NUCLEAR ENERGY BASIC PRINCIPLES FREE TUTORIALS

NUCLEAR ENERGY BASIC PRINCIPLES

There are two common methods of producing nuclear energy from an atom and these are by:
1. NUCLEAR FISSION
2. NUCLEAR FUSION

BASIC PRINCIPLES
In the FISSION process, an atom absorbs a neutron, then it splits itself into two lighter fission elements. These fission elements have a lower mass than that of the original atom. This mass difference is converted into energy in the form of heat, (E = m x c sq.) ; Uranium (U-235) is the most widely used by nuclear plants for its nuclear fission, because this atom could be easily split apart; Spent fuel of U-235 is RADIOACTIVE. two atoms of light elements into one atom of a heavier element, the resulting mass is less than that of the fusing atoms; This mass difference is converted to energy according to Einstein’s equation, E = mc²; Fusion fuel is sourced usually fromdeuterium which is a hydrogen isotope. It is not radioactive and can be extracted from lake and ocean waters; However, fusion reactor is still far from developing commercially, due to its uncontrollable fusion reaction

NUCLEAR REACTORS
There are two kinds of nuclear reactors commonly used by nuclear power plant via nuclear fission for power generation and these are:

1. PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR (PWR)
2. Boiling Water Reactor (BWR)


NUCLEAR PLANT ACCIDENTS
In 1979, the Three Mile Island nuclear plant accident in USA happened due to a combination of personnel errors, deficient design, and component failures that led to a partial meltdown of reactor no. 2 (852 MW); Fortunately, the reactor vessel is adequately strong and contained the damaged fuel; In the case of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, in April 1986 reactor no. 4 (1000 MW) exploded due to reduced water coolant flow that raised the output uncontrolled; The accident resulted to a core meltdown and again the cause was attributed to human errors and faulty design.

NUCLEAR ENERGY OPTION OF MUSLIM STATES
Leading in the region, Iran will be operating its first nuclear power plant under the direct supervision of
Russia before the end of this year; United Arab Emirates has engaged a South Korean Group to build 4 nuclear power plants(4 x 1,400 MW) to start construction by Dec. 2010; Pres. Mubarak of Egypt has just issued the ‘go signal’ to start building the first nuclear power plant to be sited on the Mediterranean cost; In the mean-time, the rest of the Middle East countries each has singed nuclear energy agreement/accord with either France, Japan, Russia, Korea, U.S.A., etc.


HOW DOES NUCLEAR POWER PLANT WORKS?