Nuclear Power (Fission) Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman discovered the concept of nuclear fission in 1938.

Other experiments followed that showed the energy released in fission was about 100 million times greater than a chemical reaction. Fission is the process of splitting atoms; a neutron causes the nucleus of a uranium atom to split. The nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts-liberating energy in the process of heat. The amount of heat liberated by splitting a single atom is minute. But if we multiply this millions or billions of times, then we start to liberate some serious energy which is nuclear energy. Since 1956 the prime focus has been on the technological evolution of reliable nuclear power plants. Hahn and Strassman showed that fission not only released a lot of energy but that it also released additional neutrons which could cause fission in other uranium nuclei and possibly a self-sustaining chain reaction leading to an enormous release of energy. Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, and named after the planet Uranus. Bohr soon proposed that fission was much more likely to occur in the uranium-235 isotope than in U-238 and that fission would occur more effectively with slow-moving neutrons than with fast neutrons. Uranium, a radioactive chemical material, is the course of nuclear power. A dense material found in Earths crust. The critical mass alone of uranium cannot generate nuclear power. If the neutrons in the core move too quickly, the uranium atoms cannot absorb them. This prevents fission from taking place so the core uses a moderator, slowing down the neutrons. Water, the most commonly used moderator, slows down the flying neutrons enough so they can be absorbed by other uranium atoms and produces heat. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction in which it can release large amounts of energy as electromagnetic radiation and kinetic energy of the fragments. Dont really get what fission is about? Well, imagine about 200 marbles lying on a flat surface, all jumbled together, and roughly forming a circle. What would happen if someone took another marble and threw it at them? They would fly all around in different directions and groups, right? That is exactly what happens in nuclear fission. The filled circle is like an atom's nucleus. The marble being thrown is like a "neutron bullet". The only differences are that the marbles are protons and neutrons and the protons and neutrons aren't in a filled circle, but in the actual atom are in the shape of a sphere. But of course, an atom is also a bit more complicated than a pack of marbles. Fission is a form of nuclear transmutation; the conversion of one chemical element or isotope into another, which occurs through nuclear reactions, because the resulting fragments are not the same element as the original atom. A nuclear power plant is what controls and manipulates the nuclear power. It harnesses the energy inside atoms themselves and converts it to electricity. A nuclear power plant uses controlled nuclear fission. Nuclear power plants work the same way as conventional (fossil fuel) power plants do; they burn fuel to create heat. The fuel is usually coal but oil sometimes will be used. The heat used to boil the water in a nuclear power plant is produced by a nuclear fission reaction using Uranium-235 as fuel, not fossil fuels. As of July 2008, there were more than 430 operating power plants in the world. Together they provided about 15 percent of the worlds electricity in 2007. In the United States, 104 nuclear power plants supply 20 percent of the electricity overall. Studies show that by 2020, there would be as many as eight billion people living on Earth. This means more people will need more energy and less fossil fuels with be available.

Nuclear power once was produced reliably and cheaply. In 1987 the cost of producing electricity decreased from 3.63 cents per kilowatt- hour to 1.68 cents kilowatt-hour (KWhr). The operating cost includes a charge of 0.2 cents per KW-hour to fund the eventual disposal of waste from the reactor and for decommissioning the reactor. Uranium ore is about 0.05 cents per KW-hour. Today, however, the cost of generating nuclear power has increased tremendously. There is no longer government money to help power companies. The added expense of installing new safety equipment and storing nuclear wastes has made nuclear power much more costly. The cost has increased to 1.92 cents per KW-hour. But according to British Energy and British Nuclear Fuels the cost of nuclear power generation, including decommissioning and other costs, is 4 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour. However, other groups claim the cost to be way higher. The prices are unknown or difficult to predict because new generations of nuclear power stations will, certainly, require new and better technologies-some of them as yet unproven and uncosted. This means energy prices change all the time so it is very hard to put an exact price on how much the generation of nuclear power costs. The kilowatt-hour average, however, does not include the cost of updating reactors, maintaining them, or of storing waste. It costs 2.8 to 4.6 billion dollars to remove or decommission a nuclear power station- about twice the amount it cost to build one. Advantages of using nuclear power are it does not depend on fossil fuels; it depends on coal and natural gas, it is possible to generate a high amount of electrical energy in one single plant, and this technology is readily available, it does not have to be developed first. This is a good thing because for years scientists had been warning that emissions of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels were beginning to raise global temperatures. If they depended on fossil fuels the worlds nuclear power plants would produce two billion metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Disadvantages of using nuclear power are that historically mining and purifying uranium has not been a very clean process; the problem of radioactive waste is still an unsolved one. The waste from nuclear energy is extremely dangerous and it has to be carefully looked after for several thousand years (10'000 years according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards); nuclear power plants as well as nuclear waste could be targets for terrorist attacks. No atomic energy plant in the world could withstand an attack similar to 9/11 in New York. A Terrorist act like that would have catastrophic effects for the whole world; during the operation of nuclear power plants, radioactive waste is produced, which in turn can be used for the production of nuclear weapons. In addition, the same can be used to design nuclear power plants to a certain extent be used to build nuclear weapons; the energy source for nuclear energy is Uranium. Uranium is a scarce resource, its supply is estimated to last only for the next 30 to 60 years depending on the actual demand the amount of time needed for formalities, planning and building of a new nuclear power generation plant is in the range of 20 to 30 years in the western democracies, which means it is an illusion to build new nuclear power plants in a short time. Transporting nuclear fuel to and from plants poses a contamination risk. On average a nuclear power plant annually generates 20 metric tons of used nuclear fuel. This emits radiation and heat, meaning it will eventually wear away any container and can prove toxic nearby life forms. The U.S.--and the world--is gearing up to build a potentially massive fleet of new nuclear reactors, in part to fight climate change. In 2004, former President Bush said, To build a

secure energy future for America, we need to expand production of safe, clean nuclear power. In the future for nuclear power/energy they plan to gradually improve economic competiveness and the safety and reliability. They plan to save natural resources, minimize waste, and make sure security is non-proliferation or better and have physical protection. The average lifetime for a power plant is between forty and fifty years. The first power plant opened in 1956, so we will probably see many power plants shutting down. With the gradual decline of common energy fuels such as coal and oil, in the future, people will have to make some tough decisions in terms of energy resources. Although many new types of energy such as water, solar, natural gas, geothermal, and wind are being extensively researched and tested, we can bet on nuclear energy as one of the future's main sources of energy. As many countries are seeking nuclear weapons, many countries will also be seeking nuclear power plants to power their lands. Additionally, much more research will be conducted to maximize the safety from nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island. Future technology focuses on designing power plants which inherently cannot melt down. So basically nuclear energy will be better in the future because it is not expensive and will not destroy the environment, such as the case with fossil fuels. Also, researchers have found a way to reprocess that waste using new technology while still generating power. Nuclear power may still scare many people, but it's quickly gaining popularity as the effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions accelerates. "Most people cite nuclear waste as the main reason they oppose nuclear fission as a source of power," says Swadesh Mahajan. Mike Kotschenreuther, senior research scientist with the Institute for Fusion Studies (IFS) and Department of Physics agrees that their inventions might make the general population come around. "Our waste destruction system, we believe, will allow nuclear power-a low carbon source of energy-to take its place in helping us oppose global warming."