DeBoer.Doucette.MMA.Spring.2009.EnergyandWater

= Nuclear Fission= 

= = = = = 1. What is the problem at hand? = The two biggest problems facing the world today from a scientific standpoint are fresh water and energy. Scientists do NOT doubt that the climate is changing because of human kind's atmospheric pollution from burning fossil fuels. In terms of climate change the good news is that fossil fuel supplies that have traditionally been utilized will be empty within the next 20-30 years. The bad news is that there is hardly anything of note that could possibly take their place currently in place. Furthermore, having burned all those fossil fuels and having emitted so much CO2 we've changed the atmostphere and started global climate change.

= 2. What is the driving force of the problem? = There are winners and losers in global climate change over supplies of fresh water. Some water rich areas will enter long periods of drought. This will be especially devastating if there are large populations of people nearby. Some water poor areas will find that they can start growing lush gardens where only desert existed.

= 3. What are poeple currently doing or not doing to solve the problem? = == = = = = == = =

[]

= = = 5. **Explain how it works. THIS IS A BIG ONE!** =

The Basics of Nuclear Energy
Nuclear power uses the energy created by controlled nuclear reactions to produce electricity.

Fission:
The most commonly used nuclear reaction for power generation is nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is the splitting of an atom's nucleus into parts (lighter nuclei that are different from the parent and neutrons) by capturing a neutron. Nuclear fission produces heat (also called an exothermic reaction), because if you add all the masses together of the products of reaction you do not get the starting mass. That loss of mass is the heat and electromagnetic radiation produced during fission, and it produces large amounts of energy that can be utilized for power. Fission produces neutrons which can then be captured by other atoms to continue the reaction (chain reaction) with more neutrons being produce at each step. When a reaction reaches critical mass, the reaction becomes self sustaining. If too many neutrons are generated, the reaction can get out of control and an explosion can occur. To prevent this from occurring, control rods that absorb the extra neutrons are interspersed with the fuel rods. Uranium-235 is the most commonly used fuel for fission. Nuclear fission can produce 200 MeV of energy.





Nuclear power plants run on uranium fuel. In the reactor, uranium atoms are split through a process known as fission. When atoms are spilt, they produce a large amount of energy that is then converted to heat. The heat boils water, creating steam that is used to turn turbines, which spins the shaft of a generator. Inside the generator, coils of wire spin in a magnetic field and electricity is produced. Nuclear power plants in the United States use two types of reactors to achieve this process: boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors. Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) keep water under pressure, so the water heats but does not boil. The heated pressurized water is run through pipes, which heat a separate water line to create steam. The water to generate steam is never mixed with the pressurized water used to heat it.
 * How a Nuclear Power Plant Works**

= 6. determine the amount of CO2 it produces or inhibits (THIS REQUIRES A STOICHIOMETRY EQUATION!) = = = • 23892 U + 10n à 23992U à 23993Np + 0-1e • This didn’t happen • Instead, 23592U + 10n à 14256Ba + 9136Kr + 3 10n + energy • Lighter atoms were dectected and a chain reaction could be started. = = = 7. determine the amount of water it can generate or purify = Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) heat water by generating heat from fission in the reactor vessel to boil water and create steam, which turns the generator. In both types of plants, the steam is turned back into water and can be used again in the process. **Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)**



= = = 8. highlight the best aspects of it = A lot of heat energy is produced relative to the mass of Uranium. This then makes it extremely profitable since the ratio of energy to mass is very large. Nuclear Fission is extremely economically viable once the nuclear plant has been set up-which is expensive. However the initial loss is soon replaced by large gains since the profit margins are very high. It is the cheapest and most clean way of producing electricity, since no greenhouse gases are produced. 

= = = 9. describe how the critics would discuss it = = A sampling of nuclear safety problems   =

