Radioactive. Dangerous. Massive. The process of splitting the atoms of uranium is just that. Uranium is used in nuclear bombs and in nuclear energy. We know that nuclear bombs are the most deadly weapon on the face of the earth, but there is a positive way to use the uranium. We use uranium in our nuclear energy reactors to provide a clean energy for our power grids. “America’s 99 nuclear power plants generate almost 20 percent of the nation’s electricity while emitting no carbon dioxide or controlled pollutants’’ stated in the article “How Nuclear Reactors Work” in 2017. It is important to know how nuclear reactors work and how harmless the production of nuclear energy is. Nuclear energy is simple. Through fission and the splitting of atoms,
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The neutrons, according to Mikhail Chudakov, an editor for Harvard College Review of Environment and Society states, “can strike nearby uranium atoms and cause them to split as well, leading to a chain reaction that continues to release heat along with the neutrons that sustain it.” Uranium is packed tightly in the cell so it can start on its own because of its low rate of splitting. Most nuclear cells that are used in reactors, use U-238. U-238 is a stable form of uranium and is safe, but U-235, when used in fission, can split more easily but is more unstable. The more unstable the uranium is, the greater the amount of heat that can be produced …show more content…
Modern reactors use “control rods, physical rods made of some neutron-absorbing material that can be inserted amongst the fuel rods, absorbing enough neutrons to halt the process” stated by Mikhail Chudakov. Halting or slowing the process is crucial to cooling the reactors down and avoiding a meltdown. Halting the process is not a certain method as decay heat can still occur. Decay heat, as Mikhail Chudakov describes, “ is heat that is released even after the chain reaction has ceased” and the heat “comes from the continued breakdown of unstable atoms produced in the reaction.” The heat produced by a decay heat or overheating is hot enough to melt through the reactor vessels even causing explosions. Without the use of cooling loops in the system to cool the reaction, the reaction will react either overheating or decay heat. To avoid this problem, a new generation of reactors were created to maintain
The neutrons, according to Mikhail Chudakov, an editor for Harvard College Review of Environment and Society states, “can strike nearby uranium atoms and cause them to split as well, leading to a chain reaction that continues to release heat along with the neutrons that sustain it.” Uranium is packed tightly in the cell so it can start on its own because of its low rate of splitting. Most nuclear cells that are used in reactors, use U-238. U-238 is a stable form of uranium and is safe, but U-235, when used in fission, can split more easily but is more unstable. The more unstable the uranium is, the greater the amount of heat that can be produced …show more content…
Modern reactors use “control rods, physical rods made of some neutron-absorbing material that can be inserted amongst the fuel rods, absorbing enough neutrons to halt the process” stated by Mikhail Chudakov. Halting or slowing the process is crucial to cooling the reactors down and avoiding a meltdown. Halting the process is not a certain method as decay heat can still occur. Decay heat, as Mikhail Chudakov describes, “ is heat that is released even after the chain reaction has ceased” and the heat “comes from the continued breakdown of unstable atoms produced in the reaction.” The heat produced by a decay heat or overheating is hot enough to melt through the reactor vessels even causing explosions. Without the use of cooling loops in the system to cool the reaction, the reaction will react either overheating or decay heat. To avoid this problem, a new generation of reactors were created to maintain