As by early conventions humanity has been confronting two stark risks for decades first one is catastrophes due to variations in climate and second is obliteration caused by nuclear war. The catastrophes caused by climate change due to air pollution e.g., global warming due to greenhouse gases, is very dangerous. That’s why now need such type of energy sources, which should be low cost and should not emit carbon dioxide or very low amount of air polluting gases as waste e.g., solar energy, wind energy or nuclear energy etc. As solar is weather dependent and works only in day time. So nuclear energy is more useful because it can be produced in any weather or anytime. Nuclear energy has lot of advantages and some disadvantages also. In developed countries nuclear energy is preferred to use because nuclear power plant need less expenses for it functioning as very small amount of matter as fuel meet the huge increasing energy consumption. The keen study of pros of cons of nuclear energy will help us to decide either use nuclear energy or not.
How is nuclear power produced?
heat is produced by fission reaction used to produce steam, which in turn rotates the turbine. The turbine rotates the generator which produces electricity.
Nuclear Fission
such a reaction in which a heavy nucleus like that of uranium splits up into two nuclei of roughly equal size along with the emission of energy during the reaction, is called fission reaction.
equation
and Q=200 MeV per nucleus of uranium.
hence in the uranium fission several products like Sn, Mo, Xe, Sr etc. may be produced. But all these are radioactive.
Why Fusion Reaction Is Not Used in Power Plants?
in fusion reaction, more energy per nucleon can be obtained as compare to the fission reaction. But unfortunately, it is comparatively more difficult to produce fusion because a very large amount of energy is spent to start fusion reaction. On the contrary no difficulty is faced to start the fission reaction because neutron has no charge on it and it has to face no repulsive force while reaching the nucleus.
fusion is uncontrollable but till now this reaction has not been brought under control like fission and so, is not being able to produce electricity. efforts are in full swing in this field and it is hoped that in near future some method would be found to control this reaction as well
Benefits of Nuclear Power
1) Affordable source of energy
In the last decade, the expenses of nuclear power has dropped to $ 29.13 per megawatt, as in 2021. This means now we can produce one kilowatt hour of nuclear energy by expanding only 0.03 dollars. So, this is also affordable for undeveloped countries. As nuclear energy is mostly produced by fission reactions. So, it is a low cost operating system. But building the power plants for storage of this energy is expensive.
2) Reliability
Wind or solar power is weather dependent but nuclear power is Reliable source of energy and always working because not rely on weather. Continuous energy gained by nuclear power plants.
3) Long lasting power plant
Nuclear energy is a low-cost source of energy because a few moles of atoms give out a large amount of power. But building a nuclear power plant is very expensive. Although nuclear power plant is costly to build but it is long last. It can work for 4 to 60 years mostly.
4) More opportunities for workers
One of the largest energy sources is nuclear power for humans and generate larger number of jobs for youngsters and researchers because an entire industry is created by nuclear power plants. Mostly 400 to 700 employees are needed for a single nuclear power plant and salaries are also higher.
5) Lowest carbon dioxide emission
By combustion of fossil fuels a large amount of carbon dioxide methane and other green gases which are damaging ozone Layer due to which is producing harmful variations in atmosphere. Due to these greenhouse gases global warming is also increasing. But nuclear power plants do not give carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases as waste. According to facts and figures 470 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emission per year is saved due to nuclear power production. So, it is considered as climate friendly source of energy.
5) Highly concentrated energy
It is high energy density because ten million times greater energy greater energy is produced by nuclear power plant than the energy amount given by out by other means e.g. coil natural gas petroleum etc. A few moles of nuclei as fuel generates a huge amount of energy. So, thousands of megawatts can be produced by a single nuclear power plant.
Risk due to nuclear power plants
1) Impact on environment
No greenhouse gases are released by nuclear power plants but nuclear waste is also very dangerous for environment. Mostly fission reactions produces radioactive elements. For example fission of uranium produces radioactive elements like radon , polonium etc which are highly radioactive and need infinite time to decay completely. These radioactive elements are very harmful because they are continuously radiating unhealthy radiations alpha beta particles etc. They also producing thermal and water pollution.
2) Biological impacts
Due to production of radioactive elements harmful radiation are produced, which causes cancer, eye and skin problems, and also damages plants due to exposure of nuclear waste in water.
3) Nuclear accidents
If strict safety measures are not adopted in nuclear power plants, then nuclear accidents can occur as we have observed in history like Fukushima disaster. Catastrophic impact around nuclear power plants can be produced due to meltdown. Because of meltdown dangerous and unhealthy radiations can be leaked out by nuclear power plants.
Radioactive waste management
The best place so far found to store nuclear waste is in the bottom of the old salt mines, which are very dry and thousands of meters below the surface of earth. Here they can remain and decay without polluting the environment. Mostly uranium -35 or plutonium-239 are used in fission reactions as parent nuclei and uranium-235 is only 0.7 percent naturally occurring. So, the other way is safe recycling of this nuclear waste. Because there is an interesting aspect of nuclear reaction is that it can take place in the opposite direction also. If we will succeed in constructing a power plant which will able to recycle this waste then it will be a best option to use.
As nuclear power is a relatively cheaper, reliable and high energy density source. It is a lowest carbon emissions energy source and need less space for its functioning. But it produces thermal pollution because it is a highly energetic reaction. Also give radioactive waste which continually radiating harmful radiations. That’s why a highly precise system is need to consume nuclear waste safely and to protect environment by thermal pollution.
Zeenat Mushtaque, MPhil Solid State Physics
Dr. Abid Hussain Nawaz, Ph.D.
