Hi Everyone!
Hope you are having a good day.
In this post, I am going to augment your knowledge with the use of Nuclear Energy or technology. And how we can produce electricity from it.
Let’s Begin
Usually, when we hear the name of nuclear technology, we start to think of war, destruction, the height of death rate and especially the historic destruction of the two cities of Japan viz., Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
But the other side of the picture contains a positive usage that by using nuclear technology, we can also produce electricity, rather than nuclear weapons, in a coherent way.
Source
It could be perceived well as 1 Kilogram of Uranium which is used as fuel for nuclear energy, producing the same electricity as produced by burning 2,500 Ton coal which is sufficient for 6 to seven hours for cities like Delhi, Islamabad, etc.
Now it's the matter of whether nuclear power is good or devilish for our society. So I decided to share it with you.
Source
It was started in 1945 when the United States of America threw two atomic bombs on the two cities of Japan, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki. It was the very first time that atomic bombs were used.
After all, scientists began to search out how they can convert such heavy matter into electricity!
Seemingly, working on nuclear technology sounds very pocket-friendly and convenient. But the fact was that changing physics into engineering on paper is easy, but a challenging one in practice.
Many private companies ventured for it with great care. That's why it had less number of interested-eyes for it.
source
In this world, most of the nuclear reactors are made between the 1970s to 1990s. Nuclear power reactors were taken seriously in the 1970s. When the conflict between Arabian countries lauded the oil prices to the sky. Then many of the countries started to look towards other resources which could supply them energy without any deterrence, and one of them was nuclear power technology.
How to produce nuclear energy from nuclear power?
This question started revolving in everyone's mind. But its basic principle was quite simple.
source
Water is boiled at peak through a chain reaction, which converts itself into high-pressure steam which puts turbines into working, which produces electricity as a result.
source
Nuclear Fission produces a lot more energy than coal. When Uranium 235 (U-235) is bombarded in a closed chamber with a very low neutron, then it absorbs it in and divides it in many particles. This energy is produced in term of radiation and highly boils the surrounding water. And that water converts into high-pressure steam and helps the turbine to move. These neutrons keep on repeating this process, this is why it is called a chain reaction.
This chain reaction is quite different from the bombastic chain reaction, as Uranium is enriched a lot in it.
Uranium-235 used in nuclear power reactors is 5 percent pure while in the making of atomic bombs Uranium-235 must be more than 90 percent pure.
Now the problem was that, which kind of nucleus reactor should be made because at that time a lot of designs were ready for it. Wondering fact was that, a design was chosen which was quite unpopular to scientists. And it was "The Light Water Reactor".
The Light Water Reactor:
It was so because it has many other advantages like it was ready to work while others were not. It was not so costly. In this Reactor, energy was controlled with the help of a moderator, which could also be done with the help of water.
This Model became popularized due to its simplicity and low-costly. However, it was neither so safe nor so advanced.
Nuclear energy is cleaner than thermal energy, geothermal energy, and hydropower. But it doesn't mean that it's a long-term solution for us. Because Uranium which works as fuel in nuclear power plants is a most dangerous and poisonous element in the world.
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster:
In 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster covered the sky with a huge radioactive cloud, almost 31 people died in it. And 5 to 6 thousand people were victimized by radioactive cancer for a long.
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster:
In 2011, the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster was taken quite seriously and emotionally. But the governments of all states keep on raising demands and making new nuclear power reactors. And today, nuclear power is fulfilling almost the 10 percent demand of energy in the world.
Almost 450 nuclear power plants are working in the world. And 57+ new reactors are under-process. Among those, 22 are operational in India, and 6 are under process. While in 5 reactors are functional and 2 are under-process in Pakistan. And their total capacity is around about 10 -10.5 thousand megawatts.
Today in the world 30 to 40 percent of reactors were made with old technology, which is not so safe as compared to new reactors.
Today, many countries have to face the challenge of either they change the old reactors with new ones or finding another way towards another technical field, which would affect in other ways on our environment.