Nuclear Energy Presentation

Nuclear Energy Group Members ; M. Laraib

(SP07-BB-

Salman Butt

(FA05-AA-

Naseem Ullah

(Sp05-AA-

0082) 0042) 0031)

History Nuclear energy was first discovered in 1934 by Enrico Fermi. The first nuclear bombs were built in 1945 as a result of the infamous Manhattan Project. The first plutonium bomb, code-named Trinity, was detonated on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico. On August 6th 1945 the first uranium bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. Three days later a plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Electricity wasn’t produced with nuclear energy until 1951. Source: The Green Peace Book of the Nuclear Age by John May

Fission: History and Overview Discovered 1938 Otto Hahn and Frittz Strassmann Presented 1939 Lise Meitner Otto Frisch Research of Nuclear Fission began U.S. Weapons Program 1942 First Controlled self sustaining fission reaction, Enrico Fermi Nuclear Fission Creates electricity Three types of nuclear energy, Fission reactions, Fusion reactions, and Radioactive decay

Fission Today 435 Nuclear Power plants worldwide 1/6 of the worlds power is nuclear France 76%, Belgium 56%, South Korea 36%, Switzerland 40%, Sweden 47%, Finland 30%, Japan 33%, United Kingdom 25%, Bulgaria 46%, Hungry 42%, United States 20% WEC energy consumption doubled by 2050 World will turn to Fission Energy Produces very small amount of spent fuel 6yrs of operation, 4-meter cube Recyclable

Fusion: Overview and History British Physicists in the 1940s and 50s housed in a hangar at Harwell a device called ZETA - Zero Energy Toroidal Assembly which was the first fusion based operating system. Masked in the secrecy of the Cold War Fusion is the production of a thermonuclear reaction in a gas discharge

Called 'fusion' because it is based on fusing light nuclei such as hydrogen isotopes to release energy, similar to that which powers the sun and other stars.

The Process Nuclei of two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium (D) and tritium (T) react to produce a helium (He) nucleus and a neutron (n). In each reaction, 17.6 MeV of energy (2.8 pJ) is liberated: D   +   T     4He (3.5 MeV)   +   n (14.1 MeV)

The Future is Fusion The Sun is our Greatest source of energy…the sun uses fusion The source of fusion is vastly abundant in our oceans (an isotope of hydrogen in water) The waste of fusion is helium, and there is no pollution of long term extent. The price of fusion is estimated to be equivalent to that of fossil fuels Fusion can give us energy for millions of years

Nuclear Power Today Provides almost 20% of world’s electricity (8% in U.S.) 69% of U.S. non-carbon electricity generation More than 100 plants in U.S. None built since the 1970s 200+ plants in the Europe Leader is France About 80% of its power from nuclear

Uses of Nuclear Technology: • Medical Applications • Industrial applications •

Oil and Gas Exploration

•

Road Construction

• Commercial applications • Food Processing and Agriculture

Economics of Nuclear Technology 1) Nuclear power is cost competitive with other forms of electricity generation, except where there is direct access to low-cost fossil fuels. 2) Fuel costs for nuclear plants are a minor proportion of total generating costs, though capital costs are greater than those for coalfired plants. 3) In assessing the cost competitiveness of nuclear energy, decommissioning and waste disposal costs are taken into account.

Weapons Nuclear weapons fall under two categories— • Fission weapons • Fusion weapons.

Source: The Green Peace Book of the Nuclear Age by John May

Fission weapons Fission is splitting the nucleus of an atom into two or more elements, which causes a huge amount of energy to be released. In addition if there is left over neutrons they will cause fission in other elements—sustaining a chain reaction.

Fusion weapons Fusion is almost the reverse because it requires the putting together of two nuclei. The Hydrogen bomb is a fusion weapon, while weapons that use U235 and Pu239 are fission weapons.

Hiroshima & Nagasaki The Hiroshima bomb was nicknamed “little boy” (on the left) and was detonated on August 6, 1945 killing approximately 140,000 by the end of that year—and an estimated total of 200,000 altogether. “Fat Man” (on the right) was dropped three days later on Nagasaki killing approximately 70,000 people. Entire families were wiped out. The effects of the radiation caused birth defects in some of the survivors’ children, while others could no longer have babies. The physical, psychological, and environmental impacts of these atrocities can hardly be put into words.

Source: http://www.csi.ad.jp /ABOMB/

Hiroshima—before

Source: http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/1259a.gif

Hiroshima—after

Source: http://www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/1260a.gif

Hiroshima—after

This picture was taken by a US army medic named Henry Dittner in October 1945. Source:

Weapons Testing Since 1945 there has been 2,050 nuclear weapons tests world wide.* This picture is of “Dog Shot” in the Nevada desert in 1951. The second series of tests, the first series with large scale troops present. **

Source: * http://armscontrol.org/act/1998_05/ffmy98.asp, **http:// www.aracnet.com/~pdxavets/naavmed.htm (and picture)

Conclusion Overall, nuclear energy disproportionately effects rural communities and the communities near nuclear facilities. Uranium mining and bombing are particularly detrimental to the environment. Further, the effects of radiation (cancer, illness, and death) are significant. Source: Ready.gov