Nuclear Energy

Introduction

Nuclear power, or atomic power, is the most powerful form of energy known to man. The fissioning of one short ton of uranium fuel would produce as much energy as 3 million short tons of coal (Weinberg 448b). Nuclear power is furthermore a cleaner way of producing electricity than fossil fuels, and makes much less contamination (Weinberg 448b). It is estimated that by the year 2000 one-third of all electric power generated worldwide will come from nuclear power plants (“Nuclear power” Encyclopedia Britannica 2003). Nuclear power is a good source of energy, and with new advances in technology, nuclear power should be a safe way of creating electricity in the future. Nuclear power, furthermore called atomic power, is the powerful energy issued by alterations in the nucleus (core) of atoms. The heat and light of the sun comes from nuclear energy. Scientists and engineers have discovered numerous values for this energy, encompassing the output of electric power and the explosion of atomic weapons. Scientists knew nothing about atomic power until the early 1900's, though they knew that all issue comprises of atoms. Scientists then further wise that a nucleus makes up most of the mass of every atom and that this nucleus is held simultaneously by an extremely strong force. A gigantic amount of energy is intensified in the nucleus because of this force. The next step was to make nuclei let go of much of that energy.

Nuclear power was first found out by French Physicist Antoine Becquerel, when he found out natural radioactivity in 1896. Soon after, British Physicist James Chadwick found out the neutron (Weinberg 448L). Rapid advancements were made in the field of nuclear power beginning in the early 1900's, when scientists began to make important discoveries concerning matter and energy. Scientists already knew that all matter consisted of atoms, and later learned that atoms consist mainly of a nucleus that was held together by an extremely powerful force. When researchers found out the force that held the nucleus together, they liked to find some way to isolate and harbor that force (Weinberg 448L).

Early engineers in the field of nuclear energy were unskilled, and had to learn about nuclear-related subjects. These who entered the field were often educated in another branch of engineering, and had to be educated by nuclear scientists and physicists (“Nuclear power” Encyclopedia Britannica 2003). These men and women were true pioneers in an unknown industry. They had to “use untried methods on unseen substances with uncertain properties, unknown materials were to be refined by unspecified processes to produce untested components for an unimaginable weapon. Failure was unacceptable” (Kaku and Trainer, 16).

History of Nuclear Energy

The U.S. Government conducted the first experiments, beginning with the Manhattan Project during WWII (Kaku and Trainer 16). The government built facilities, consisting of production reactors, chemical-reprocessing plants, test reactors, and weapon production facilities in a record amount of time (Kaku and Trainer 16).

Scientists first released nuclear energy on a large-scale basis at the University of Chicago in 1942, headed by ...