Define the Nuclear Power

As an energy source, nuclear power is an alternative to fossil fuels.  Controlled nuclear chain reactions are used to generate electricity in a safe manner in nuclear power plants. The fuel used in nuclear power plants consists of uranium: U-238 and U-235. U-235 undergoes fission and releases a tremendous amount of energy, triggering other atoms to split, if the uranium is concentrated in a tight ball.  Control rods are made of good neutron absorbers such as boron. The control rods are lowered into the fuel to slow down the fission reaction. They absorb some of the neutrons produced by the fission reactions so that there are fewer neutrons available to start othesr reactions. This keeps the overall reaction under control.

A gas or water is used as a coolant. The coolant carries heat from the reactor to a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger contains water which is heated to form steam. The steam moves a turbine which in turn drives a generator. The generator produces electricity.

One major downside to using nuclear fuel to power electric generating power plants is the spent fuel that must be dealt with, since the waste products of the fission reactions are still radioactive.  Much of the radioactive waste material has a half-life of thousands of years.  Safe storage of these materials is of major concern, because of the possibility of leaks, and they pose a long-term environmental pollution problem.

To calculate the energy produced during a nuclear fission or fusion reaction, we must first calculate the mass lost during the reaction. We then use Einstein’s famous equation of E = mc2 to calculate the energy produced during the reaction.