Essay on Power of Nuclear Energy

Credibility: The world's first exposure to nuclear energy came with the detonation of two atomic bombs in Japan in 1945. Scientists perceived a positive aspect of

The beginnings of the Nuclear Age started when Albert Einstein wrote to President Franklin Roosevelt warning him of a dangerous weapon the Nazis had begun researching, known as the atomic bomb. (1) Though, when President Roosevelt first read this letter, he was too preoccupied with events in Europe to be bothered with such ideas. He at the time did not take the creation of such weapon to seriously, nor did he believe America had the resources for such a task. (2) Finally, on October 19, 1939 President Roosevelt wrote back to Einstein stating that the United States had begun to research the power of uranium. (2) With the help of the British, whom reluctantly gave the United States leadership on this project, in June of 1942 the Manhattan Project had begun, though most of the world had no idea that this was even happening, not even Vice President Truman. (2)

Even before the outbreak of War, the United States was concerned with a fascist regime in Europe researching in nuclear weapons. In retaliation, the United States began to fund an atomic weapon development program which became known as “The Manhattan Project” led by J. Robert Oppenheimer. Over the next several years, the Manhattan project started obtaining key materials such as Uranium-235 and Plutonium and testing prototypes until they reached a working model (Coroner).

The origins of the Manhattan Project go back to 1939, when Hungarian-born physicist Leo Szilard, who had moved to the U.S. in 1938 to conduct research at Columbia University, became convinced of the feasibility of using nuclear chain reactions to create new, powerful bombs. German scientists had just conducted a successful nuclear fission experiment, and based on those results, Szilard was able to demonstrate that uranium was capable of producing a nuclear chain reaction. Szilard noted that Germany

The seed was planted for the bomb in 1939 when Albert Einstein wrote President Roosevelt a letter regarding the danger of Germany obtaining such a weapon. "In 1942, President Theodore Roosevelt approved a plan to develop an atomic bomb. The plan's code name was the Manhattan Project." (Taylor, Page 25) The Atomic bomb was developed based on Frisch's theory of nuclear fission. (McKain, Page 39) The atomic bomb was developed as a defensive weapon for the United States to protect itself from the Germans attempting to obtain the bomb. The Manhattan Project was conducted by the best American and German refugee scientists, notable scientists include Albert Einstein, Enrico Fermi, and J. Robert Oppenheimer. The first objective of the Manhattan Project was to test the theory of nuclear fission. In 1942 Enrico Fermi led a group of scientists to create the first nuclear chain reaction at the University of Chicago. The success of this Fermi's experiment allowed the Manhattan Project to "Move from the theoretical stage to the practical construction of a device based around Fermi's chain reaction." (McKain, Page 78) The second large challenge to the project was producing enough fuel for a bomb, in this case Uranium-235 and Plutonium. To produce a bomb the scientists would need a large quantity of fissionable materials, these were Uranium-235 and Plutonium. "Uranium-235 and Plutonium are the fissionable materials used to make nuclear bombs. To obtain these rare elements, however, they must be extracted from Uranium." (McKain, Page 85) The scientists involved in the Manhattan Project were assisted in obtaining these materials by the DuPont company who used two facilities to produce these materials. As the materials were being gathered, scientists were convened in Los Alamos, New Mexico where they lived and worked to design and build the atomic bomb. By

The first successful reactor was made at the University of Chicago under the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi. On December 2, 1942 it made a controlled chain reaction. Five large reactors were built at Hanford, Washington, where U-238 was blasted with neutrons to make plutonium. It was then sent to Los Alamos. Since another isotope of plutonium was also fissionable, there was a fear that a chain reaction could start to soon when the pieces of plutonium where brought

The machines and processes designed during the 1940’s had adverse consequences as well. The first nuclear reactor was built by Enrico Fermi in 1942. The Chicago Pile 1 was the “world’s first man-made controlled nuclear chain reaction”. This caused the creation of other nuclear reactors and the atomic bomb (CP-1). The atomic bomb was developed and successfully tested in Alamogordo, New Mexico in July 16, 1945. In August 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima and killing an estimated 340,000 people (Sherrow 88).

It was first developed in the 1940s, and during the Second World War to 1945 research initially focussed on producing bombs which released great energy from the atoms of particular isotopes of either uranium or plutonium.

* First, the power of the reactor could be increased to re-stabilize the nuclear reaction

It is estimated that at today’s rate of consumption, the earth has about fifty years left of fossil fuels. In contrast, due to the very small amount of uranium needed to create a huge amount of energy, the supply of nuclear energy is almost infinite [Jiskha].

The disastrous meltdowns that cause whole cities to become uninhabitable, as well as leaving families homeless and laborers without jobs, have defined the negative perspective of what people see in nuclear power. However, even after such catastrophes, the pure raw energy output makes nuclear power essential for the future of the human race. As time passes, the world’s energy usage has grown an increasingly massive size every year due to the consumption swell of energy. Despite nuclear plants being a heavily controversial topic internationally, its advantages are very well recognized and it’s causing nuclear plants to slowly become the basis of our growing society.

In 1941, The United States began an atomic bomb program called the “Manhattan Project.” The main objective of the “Manhattan Project” was to research and build an atomic bomb before Germany could create and use one against the allied forces during World War II. German scientists had started a similar research program four years before the United States began so the scientists of the “Manhattan Project” felt a sense of urgency throughout their work (Wood “Men … Project”).

Provided that countries can acquire uranium, they can create clean and safe energy. Generally nuclear power stations are safe. The various barriers and numerous safety measures make it very unlikely for catastrophes to transpire. The most up-to-date plants have a reactor core failure 1 in 1 million years. The proposal of building a plant has to be scrutinized intensely so that the barriers and structure ensure a redundant job in

Nuclear power is generated from the energy that is released from a heavy nucleus into a lighter, more stable nuclei. The heat produced is used to boil water which drives a steam turbine to generate electricity. This chain reaction process is also called fission. A key element to fuel nuclear plant is uranium. Uranium is considered to be a nonrenewable energy source, even though it is a common metal found in rocks worldwide. U-235 is most commonly used in plants because its atoms are easily split apart. To extract U-235 uranium ore is mined; for the United States, this element is found in the

Getting energy from nuclear reactions is a well-established science, tracing back to the discovery of radioactive elements, and eventually to harnessing the energy within those reactions for human needs. The basis of nuclear power is the use of nuclear fission to generate heat, which changes water into steam, and powers a turbine. Nuclear fission is related to radioactive decay, which was discovered in the late 1800s by Henri Becquerel and furthered by Marie and Pierre Curie. Nuclear fission itself was the work of Enrico Fermi – a physicist from Italy. Fermi would later help create the first self-sustaining chain reaction on the grounds of the University of Chicago in 1942. The understanding of nuclear fission and the ability to create chain reactions would lead to the Manhattan Project, culminating in the dropping of two nuclear bombs over Japan at the end of World War II. The technology would later be adapted into more peaceful purposes such as generating energy. Nuclear fission works by bombarding the radioactive element – usually uranium, but sometimes plutonium – with neutrons. When the neutron hits the element, it will split into two lighter atoms, releasing more neutrons, and energy. Those