundy, is the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Facility, Atlantic Canada's only nuclear facility. The station has one power reactor licensed to generate 600 megawatts of electricity. It began operating in 1982 and remains in service today. The Point Lepreau nuclear facility is operated by the New Brunswick Power Corporation, the largest electric utility in Atlantic Canada. The facility was constructed between 1975-1983 by the provincial Crown corporation, NB Power. Point Lepreau Generating Station has one nuclear reactor, a CANDU-6 unit, with net capacity of 635 MW. It was the first CANDU-6 to be licensed for operation and to begin commercial operation. The unit supplies about thirty percent of the energy consumed in the province of New Brunswick. NB Power had started refurbishing Point Lepreau in April 2008 and plans to restart in November 2009. This refurbishment is expected to extend the station's life by another twenty-five years.

Form Object