Since the 1979 Three Mile Island accident, there have been 18 "significant precursors," or equipment failures, at U.S. nuclear plants that sharply raise the chance of a reactor core meltdown, says the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. There have been four since 1990. Since 1988, there have been 337 precursors that increase the risk of a meltdown more modestly. Problems that increase the risk of a core meltdown within a year from an average 1 in 17,000 to greater than 1 in 1,000. Problems that increase the risk of a core meltdown from an average 1 in 17,000 to up to 1 in 1,000. Source: Nuclear Regulatory Commission = = = 10. If it already makes up a lot of the world's fuel/energy supply explailn why. = = = = = = = = = = =  Nuclear technology uses the energy released by splitting the atoms of certain elements. It was first developed in the 1940s, and during the Second World War research initially focussed on producing bombs by splitting the atoms of either uranium or plutonium. In the 1950s attention turned to the peaceful purposes of nuclear fission, notably for power generation. Today, the world produces as much electricity from nuclear energy as it did from all sources combined in 1960. Civil nuclear power can now boast over 13,000 reactor years of experience and supplies almost 16% of global electricity needs, in 30 countries. Many countries have also built research reactors to provide a source of neutron beams for scientific research and the production of medical and industrial isotopes. Today, only eight countries are known to have a nuclear weapons capability. By contrast, 56 operate civil research reactors, and 30 have some 440 commercial nuclear power reactors with a total installed capacity of over 370 000 MWe (see table). This is more than three times the total generating capacity of France or Germany from all sources. Some 30 further power reactors are under construction, equivalent to 8% of existing capacity, while over 90 are firmly planned, equivalent to 27% of present capacity.
 * Significant precursors**
 * 1.)** **Plant:** Davis-Besse
 * Location:** Oak Harbor, Ohio
 * Date:** February 2002
 * What happened:** Leak through cracked nozzles wore away reactor vessel lid. Debris from the corrosion damaged emergency pumps. Loss of water from reactor core through lid could have led to meltdown within months.
 * 2.)** **Plant:** Catawba
 * Location:** Rock Hill, S.C.
 * Date:** February 1996
 * What happened:** During storm, loss of power needed to run vital core cooling systems. Lines linking emergency generator to cooling systems disabled. Plant used alternative generator. No core damage.
 * 3.)** **Plant:** Wolf Creek
 * Location:** Burlington, Kan.
 * Date:** Septenber 1994
 * What happened:** Misaligned valve prevented water from flowing into reactor core from storage tank. Core temperature rose 7 degrees. Workers realigned valve. No core damage.
 * 4.)** **Plant:** Harris
 * Location:** New Hill, N.C.
 * Date:** April 1991
 * What happened:** Emergency system that injects water into reactor core would not have operated properly ebcause of a broken relief valve. Other water supply systems available. No core damage.
 * Less-serious precursors**
 * 5.)** **Plant:** Clinton
 * Location:** Clinton, Ill.
 * Date:** January 2006
 * What happened:** System that notices when emergency tank water gets too low and instead pumps water from another source was set at too low a level. Water would have run out in event of core overheating. Found during test. No core damage.
 * 6.)** **Plant:** Callaway
 * Location:** Callaway, Fulton Miss.
 * Date:** March 2002
 * What happened:** Debris from water tank's rubber lining floating in water. Could have caused failure of all emergency pumps that cool reactor in case of overheating. Found during test. No core damage.
 * 7.)** **Plant:** Columbia
 * Location:** Richland, Wash.
 * Date:** April 2002
 * What happened:** Electrical breakers that operate both primary and backup pumps to cool the core in emergency were faulty, so all systems might have failed in crisis. Found during check. No core damage.
 * 8.)** **Plant:** Kewaunee
 * Location:** Carlton, Wis.
 * Date:** February 2001
 * What happened:** Cables that operate both primary and backup core-cooling systems located in same area and too close to sprinkler systems. In case of fire that activated sprinklers, water likely would have shorted both primary and backup emergency systems needed to cool core. Found during check. No core damage.

As the graph explains, the use of Nuclear Energy has increased dramatically over the past 10 years or so.

**11. If it doesn't make up much of the world's fuel/energy supply explain why.**

World Energy Needs and Nuclear Power = = = = = =
 * **The world will need greatly increased energy supply in the next 20 years, especially cleanly-generated electricity.**
 * **Electricity demand is increasing much more rapidly than overall energy use and is likely to almost double from 2004 to 2030.**
 * **Nuclear power provides about 15% of the world's electricity, almost 24% of electricity in OECD countries, and 34% in the EU. Its use is increasing.**
 * <span style="display: block; font-size: 80%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">**Nuclear power is the most environmentally benign way of producing electricity on a large scale. Without it most of the world would have to rely almost entirely on fossil fuels for continuous, reliable supply of electricity.**
 * <span style="display: block; font-size: 80%; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left;">**Renewable energy sources other than hydro have high generating costs but are helpful at the margin in providing clean power.**

= = = 13. YOU MUST include quotes from scientists or policy makers. = = = =A Little History=

In 1932, English physicist and Nobel laureate James Chadwick discovered the neutron. A few years later, Enrico Fermi and his collaborators in Rome discovered that, if various elements are bombarded by neutrons then new radioactive elements are produced. Fermi had predicted that the neutron, being uncharged, would be a useful nuclear projectile, because it is uncharged and therefore receives no electric forces from the nucleus when it approaches the nuclear surface. In 1939, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman, bombarded solutions of uranium salts with neutrons. They found by chemical analysis that, afterwards, a number of new radioactive elements were present. Repeated tests convinced them that barium was produced! This puzzle was solved within a few weeks by Lise Meitner and her nephew Otto Frisch. They showed that a uranium nucleus, having absorbed a neutron, could split, with the release of energy, into two roughly equal parts, one of which might well be barium. Frisch named the process fission.



= = = 15. Explalin what it would take to do your thing better or in a larger scale. = = = <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Nuclear Fission and power is about as big as it gets. It produces the most power at the most efficient rate. The only way to make it any bigger than it already is, would be to build bigger nuclear reactors to produce more energy. Besides that, nuclear power is the biggest and most badass source of power there is. = = = 16. Explain who uses that technology and why. If it isn't used very much explain that instead. = = = = = =  = = = = 17. After learning about it what would you do next to change how its used? why? = = Build more. = <span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">

SOURCES:
[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] http://reich-chemistry.wikispaces.com/June+1-5+2009+Week+14 <span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt; msofontkerning: 18.0pt;">[] [] [] []