Should the UK build more Nuclear Power Stations?

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Should the UK build more Nuclear Power Stations?

Contents Page

Introduction                                                                        Page1

Background Information:                                                        Page2

  • Fuels used in a Nuclear reactor                                        Page2
  • Nuclear Fission                                                                 Page2-3
  • Nuclear Waste                                                                 Page3-4
  • Building, Maintaining and Decommissioning a Nuclear Power Plant                                                                                Page4-5

A “brief” summary of the argument for and against nuclear power stations being built in the UK                                                Page5-7

Conclusion                                                                        Page7-8

Bibliography                                                                        Page8-9

Introduction

In this case study I am going to try to figure out if the UK should build more nuclear power stations to keep up with rising demand for electricity because this is a subject close to me as I will have to be an adult in a world where fossil fuels are running out and my generation will have to find other, hopefully renewable sources of energy to continue our way of life, even if it is wasteful.

 To do this I must research other possible energy sources and the impact of using each singularly, or together, then I will see if the source is compatible with the UK, as there may not be sufficient land or the material and building costs may be too high. I will do this by reviewing websites such as the BBC and see if the source is reliable, I will do this by checking if they are a well known scientific group or publisher, I will also use my own knowledge and books such as the GCSE Science Higher text book.  I will have to research the costs for building, maintenance and decommission, I will also have to research the dangers and the possible environmental impact in using nuclear power.

Background Information

 Nuclear power plants provide about 17% of the world’s electricity, some countries depend more on nuclear power for electricity than others. In France, for instance, about 75% of the electricity is generated from nuclear power, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. In the US however, nuclear power supplies about 15% of the electricity overall, but it is not evenly distributed between states.  

While in the UK, 23% of energy generated is nuclear, with gas at 38%, coal at 32%, oil & others at 4% with only 3% of the UK’s energy generation is coming from renewable sources.

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Fuels used in a Nuclear reactor.

Uranium is a fairly common element on Earth, which was incorporated into the planet during its formation. Uranium is originally formed in stars. Old stars exploded and the dust from these shattered stars began to form together to eventually form our planet. Uranium-238(U-238) has an extremely long half-life of 4.5 billion years, and is therefore still present in large quantities. U-238 makes up 99% of the uranium on the planet. U-235 makes up about 0.7% of the remaining uranium found naturally, whereas U-234 is even rarer and is formed from the decay for U-238.1

Uranium-235 has an interesting property that makes it useful for both the production of nuclear power and the production for nuclear bombs. U-235 decays naturally, just like U-238, by alpha radiation. U-235 undergoes spontaneous fission a small percentage of the time; however, U-235 is one of the few materials that can undergo induced fission. If a free neutron runs into a U-235 nucleus, the nucleus will absorb the neutron without hesitation which causes it to become unstable and split immediately.1

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 Nuclear Fission

As soon as the U-235 nucleus captures a neutron, it splits into two lighter atoms and throws off two or three new neutrons. The two new atoms emit gamma radiation as they settle into their new states. Three things about this induced fission process that make is especially interesting. The probability of a U-235 atom capturing a neutron as it passes by is fairly high. In a reactor working properly, one neutron ejected from each fission causes another to occur. This process of capturing said neutron and splitting happens extremely quickly and an incredible amount of energy is ...

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