What is nuclear energy and what is nuclear power?

Answer 1

A Nuclear Power Station is facility for producing electricity using Nuclear Power.

It uses the principle of "Nuclear Fission" of the radioactive element Like Uranium, plutonium etc by bombardment of "Neutron" on them. Nuclear fission disintegrates the nucleus of a radioactive atom in to two parts, with release of huge amount of heat energy. This energy is used to produce steam & thus power / electricity by turbine principle.

Answer 2

The same difference as between energy and power. Power = energy / time.

Answer 3

Nuclear energy is the binding energy (Strong Atomic Force) that holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of the atom. By the processes of fission (splitting one atom into two) or fusion (combining two atoms into one) we create a loss of binding energy that is, for the most part, released as heat - lots of heat - and we can harness that (in the case of fission) to make steam and turn turbines to generate electricity.

In the case of fusion, we don't yet have a viable way to harness fusion in a controlled manner. Right now, the only known use of fusion is in an uncontrolled reaction inside a hydrogen bomb and, of course, the controlled reaction in the core of the Sun.

Answer 4

The term nuclear energy is a vague one. The most common meaning is when 2 pieces of decaying radioactive material are put in close proximity to each other causing fission (the cascading effect of ejected particles to collide with other atoms).

Answer 5

When people use the terms nuclear energy and nuclear power, the usually mean the same thing.

But, really they are not the same thing.

Power and energy are different. Power is the rate at which energy flows. That is a little different but not so much that it matters in daily conversation.

Nuclear energy is a type of energy, just like chemical energy and solar energy and kinetic energy. You can say you have a certain quantity of nuclear energy just as you can say that a liter of gasoline is a certain quantity of chemical energy.

Power is the rate it is used or produced, so it is like discussing the rate that a car uses gasoline.

Answer 6

Nuclear energy is released as the kinetic energy of nuclear fragments, high energy particles and gamma rays. These fragments, particles and gamma rays hit the atoms which make up the structure of the reactor, and loose their energy. There are many, many individual interactions which can occur, but ultimately, that lost energy ends up as heat within the reactor.

The hot reactor then takes the place of a boiler. In a typical installation, a closed loop of water under high pressure is circulated through the reactor and heated, well above the boiling point of water under normal pressure. The super-hot water is then circulated through a heat exchanger, where it boils water under a lower (but still high) pressure to produce high pressure steam. The steam is then directed through a turbine which is connected to a generator.

The spent stem might then be directed to a cooling tower, condensed back into liquid water, and then circulated back through the heat exchanger and turbines.

The only difference between a nuclear power plant and coal power plant is the replacement of the coal-fired boiler with a nuclear reactor. In a geothermal power plant, the boiler is replaced by the heat of the deep Earth. In a concentrated solar power plant, the boiler is replaced by the concentrated rays of the Sun.

Answer 7

Electric energy, in the US about 20 percent of total

Answer 8

Briefly, the nuclear energy creates heat, the heat is used to boil water and create super heated steam, the steam is used to drive turbines which in turn make electricity.

Answer 9

Chances are very high that much of the electrical energy that you get from the

outlet in the wall when you plug the toaster into it began as nuclear energy.