Humans Discover Nuclear Fission Essay

Nuclear fission can be used to power the world, or it can be used to destroy it. That scientific knowledge of the process of fission is neither good nor bad ethically, but the way it is applied can have ethical and moral consequences. The scientists who developed the fission process are not responsible for the devastation caused by the atomic bombs; the people who chose to use the science in that manner are the ones responsible.

Nuclear fission is a cost-effective, and relatively clean way to generate power. Since, the mid-1940’s, with the formation of the first atomic bombs, engineers have worked on improving nuclear power. In the 1970’s and 80’s nuclear power plants were built in cities to provide power for homes, workplaces, and other facets of life. Nuclear reactions were not well understood by the general public and therefore nuclear engineers inherited a certain status. Also as a result, nuclear power plants raised concerns for many Americans. The chances of a nuclear reactor failure were very slim, however, the consequences were devastating. Engineers feared that if the general public knew of the possible consequences that there would be massive amounts of unnecessary fear. As a result, operators of nuclear reactors were not informed of procedures to follow in the event of an emergency.

With many negative effects our overall society should make nuclear fission obsolete. In 2009 the U.S. lost over 10 billion dollars (along with very long construction times)just to create a few nuclear reactors. This shows that the actual nuclear reactors take the longest time to create and get up running. “There are many harmful effects of the mining of uranium in and near local populations”. Even though uranium is an essential part of the running nuclear reactor it is harmful when they are mining for it near local populations. When uranium is being mined for the rocks it releases harmful gasses that can cause cancer or other inner organs. Ultimately nuclear fission is very

Nuclear fission has so many benefits to offer to humans. However, it can be harmful because of its dangerous cons :

Nuclear energy is the energy released by a nuclear reaction, it uses fuel made from mined and processed uranium to generate heat and electricity. It is the world’s largest emission free energy source. Nuclear energy also has the lowest impact on the environment than other energy sources. But it can still be very harmful because of the radiation is causes and the radioactive waste it produces. Radioactive wastes are the ruins of nuclear materials that are used in providing nuclear energy. These wastes contain high levels of radiation that can be very hazardous to humans and the environment. Some people accept and support the idea of using nuclear energy and others don’t. In the following paragraphs, some major nuclear accidents and the public acceptance of nuclear energy will be discussed.

Nuclear fission is a reaction in which heavy nuclei, such as Uranium and Plutonium, are broken into smaller nuclei releasing heat, which is transformed into another form of energy such as, mechanical or electrical. For a long time people have been using nuclear fission as an efficient and sustainable source of energy. However, the use of this form of energy is associated with a unique set of consequences including environmental, social and ethical. In this paper I will discuss nuclear energy and its impact on the environment.

Page 551 states, “The process of splitting a nucleus into several smaller nuclei is nuclear fission.” Not only that, but according to page 551, nuclear fissions occur whenever the nuclei is so distorted that whenever the neutron strikes it, the nucleus divides up into two smaller nuclei, which is the process of nuclear fission. Based on the website duke-energy.com, nuclear fission produces “steam, which is used by a turbine generator to generate electricity.” According to turbinegenerator.org, turbine generators can use various things to produce electricity, and one of the things they use is the steam that was created by nuclear fissions. Nuclear fissions occur only in large nuclei, some examples of large nuclei can be the nuclei of uranium

In comparison to the radiation exposure at Hiroshima, the radioactive release at Chernobyl “polluted the countryside much more than ten Hiroshimas would have done” (Rhodes, 1993). As radioactive dust was dispersed into the air, gas and dust was spread through the atmosphere to “Finland, Sweden, and central and southern Europe” (Rhodes, 1993). Levels of exposure have shown to increase risk of cancer and decrease life expectancy by 2 minutes. Rhodes, author of Nuclear Renewal: Common Sense About Energy, declared that there is risk in everything we do, but specifically points out the risk that is involved in nuclear energy.

