Energy comparison: nuclear fission

Welcome back to Green World

Today we're talking about nuclear fission. This energy source is quite controverial, so we're going to be looking at why.

Before we begin, just a quick side note, there are multiple forms of nuclear power. This post is about nuclear fission. Nuclear decay is rarely used, most notably in some space missions. Nuclear fusion is currently being researched by scientists around the world and isn't used for commercial electricity yet.

First, let's explain how nuclear fission actually works. This involves a lot of complicated chemistry and physics, but I'll do my best to explain it. Before anything else we need to look at what is in an atom.

In this image, the grey represents negatively charged electrons, which circle the nucleus (plural: nuclei) in the center. The nucleus (blue and red) is made up of positively chargerd protons and neutrons (which are neutral). This means that the nucleus is positive. The protons and neutrons are held together by nuclear force. Therefore, the nucleus contains a lot of energy. Nuclear fission is the process of breaking the nucleus up and releasing that energy.

So now that we've got the basic vocabulary covered, we can move on to the actual process of fission. First a neutron is shot towards a nucleus at a great speed. The energy in the neutron and the speed that it's moving deforms the nucleus into a doubled lobed shaped (a bit like a peanut). The gap between the two lobes grows bigger until it's too big for the nuclear force to hold the protons and neutrons together. The nucleus breaks into smaller fragments, consisting of only a couple protons and neutrons each. Two, sometimes three, neutrons break apart and aren't connected to any protons at all. The positively charged fragments (due to the protons) repel each other, which causes the single neutrons to fly off at high speeds. These neutrons then hit the nuclei from nearby atoms and restart the whole process. The energy released when the neucleus breaks apart is what we then turn into electricity.

The most commonly stated problem with nuclear fission is the storage and disposal of by-products. Nuclear waste is split into three categories based on the level of radiation: low, intermediate and high. 90% of all fission waste falls has a low radioactive level. 3% of fission waste has a high radioactive level. These 3% release 95% of total the radioactivity from nulcear fission plants. However Harvard University states on its website, that ".. coal power plants release more radioactive material per kWh into the environment in the form of coals ash than does waste from a nuclear power plant under standard shielding protocols." The fatality rates per kWh are higher in fossil feuls than in nuclear power. This is also due to the dangers of coal mining which we covered here. There are no CO2 emissions in nuclear power after the power plants have been constructed, meaning that nuclear power only produces 16kg of CO2 for every kWh of electricity that is produced, compared to the 820kg CO2 per kWh released by coal plants.The radioactivity of nuclear waste is reduced to 0.1% after about 50 years.

Another big problem are the nuclear disasters. Inside a nuclear power plant, there are all sorts of protective messures such as coolers, etc. Nuclear disasters occur when something go wrong and it leads to vast amounts of electromagnetic radiation which has 100 000 times more energy than visible light! Nuclear disasters often occur after natural disasters such as tsunamis or earthquakes as these can shut down the protective messures. There is a cancer risk connected to these disasters. 5 000 thyroid cancer cases have been connected to the Chernobyl accident in 1986 in Ukraine which left a large inhabitable zone and caused thousands to evactuate their homes.

We hoped you found this post interesting. It's a very complex discussion and there are some many more points than we mentioned here. See you next week!

Your Green World Blog Team💚

Images:

Atom structure: This image was published on pixabay.com by geralt.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_force

https://www.space.com/what-is-nuclear-fission

https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2016/reconsidering-risks-nuclear-power/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power

Comments

16.08.2020 Animal of the week: Elephant

Hello. On the 12th of August it was International Elephant Day, so we decided that this week's post should be about elephants. Elephants are the largest living land mammals. There are three types of elephant; the African bush elephant; the African forest elephant and the Asian elephant. African elephants have larger ears, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears. Elephants use their trunks to breath, bring food and drink to their mouths and to grasp objects. Elephants' legs are like pillars. They carry the Elephant's massive weight. African bush elephants weigh 6000kg, Asian elephants weigh 4000kg and African forest elephants weigh 2700kg. Basically, they are very heavy.Elephants eat grasses, small plants, bushes, fruit, twigs, tree bark, and roots. Elephants can live up to 70 years old in the wild. They communicate by sight, touch and smell. Sadly, these wonderful mammals are in danger. African elephants are listed as vulne...

Coral reefs

Hello! We would love to introduce you to the topic of coral reefs and especially coral reef bleaching, as it is a greatly ignored but certainly significant topic. Have fun! 5 coral reef facts 1. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on the planet and is 2300 km long! 2. Less than 0.1% of the world's ocean surface is covered in coral reefs. 3. At least 25% of all marine animals live there. 4. Coral reefs are often known as the rainforests of the ocean. 5. In 1 square kilometre of coral reef, up to 35 tons of fish can be 'produced'. The 5 biggest coral reefs in the world 1. Great Barrier Reef (near Australia) 2. Red Sea Coral Reef (near Egypt, Israel and Djibouti) 3. New Caledonia Reef (Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia) 4. The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef (near Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras) 5. Florida Reef (Atlantic Ocean/Gulf of Mexico near Florida) What is coral? Coral is actually made up of small anim...

Discussion || Should Everyone Switch To Electric Cars?

