Pros And Cons Of Nuclear Fusion

In the modern world, nuclear fission is the fundamental process of a nuclear bomb and nuclear reactor. The reaction produces a chain reaction of atom splitting that produces 24,000,000 kilowatts per hour of energy. On the other hand, nuclear fusion is a reaction where two or more nuclei come close enough to one another to create one or more atomic nuclei and subatomic nuclei. As a result, this reaction produces a massive amount of energy; fusion reaction is the energy source of the sun, the energy produced by fusion is the answer to why the sun is hot.

Lecture 2 talks about nuclear energy and weapons and their impact on society. Overconfidence and too much optimism inhibit clear thinking and allow an avoidance in realizing the negative consequences and unpleasant ideas in the world. Also vital to understand is the concept that science and reality are not identical. Science describes reality, whereas our ideas reality are biased albeit unique. The fusion bomb, first created in 1952, is equal to 10 to 50 megatons of dynamite. It is 500 to 2500 times more powerful than the earlier created fission bomb. The fission bomb, as well as nuclear power plants, split large atoms into smaller atoms in order to create energy. The fusion bomb creates its larger energy by doing the reverse process. The

The prospect of nuclear fusion is presented by numerous, I included, to be the ultimate answer to the human race’s energy crisis. The very idea of nearly infinite energy with no long-term waste product, especially one that causes harm, will spark a major turning point in human civilization. Nonetheless, even though we can see nuclear fusion in action throughout the universe in the cores of stars and in our miniature mechanical versions of these, we still have yet to break even on the energy front. Some people, when faced with this ongoing problem for the technology, suggest other forms of power generation that we know already work. Hydroelectric, solar, geothermal, and wind power all show promise as sources of massive power generation. Yet

Nuclear energy was likewise discovered to be useful in naval tactics and in sourcing electricity. As technology has significantly advanced and knowledge has expanded beyond measures, the realm of nuclear engineering has indeed achieved scientific milestones. In practice of modern times, nuclear energy is manufactured within power plants, capable of supporting an outstanding amount of electricity (World Nuclear Association). However, this limited method of energy production is thought to be dangerous. Nuclear engineering is certainly one complex subject and is foreign to the majority of the world population. Within a nuclear power plant, reactors are employed to force uranium ions to undergo the process of nuclear fission; nuclear fission is the separation of atoms, the smallest unit of matter. This splitting of uranium ions releases energy, thus, producing usable heat. Heat is crucial to not only nuclear energy production; rather, heat is necessary in all power plants. Such will then become the steam that gyrates turbines. These turbines are coupled with electromagnets which, finally, yield electricity (How Nuclear Reactors Work). One foremost flaw of nuclear power is the consequential radioactive waste that must be monitored for a long while following disposal. Nevertheless, as resources upon this planet are surely depleting, original forms of energy production are mandatory. In consideration of such, nuclear power plants have proved to be both efficient

As we know, greenhouse gases have been one of the major causes for climate change. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the primary source of greenhouse gas emission is from electricity production which is mostly generated by burning fossil fuels. Over several decades, mankind has spent countless amount of resources, trying to find a suitable energy substitute for fossil fuels in order to stabilize climate change. Unsurprisingly, due to its powerful nature, nuclear energy has been one of the most popular and developed technology around the world. In this paper, I am going to discuss the fundamental flaws in nuclear energy, and the potential danger it could bring to not only the mankind today, but also tomorrow. In addition,

KABOOOOM! That was the sound of the two atomic bombs the United States of America dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War 2. These two bombs were the main reason the Japanese surrendered, which led to the end of the war. The bomb at Hiroshima had a death toll of 135,000 and Nagasaki’s death toll was 64,000 ("The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki"). So how are these destructive bombs made? They are made by nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is when an atom splits into two parts, either through natural decay of when instigated within a lab and it produces energy. The natural decay is done through beta decay and blasting neutrons at the nuclear of the atom is what splits the atom. Nuclear fission has changed the world today, it is used to create nuclear bombs and conduct electricity in power plants, and has

