Nuclear Energy: Today's Misunderstood Power Source

Entry for the TSA National SciViz Competition Event 2011

By Alise Isaksen, Mitchell Williams, Maria Garcia, Albert Chung, Omar Ahmed, and Derreck Artega

NOTE: In addition to the "dioxide atom" error in the script, the animation at 0:30 shows a uranium-235 nucleus splitting with apparent spontaneity. However, this fission occurs when the nucleus is bombarded with an additional neutron to create the unstable uranium-236 nucleus. As soon as the nucleus captures the neutron, it splits into two lighter atoms and throws off two or three new neutrons (the number of ejected neutrons depends on how the U-235 atom splits). The process of capturing the neutron and splitting happens very quickly.

U-235 decays naturally by alpha radiation: It throws off an alpha particle, or two neutrons and two protons bound together. It's also one of the few elements that can undergo induced fission. Fire a free neutron into a U-235 nucleus and the nucleus will absorb the neutron, become unstable and split immediately.

The decay of a single U-235 atom releases approximately 200 MeV (million electron volts). That may not seem like much, but there are lots of uranium atoms in a pound (0.45 kilograms) of uranium. So many, in fact, that a pound of highly enriched uranium as used to power a nuclear submarine is equal to about a million gallons of gasoline.

The splitting of an atom releases an incredible amount of heat and gamma radiation, or radiation made of high-energy photons. The two atoms that result from the fission later release beta radiation (superfast electrons) and gamma radiation of their own, too.

But for all of this to work, scientists have to first enrich a sample of uranium so that it contains 2 to 3 percent more U-235. Three-percent enrichment is sufficient for nuclear power plants, but weapons-grade uranium is composed of at least 90 percent U-235.

Source: http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power1.htm

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Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• TSA
• SciViz
• Nuclear
• Energy

[skatewolf0]

very smooth animations. Like the British voice.

-Your top competitor at Scivis.

[xIreland2k7x]

AWHUDUP, Germany?