Plutonium Vs Uranium Research Paper

Attention Getter: When most people think of nuclear energy, the first thing that comes to their minds is a devastating bomb explosion or a nuclear power plant meltdown. But, in reality, nuclear energy is a sustainable energy source that has an enormous variety of uses.

Nuclear energy is the world's largest source of emission-free energy. Nuclear power plants produce no controlled air pollutants, such as sulfur and particulates, or greenhouse gases. "Renewables" like solar, wind and biomass can help. But only nuclear power offers clean, environmentally friendly energy on a massive scale. The use of nuclear energy in place of other energy sources helps to keep the air clean, preserve the Earth's climate, avoid ground-level ozone formation and prevent acid rain. “Currently, there are 103 commercial nuclear power plants producing electricity in the United States, located at 64 sites in 31 states. They are, on average, 24 years old, and

•     Waste from nuclear energy stays radioactive for thousands of years. Great care has to be taken in storing this waste safely.

People also benefit from atomic research in the medical field. Many people are aware of the wide use of radiation and radioisotopes in medicine. Nuclear medicine mostly uses radioisotopes which emit gamma rays from within the body. Estimates show that about one out of every three hospital patients benefits in some way from the use of nuclear medicine. Just think, every time you have an X-ray taken you are benefiting from nuclear research. Without X-rays, doctors would have a far greater time trying to set a broken bone if they even knew it was broken! Another common medical procedure that involves atomic research is the Cat-Scan. During this procedure the patient is injected with a radioactive isotope which shows the flow of blood through the

Nuclear power is seen as an alternative energy source but it does, however, release a huge amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It is, however, an alternative energy source but it does have its pros and cons which must weighed up against each other into making a decision as to

That is true, nuclear plant uses uranium to get energy, normally one gram uranium can generate 8000 times’ energy comparing to traditional fuel like oil or gas. According to Moore (2007), hydroelectric is largely built to capacity; meanwhile wind and solar power are unreliable to provide “baseload” energy especially in large city with huge demand. According to nuclear energy’s efficiency, proponents strong believe government should build nuclear plant to meet the increasing demand of electricity. Also, this group people say not only can uranium provide so much energy but also with no greenhouse emission.

This could not be further from the truth. Nuclear power production is a dangerous field that could have extremely negative side effects if it is used wrong, but over that past five decades we have greatly honed our skill of harnessing the atom to accomplish more productive tasks than negative. There are various forms of nuclear power that run at an assortment of efficiency level; however we humans only really have access to one form and it so happens to be the worst. It is known as nuclear

Plutonium is radioactive. Freshly prepared plutonium metal has a silvery bright color but takes on a dull gray, yellow or olive green colour when oxidized in air. A large piece of plutonium feels warm to the touch because of the energy given off ,larger pieces can produce enough heat to boil water. At room temperature alpha-form plutonium (the most common form) is as hard and brittle as cast iron. It can be alloyed with other metals to form the room-temperature stabilized delta form, which is soft and ductile. Unlike most metals, plutonium is not a good conductor of heat or electricity. It has a low melting point and an unusually high boiling point. Plutonium also won't stick to a magnet. atomic number is 94.

Nuclear power produces huge amount of energy through nuclear fission. 1 ton of uranium fuel, which is used as a fuel in generating electricity, equals to 50,000 tons of fossil fuels for generating the same amount of electricity. Since a small amount of nuclear fuel can produce a large amount of energy, it is powerful and efficient.

Central Idea: Nuclear energy only contributes a small amount to the world’s electricity yet it has hazards and dangers that far out-way its benefits. There are many other alternative power producing sources that can produce energy more efficiently and more safely than nuclear power plants can.

It is not until recently that people have become dependent on this element, and not necessarily for the good of it, and the world. There is an obsession with uranium because of its unique properties. Uranium is extremely powerful because of its radioactive properties and unstable nuclei, especially that of Uranium-235. It is able to break down and release high frequency radiation through alpha and beta decay. It is because of these characteristics that Uranium has such a craze on the population of the world (Cox, 1995; Scerri, 2007). The properties of uranium allow people to create powerful plants to produce electricity, and weapons strong enough to destroy the world.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to the use of radioactive elements in medicines. Some advantages include the fact that

Nuclear energy has been successful in decreasing the pollution created by energy production. Energy production takes a tremendous tole on our environment, from the industrialization of western countries such as America and Britain, to the extreme pollution being expelled by China today, the amount of carbon being released is extremely harmful. Nuclear energy produces virtually no carbon emissions (World moving in Wrong Direction). This alternative provides a safe and environmentally friendly method to energy productive that hasn’t yet been utilized. Nuclear- generated electricity contributes little, on a life-cycle basis, to greenhouse gas emissions and could help drastically in

Nuclear power has been around for decades and can be easily utilized to help meet America’s energy needs. With energy

Nuclear energy could be the future of energy and potentially solve the energy crisis problem. Nuclear energy is a sustainable energy source and it can provide millions of times the amount of energy output from a fixed mass of fuel than any other energy source, such as fossil fuel, for the same mass of fuel. Nuclear energy is also very clean for the atmosphere. It produces no greenhouse gases at all. However, nuclear energy can be very harmful to both people and the rest of the natural environment if not managed well. Nuclear meltdowns etc. can release