Nuclear Fission and the Greenhouse Effect
Within the coming years, fossil fuel will be failed back its main role as the ultimate main sources of energy. Fossil fuels has known to have emit carbon energy and caused unrecoverable damages to environment in the long run. Low or zero carbon energy is gain popularity and nuclear power is known inline with this new movement in reducing the greenhouse effects. Nuclear power consisted of nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. Below we are explaining more detail about nuclear fission.
In the process to generate electricity, nuclear power stations applied nuclear fission as its main process. In nuclear fission reactions, neutrons is bombarding uranium isotope U235. The result of this process is causing the fission of uranium and Barium Ba143 and Kypton Kr90 are gained. Nuclear fission also generated free neutrons n1, which then succeeding another fission reactions. The mass of the atomic particles after the fission is cut down compared to the original uranium atom. This so-called mass defect is converted to energy ∆E in the form of transferred heat. The following nuclear reaction equation depicts the fission process:
Nature dose not supply uranium in the form that is ready for the process in nuclear power plant. It then must be derived and process from uranium ore. Solid rock or mineral compartment with a uranium oxide content of more than 0.2 % is a workable uranium ore. Uranium mining brings out huge amounts of uranium waste that contains a lot of radioactive waste and radioactive materials. Uranium oxide as one of residues from uranium ore contains only 0.8 % uranium U235. The biggest component form uranium oxide is uranium U238, which could not be used for nuclear fission in nuclear power plant. Consequently, processing plants must add another process to enrich the uranium. Subsequently uranium 235 concentration must be changed to 2–3 %.
Uranium Ore or known as Uraninite is a radioactive, uranium rich mineral and ore which consisted mainly of UO2, but also contains UO3 and oxides of lead, thorium, and rare earth elements. All uranium ore minerals comprise a small amount of radium as a radioactive decay product of uranium.
It is clear that earth has limited uranium reserves. If most of fossil energy sources were to be replaced by nuclear power, the uranium reserves in the world would be consumed in a short time. The rate of consuming and depletion is also depending on the nuclear technology choice. Hence, in the medium and long term, nuclear fission can only be an alternative source of energy to fossil fuels.
Nuclear fission does not emit any carbon dioxide directly, but the building of the power plant, uranium mining, transport and disposal result in the emission of significant amounts of carbon dioxide. These indirect carbon dioxide emissions are practically lower than those linked with the operation of a coal-fired power plant but higher compare to the indirect carbon dioxide emission.
Storage and transport of radioactive materials bear further dangers. Uranium and fuel rods must be carried to another processing plants and power stations. In this scenario, radioactive waste then must be transported for further treatment and to intermediate and final storage sites. During normal operation of a nuclear power station, highly radioactive waste such as spent fuel rods is already produced. In any case other radioactive materials, they also contain about 1 % of plutonium. One microgram of plutonium (one millionth part of a gram) is having the capability to be lethal when breathed in. In the long run it can cause death by lung cancer. So, one gram of plutonium could wipe out a whole city. There is no absolute safety guarantee with such nuclear material. The possible ness of transport accidents and the emission of radioactive material is real. The final storage location of radioactive waste is also can be problematical, because this waste will hold its lethal attributes more than thousands of years.
The normal operation of nuclear power plants also bears risks. Nuclear power stations continuously emit a very small amount of radioactivity. An increased rate of leukemia in children living near a nuclear power plant has been reported. However, accepted scientific correlations do not exist at present.
As has already been mentioned, civilian use of nuclear power stations is not their only potential use. It can be also used for military applications. This is another reason why civilian nuclear power has been encouraged in some countries. The use of nuclear power in politically unstable countries can provoke international crises. If the use of civilian nuclear power is promoted, the danger and risk of nuclear crises and the risk that terrorists will come into possession of nuclear material will rise significantly.
The countless risks and danger or nuclear power stations are balanced by the undisputed benefits of civilian use of nuclear power. Other cleaner technologies than nuclear power exist and the potentially enormous costs associated with nuclear accidents suggest that the insistence on back down from the nuclear program is perfectly rationalized.