This concept drastically transformed the image of the atom and eventually led to further discoveries in physics. After the discovery of the neutron, the concept of utilizing the neutron for a bullet to assault other nuclei was in place. This would later be known as nuclear fission, which is a major stepping stone going into World War II. It was a matter of speed and time to figure out the most optimal conditions and power for this chain reaction bomb. Later, it was applied to Uranium atoms, in which it released huge packets of energy. This was discovered through the use of Einstein’s theory and relationship between mass and

Nuclear Fission is the main process by which humans are able to generate energy from the nucleus of atoms. In order to discuss the nuclear fission process the role of the neutron must be examined. The collision of a neutron in motion with a fissionable nucleus an essential pre condition that creates the nuclear fission process. In order for fission to occur a neutron of the requisite energy must collide into, and merge with a fissionable nucleus to create a new compound nucleus. The formation of the new compound nucleus, in the case of Uranium-238, can be described by the following nuclear reaction: U-238 + n -> U-239. In situations where nuclear fission successfully occurs new nuclei are created from the remnants of the old nuclei. The velocity or energy of the colliding neutron is a significant factor in the fission process. Nuclear fission can occur after a heavy nuclei captures a neutron. The low energy neutrons which are slow or thermal can result in the fission of isotopes of Plutonium and Uranium whose nuclei have an odd number of

On December 2nd, 1942, the Chicago Pile-1 nuclear reactor was brought online. It was the world’s first, and the beginning of a movement that would come to shape the world’s energy resources for decades to come. Since that day, nuclear power has peaked at ten percent of the world’s total energy resources in 2011 (International Energy Agency), and has fueled not only power grids across the globe, but a heated debate about the viability, environmental impact, and ethical concerns of using nuclear fission and radioactive chemical reactions as a public energy source. The most widespread arguments against its use all revolve around a trio of disastrous reactor failures spanning the last three decades: the meltdown on Three Mile Island, the

While some say nuclear power is risky, the facts prove otherwise. Nuclear energy is often treated as a taboo subject due to misconceptions throughout history by the public, but in actuality, nuclear energy is relatively safe, when practiced correctly. Nuclear energy is a process in which atoms are split, producing heat, which boils water. The steam then turns a turbine to produce electricity. While fission is involved in nuclear bombs, the process in each are both different. The ‘fuel’ used for this process is Uranium-235, an isotope of uranium. Nuclear energy, contrary to popular belief, does not describe the horrible power of nuclear explosive, but the calculated, safe procedure of releasing the fundamental power of the atom. The pros of nuclear energy firmly outweigh the cons of the issue. If the people responsible for the facilities that the energy is produced in follow safety procedures the cons are nearly reduced to nothing. Not only is it a completely green energy source, but the power output is immense, and uranium is such a common material that is used so infrequently means that it will last for an extremely long time.

As nuclear energy employs similar technology as those in city-destroying weapons, the possibilities for danger are abundant. The breakdown of atoms creates other, new atoms called daughter isotopes. Many of them are also radioactive, but need to be removed from the reactor since they don’t break down fast enough to be used as fuel. In addition, the unused nuclear fuel and Uranium-238 must also be removed, forming what is collectively known as “nuclear waste”. It is both chemically toxic and radioactive, and must be stored away from anything living. In addition to creating toxic waste, reactors require water to cool the reactor. The used hot water is dumped back in lakes and rivers, and the temperature change can harm wildlife. Not only does nuclear power create dangerous materials during every second of operation, but nuclear plants can become extremely dangerous if something goes wrong. Look no further than the Chernobyl incident. The Chernobyl nuclear plants were a set of four nuclear reactors in what is now Ukraine, when it was part of the Soviet Union. On April 25, 1986, unauthorized tests were done on one of the reactors, and the safety features were disabled. “Engineers initiated an uncontrolled chain reaction in the core of the reactor” (Chernobyl), and the following day, a massive explosion in the reactor destroyed the

Scientists should never stint the growth of human scientific advancement out of fear of a possible negative application of their work. Scientific advancement, in my opinion, exists outside of humanity and stands for what should be the highest priority of the human race. Many people today condemn the scientists that discovered nuclear fission for the way it was used during World War Two and for the threat it posed throughout the Cold War, but today, humanity utilizes nuclear fission for many applications apart from atomic bombs. Without fission, the human race would still fully rely on gas as the only source of consumable energy. Fission created the idea of “clean energy” as we have it today, significantly contributing to the future of the human race’s energy supply.

To illustrate, the amount of pollution that is created as a result of using nuclear energy is detrimental to the environment. Since, “there is still no safe reliable solution for dealing with the radioactive waste produce” (www.greenpeace.org), the waste produced by nuclear power plants will remain hazardous eternally. All current commercial nuclear power plants function through the process of nuclear fission. There are a tremendous amount of nuclear power plants and commonly they all convert energy into