Average nuclear power plant producing 2000 MW takes up a square mile of space
Very powerful, energy wise
Reliable
Produce their maximum power output 93% of the time
Very stable
Produces no greenhouse gases
Cons
Closely connected to nuclear weapon technology production/proliferation
Dangerous to society
Nuclear waste
Extremely poisonous products
Takes 10s of 1000s of years to stop being radioactive/poisonous
Possibility of nuclear accidents
Uncontrolled nuclear chain reactions
Neutrons from fission reaction create another fission reaction
Causes excess of energy in the form of heat
Sometimes the heat is too much for the reactor to handle
It melts, and radioactive waste is expelled
Expensive to set up
Uranium is expensive
Nuclear Power Station Components
Fuel rods: long, thin rods containing pellets of enriched uranium
Moderator: material that slows down neutrons
Graphite, water, heavy water, carbon dioxide
Heavy water is the best but is too expensive
Water with dueterium, (Hydrogen-2) an isotope of hydrogen
Graphite and carbon dioxide contain carbon which is denser than hydrogen
Ensures that neutron capture occurs
When the neutrons collide with small nuclei, they lose most of their kinetic energy
Control rods: material that absorbs neutrons
Boron steel or cadmium
Ensures energy release is controlled and stable, due to them controlling the amount of neutrons for fission
Coolant: liquid to absorb heat energy that has been produced by nuclear fission, goes to cooling tower to cool down
e.g. water
Radiation shield: thick concrete wall that prevents neutrons/radiation/radioactive waste escaping from the reactor
Uses of Radiation
Medical Tracers
Radioactive substance injected into the body
Usually iodine, as it is absorbed by the thyroid gland
They measure the gamma radiation emitted to track pathways or image the body
Gamma is used as it is very penetrative (easier to measure from surface), and is less deadly in equal amounts (from the inside) than alpha and beta
Industrial Tracers
Radioactive substance used in factories/industrial use
Much the same concept as a medical tracer
Injected into the system
Finds leaks in systems, or tracks certain chemicals
You can use a radioactive tracer if any escapes
X-Rays
Electromagnetic waves are directed at the area of concern
A material is placed behind the area
The x-ray penetrates your body and into the area
They image the shadows in the area to find out what’s wrong
The bones absorb the x-ray, making this very useful, as we can see shadows, of the bone, or we can observe the brighter sections to view the muscles
Radiometric/Carbon Dating
Radioactive dating uses the known half-life of an isotope and its composition to determine the age of a specimen
The most common is carbon dating, but that’s only good for 40-50000 years
When an archeological specimen is created in its time, it will mostly be carbon 14, but will slowly, over thousands of years, decay into nitrogen 14
By measuring how much nitrogen/carbon 14 is present, we can very accurately determine the age of the specimen by comparing it to the carbon-12 levels of living things
Carbon has a half life of 5730 years
Since it’s only good for 40-50000 years, it’s good for measuring the age of human artefacts and similar things, but useless for determining things in the millions, e.g. dinosaur fossils, ancient rock formations
For this, we use the decay of uranium into lead, which takes around 4.5 billion years
By measuring how much lead is present, we can also determine the age of this specimen