Teller and Ulam also took advantage of the already functional fission bombs. Thermonuclear or hydrogen bombs is initially triggered with the detonation of a fission weapon. The x-ray radiation resulting from the fission reaction radiates quickly toward a tritium-deuterium core causing the core to implode. The tritium-deuterium core contains within itself a small fission device, referred to as a trigger, which ignites and expands following the implosion of the tritium-deuterium core. Effectively the tritium and the deuterium are compressed between two nuclear fission explosions that of which generate temporary containment of the fusion reaction. This design was named the Teller-Ulam device after its two contributors (see fig. 3). While the fusion reaction only last for a fraction of a second the energy released is massive, with the first fusion detonation equaling ten megatons (equivalent to the energy released from ten billion tons of TNT). The first hydrogen bomb detonation displayed the infinite potential of fusion, not only for wartime functionality but also for stability in mankind's ever-present search for a stable fuel

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

Fission can be controlled easier, that is why it is used the most. fission occurs by splitting an atom, instead of putting two molecules by force at high speeds, and changing the atomic number of the molecule. Fusion needs some requirements to occur, it needs high pressure and high temperature, and at extreme levels to combine the Molecule. If this is tried, and is done wrong, the damage could be devastating and even nuclear. This is a good source of power and has been used for many years. Usually when they malfunction they are treated and nothing bad happens, but if not treated, it could cause a nuclear meltdown, like what happened at 3 mile island on March 28th, 1979, and that's not good.

The necessity for a new type of energy increases with every year. Energy consumption rates are increasing continuously, and with them, pollution and wastes directly harming the Earth and her atmosphere. While other energy competitors constantly fell short of impacting fossil fuels enough to significantly lower their usage rates, nuclear energy can not only compete against the highly efficient yet harmful fossil fuels but can reign as king as a more efficient and cleaner source of energy.

“At the sun core, powerful gravitational force generates heat and pressure, causing a reaction where by two hydrogen atoms collide and bond in to heavier helium atoms” (Naik, Guatam). The word fusion is when a merging of separate elements into a unified whole. “Scientist can’t replicate the tremendous gravitational force feeding sun and stars, they must find other ways to generate the intense heat and pressure needed to fuse the hydrogen atoms” (Naik Gautam). “It’s clean energy, virtually limitless fuel available, no chain reactions, with little to no waste and very low fuel cost but it’s unproven, commercial power plants will be very expensive to build and require extremely high temperature” ( Nolten, Tanja). Fusion should advance under general guidelines with some government control by how fusion was invented, backgrounds into fusion, the future of power and fission versus fusion. “Both fission and fusion are nuclear reactions that produce energy, but the applications are not the same” (Duke, Energy).

The public needs to be educated on nuclear fusion vs fission. The fact that Scientist believe nuclear fusion will make less radioactive waste than the current nuclear fission may public misconception that nuclear energy is all the same.

Nuclear fusion is a nuclear reaction where the atomic nuclei of low atomic number have been fused together to create a heavier nucleus with the release of energy. Fusion powers the sun which is already being conducted in laboratories throughout the world by scientists. Byproducts of the fusion process are a fast neutron and helium. These carry the heat to turn it into steam. Throughout the country there are 47 out of 50 states that support the fusion industry. For nuclear fusion to occur, there must be temperatures over a million degrees. On the sun and stars, nuclear fusion occurs. Hydrogen nuclei fuse to form helium nuclei in the sun. Only one percent of mass from an atom is converted into energy. It produces less radioactive weight

Scientists have been trying for many years to build nuclear reactors that would allow a sustained fusion reaction to occur. There are several factors that influence a fusion reaction. Since very high kinetic energies are needed for nuclei to fuse, the plasma in which fusion occurs is extremely hot. Temperatures in excess of 100 million degrees celsius are required for the easiest fusion reaction to take place. Plasmas are fluids, and therefore they have no permanent shape and will quickly disperse if not confined. A 100 million degree plasma will vaporise any container in which it is placed, so magnetic fields are used to contain the plasma.

Nuclear energy is an alternative source of energy that holds great amounts of energy and is one of the future sources of energy for this world. “Nuclear energy is energy in the nucleus (core) of an atom. There is enormous energy in the bonds that hold the nucleus together. Energy is released when those bonds are broken” (Uranium). Unlike a chemical reaction with fossil fuels, nuclear reactions create an even greater amount of energy than fossil fuels. “Nuclear energy can be used to make electricity, but first it must be released it can be released from atoms in two ways: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission” (Uranium). Nuclear energy already provides 1/5 of all the energy in the U.S.,