Nuclear Energy, Awesome or a Problem

Nisarg Parekh - McMaster University

Abstract
Nuclear energy is becoming a more populat choice for energy production ev-
ery year and in Ontario specically, around 60% of our power comes from nuclear
energy. Currently nuclear ssion is the source of the energy in nuclear reactors but
attempts of using fusion as an energy source are being made at the ITER. There
is a lot of research being done in improving nuclear reactors and considering the
many different nuclear reactions that can occur. One such reaction is the Thorium-
232 nuclear reaction that will produce Uranium-233 in breeder reactors. One such
breeder reactor is the AWHR reactor which is being proposed in India taking ad-
vantage of the Thorium reaction. In this presentation I will introduce the basics of
nuclear engineering, look at current research in the eld, and consider the benets
and negatives of using nuclear power.
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