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What element is put into nuclear reactors?
In fission reactors (by far the most common type), uranium, plutonium and thorium can be used. In fusion reactors (much less common, most are simply prototypes still being tested), hydrogen (or the isotopes deuterium or tritium) or helium can be used.
How many nuclear reactors are located in Alaska?
There are zero nuclear reactors in Alaska. Alaska and Hawaii both contain zero nuclear reactors. The reason being for Alaska is their abundance of natural resources for gas and their low population density.
What type of plant uses uranium?
Nuclear power plants all use uranium to some degree. There are only two radioactive elements found on Earth in sufficient concentrations to mine that can be used for nuclear power. These are uranium and thorium. Thorium cycle power plants of various types are being researched and developed, but none are currently producing power for an electric grid. Uranium-233 is part of the thorium cycle, so uranium will be present in thorium cycle reactors, and its energy is used there. There are a number of nuclear plant designs that use plutonium, though they are not common. None is producing power in the United States. And even these also use uranium. In fact, the plutonium is produced from uranium.
What is keeping nuclear energy from being used?
Nothing, it is being widely used. 104 operating reactors in the US alone
Do nuclear reactors use lasers?
No, but experiments with lasers to produce nuclear fusionare being conducted, and this technique may be used sometime in the future in a fusion nuclear reactor.
What are the social aspects of the use of uranium?
Uranium is a very important material as nuclear fuel for nuclear reactors and for nuclear weapons.But being radioactive and toxic uranium pose environmental problems; today these are.largely avoidable.
Can nuclear fuel be used to enable turbines to generate a constant supply of electricity?
No the turbines are turned of while the reactors are being refuled.
Why can nuclear energy be characterised as renewable energy?
This is a mistake. Nuclear energy is non-renewable, because it uses up uranium which has been formed billions of years ago in some sort of cosmic explosion, and is no longer being made, at least in our solar system. Note that some people advocate using thorium to make fissile uranium, this is possible but then eventually you would use up all the thorium on earth so the same argument applies. Breeder reactors are another aspect of nuclear energy, these turn non fissile uranium into fissile plutonium, but the same argument about eventually running out of uranium applies.
How many nuclear reactors are there in a nuclear power plant?
There is no fixed number, but most nuclear stations have two reactors. These are usually run quite separately, with separate generating equipment, so that whilst one reactor is being refuelled the other can continue to produce power. Some stations have more than two reactors, but usually then they have been built over a long time period and the later ones may be of an improved design.
How long will nuclear energy be on earth?
nuclear power is going to be around for much longer, more fission reactors will be built to compensate in the increase in energy usage and more research is being done to make fusion energy which will replace fission reactors(this is quite a while yet before fusion reactors can be used to produce use usable energy for long periods of time).
Is thorium nonconchoidal?
Being a metal I suppose that thorium hasn't a conchoidal fracture.
Which countries may be devloping nuclear weapons today?
North Korea, Iran, and possibly Syria. North Korea has confirmed it has the capabilities to create nuclear weapons and has proven it. However, they have not perfected the technology behind delivering the missile effectively to anywhere outside the Korean Peninsula. Iran claims its current nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But the claim is practically ludicrous with the evidence behind the type of reactors being built, the fissile material being generated, and the statements it has made about Israel. Syria is another story because it has attempted to create nuclear reactors as well with evidence that it received help from North Korea. However, Israel destroyed the site before it could be operational.