Hi Everyone! Thank you so much for joining me today, as I hop on the blog to discuss whether everyone switching to electric cars would really help the environment. In other words, should everyone switch to electric cars? This is the first part of a two-part series, discussing electric cars, so stay tuned for part two!! I would like to start this post by stating that I am by no means an expert. This is knowledge I have from my own experience, and from research I have done. If anything is incorrect please take it as it is and accept that this is a discussion and I am taking on board all opinions from reliable sources on this complex topic. Electric cars are a huge topic when it comes to sustainability and "saving our planet". There is no debating the fact that electric cars are better for the environment than diesel or petrol once they are on the road. But the production of them is often very polluting, with one study show...

Animals 31-35 in our '50 incredible animals' series

Hi Everyone! Welcome back to our blog, today we are sharing another 5 incredible animals. This is part of a series to celebrate our 50th blog post, all about unusual animals! Enjoy! 31. Pangolins These creatures are often mistaken for reptiles but they are in fact mammals. They are covered in scales and use them to defend themselves because similar to a hedgehog, they curl up into a ball. They eat ants, termites and larvae. They eat using their tongue, which is very long- sometimes even longer than their body! Sadly, Pangolins are in high demand as their meat is considered a delicacy their scales are used in traditional folk remedies, which means that there is an illegal trade. Luckily, there have been many initiatives put in place to help these animals by WWF and similar organisations. 32. Macropinna Microstoma This is a species of fish that live at about 600m below sea level. They hang nearly motionless in the water and have a very unusual...

29.11.2020 Animal Of The Week: Jaguar

Hello, Today (29th November) is world Jaguar day so this week our animal is the Jaguar. The Jaguar is an animal I know pretty much nothing about so I am going to learn a lot too! Jaguars (panthera onca) live for 12 - 15 years. Their heads and bodies are 150-180cm long and their tails are 70-90cm long! They weigh 45 - 110 kg. Habitat Jaguars live primarily in the Amazon Basin, though they can be found in smaller numbers in Central America. They once lived everywhere from central Argentina up to the southwestern United States but since the 1880s they have lost over half of their territory. They are mainly found in tropical rainforests but can live in savannas and grasslands. Diet They eat fish and turtles as they are actually quite competent swimmers as well as deer, iguanas, birds and monkeys; they will eat almost anything! Are they endangered? Jaguars are classed as near endangered and face several threats. South and Central Americ...

Announcement: Animal of the week

How well do you know the Arctic and the Antarctic? - Quiz

Welcome back to Green World, As announced last week, we're starting our new monthly series: quizzes! This post contains the questions, you have to write down the answers and compare them with the solutions right at the bottom of this post. Questions: True or False? The Arctic is not actually a land mass, it's a frozen ocean. How many people live in the Arctic circle? a) 500 000 b) 4 million c) 10 million True or False? Narwals don't actually have unicorn-like horns. That's just a legend. What percentage of the world's freshwater is frozen within the Arctic's ice? a) 10% b) 15% c) 20% True or False? The Arctic covers parts of 15 different countries. Scientists exploring Antarctica have measured winds of up to... a) 100 km/h b) 150km/h c) 200km/h True or False? The driest (natural) place on Earth is in Antarctica...

Eco Bricks -Taking Upcycling to another level

Eco Bricks Are they the key to the world's plastic pollution problem? Or at least a helpful factor if they became a permanent solution with no disadvantages? But what are they anyway? How are they useful? And how can individuals help every day? Here are some tips for everyone wanting to save plastic and help the earth. Eco bricks are plastic bottles, filled densely with hard and soft plastic that make a bottle so hard and sturdy that they could be used to build houses. Which in fact, they are. To make an Eco-Brick, you need a clean and dry plastic bottle, a long stick and lots of plastic. All plastic must be clean and dry, so it should be washed and dried or hung up to dry before usage. Now the bottle can be filled with layers of soft and hard plastic alternately that is pushed down with the stick to fill every corner of the bottle. That is done until the Eco-Brick is entirely stuffed with plastic and hard as a brick. The advan...

Photo Essay || Iceland Series (part 1)

Hi Everyone! I recently went on a school trip to Iceland! It was such an incredible experience (and I'm going to sound cheesy now) but it was also incredible to do it with some of my closest friends! I saw so many incredible things and learnt so much, so I couldn't resist sharing a little Iceland mini series of posts, all about Iceland, both my experiences there and what I saw, but also the way it uses geothermal energy, and the animals, natural landforms and plants that are there. Today I'm sharing some photos of my trip. These are all photos I have taken, and are also the highlights so please bear that in mind as you browse these! I hope it is interesting and inspires you to book a trip to Iceland! The blue lagoon <33 landscapes.... Lost little farmhouses a...

18.10.20 Animal Of The Week: Sloth

Hello, Sorry this didn't come out on Sunday as planned but this week's animal of the week is the sloth because the twentieth of October is Sloth Day. Habitat The sloth resides in Central and South America. It lives in the rainforests there and occasionally drops into the water for a bathe as, believe it or not, they are actually excellent swimmers! Diet Sloths eat leaves, twigs and buds which they find in the rainforest. As they don't have incisors they smack their lips together to make leaves more digestible. Sloths can survive on relatively little food as it takes a while for them to digest it. Sleep and Speed When you think of a sloth, you probably think of this slow, sleepy creature. They actually sleep for about 15 hours a day! Sloths have an extremely low metabolic rate (what basic calories your body needs to survive), which means they move at a slow pace through the trees. On average, sloths travel 40 yards per day ...

Green World

Search This Blog