Nuclear Power and Fission

By Samir Mohammed
 Nuclear Energy – Why it Is
Needed?
It is coming to a time where


humans need more sources of

electricity as they have
become dependent on it and
fossil fuels wont be around for
ever. So we need an
alternative source. You can
use renewable energy but
they are not very reliable as
they cant be used consistently
as they need certain elements
to run them e.g. wind power
needs wind which cant be
around all the time. This is
where nuclear power fits in as This graph shows supply and demand
one piece of uranium can of fossil fuels in the years to
power up to 80 houses, their come
can be benefits of using
nuclear power but their can
 How A Nuclear Power Plant
works
First the uranium is processed to a fuel pellet. The generator
is spun by using a steam turbine, the nuclear reactor can boil
the water to turn it into steam. The nuclear reactions heat
different water or gas or even liquid metal first. Then the
coolants carry the heat energy in to the boiler the water
passes through the turbine by using water pipes. The coolant
transfers its heat energy through the boiler pipes to the
turbine water, which is boiled into steam. The coolant would
contain a radioactive substance as it has passed through the
reactor. The coolant is heated by the metal fuel rods the
nuclear reactions cause to get hot. Then it would go through
to the generator which contains electromagnets which are
used for making electricity and to control it when the
electricity it is turned on or off in peoples homes which is then
passed through a transformer of electrical current . The fuel
rods are just hollow metal cylinders The fuel pellets are very
small so the fuel rods are very thin. The fuel rods are bundled
into fuel assemblies. The fuel assemblies are engineered to
make it easy to fuel and unload the reactor. The fuel pellets
 Nuclear Fission
When a nucleus fissions, it splits into several


smaller fragments. These fragments, or fission

products, are about equal to half the original mass.
Two or three neutrons are also emitted.

The neutron
splitting
 Nuclear power plants In The
U.K
Nuclear Power in the United Kingdom generates a


fifth of the country's electricity.

Power Station Type Net MWe Construction Connected to Full operation Estimated
 started grid closure
Oldbury Magnox 434 1962 1967 1968 2010

Wylfa Magnox 980 1963 1971 1972 2012
Dungeness B AGR 1110 1965 1983 1985 2018
Hinkley Point B AGR 1220 1967 1976 1976 2016

Hunterston B AGR 1190 1967 1976 1976 2016

Hartlepool AGR 1210 1968 1983 1989 2014
Heysham 1 AGR 1150 1970 1983 1989 2014
Heysham 2 AGR 1250 1980 1988 1989 2023
Torness AGR 1250 1980 1988 1988 2023
Sizewell B PWR 1188 1988 1995 1995 2035

This shows the current operating power plants in the U.K but more places
are excepted to join in 2010 (10)
 Benefits And Disadvantages
Benefits of using nuclear power is:
- A sustainable source of electricity
- It wont harm the planet by global warming as it releases no
fuel emissions
-
- Disadvantages are:
- Expensive to produce uranium
- If there is a nuclear explosion it could be catastrophic as it
would destroy everything in its range and the place will
become radioactive and it would be unsafe to visit the place
for 100s of years
- It could cause more developments in nuclear weapons as
more countries would be using nuclear power
- People who work at the power plants are more likely to get
radiation poising