Nuclear Energy

To calculate the kWh produced by a 12 MW power plant in 24 hours, you would multiply the power output in MW by the number of hours and convert it to kWh. In this case, 12 MW x 24 hours = 288 MWh, which is equivalent to 288,000 kWh.

Yes, radium is a radioactive element that can emit radiation and is used in some types of nuclear reactions to produce energy. It is not commonly used in nuclear power plants but has been used historically in early experiments to explore nuclear reactions.

Thorium has potential as a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to uranium in nuclear energy production. It has lower waste production and reduced risk of proliferation. However, it is not a complete solution to climate change and should be considered as part of a broader mix of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures.

The radiation from a properly functioning nuclear power reactor is heavily shielded and cannot be approached close enough to be fatal.

Radiation from damaged or malfunctioning nuclear power plants can be, and has been, fatal. The nuclear reactor incident at Chernobyl is one example. Nuclear reactor failures aboard ships and submarines also prove fatal but are often hidden behind national security; submarine K-19 'the widowmaker' was one such example.

And of course, if one were to get into the reactor room past all of the shielding, any reactor would be fatal.

After 50 years, approximately 50% of tritium will remain undecayed in a sample. Tritium has a half-life of about 12.3 years, which means that the amount of undecayed tritium decreases by half every 12.3 years.

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-- toasting bread

-- cooking on an electric stove

-- reading the newspaper under a lamp

-- radio, TV, GPS, cellphones, mobile data, and satellite communication, using radio waves

-- making a set of dental X-ray films

-- opening the garage door in the rain without getting out of the car

-- getting a CT or MRI scan

-- working ham radio

-- sending stock market info from Chicago to New York through fiber optics

-- the Mayor of Gotham flashing the bat-signal across the sky

-- paying your highway toll by driving under those white things while not slowing down

-- street lights

-- police speed radar

-- the little laser that reads the underside of the DVD

-- the little LED that shines onto the pad from the underside of the mouse

-- the wireless WiFi connection between your computer and the modem in the kitchen

-- changing the channel with the hand-held remote control without getting up off the couch

-- heating the leftover meatloaf in the microwave oven in 30 seconds.

In nuclear fusion, elements are created by combining two lighter atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus. This process releases a large amount of energy. Elements found in nuclear fusion reactions typically include hydrogen isotopes like deuterium and tritium.

Note that "electricity" doesn't flow, only current does, which is one aspect of electricity. And current is the flow of electrons.

The current created at power plant travels for many miles over long wires called transmission lines. These transmission lines are held up, away from the ground, by giant wood or metal transmission towers through these it reaches houses.

Roll up your sleeves if you really expect to gain an overview of this broad and stunningly under published topic. We live our lives in a world that is many times more radioactive than it ever was naturally. The sources of nuclear pollution (uncontrolled radioactive material) were initially confined to bomb tests, but with the advancement of our understanding of the things we can do with radionuclides, we began to produce them by the tonne. Production means contaminated waste. What a headache.

Reactor accidents have contributed to increased background radiation. Big time. How many square miles of land do we just have to walk away from never to return before we get it? The monuments to our foolishness stand for all (or no one) to see: the apartment buildings, stores and shops as well as the houses of whole communities sitting empty. The parks and playgrounds desolate. And all of it contaminated.

But there are small accidents that occur regularly where a nuclear excursion (such a polite term) results in the release of some radioactivity as well as injury or death. What many are unaware of is the number of shipments of radioactive materials that occur by common carrier every day. This huge shipping slate means accidents can occur (have occurred) that result(ed) in the release of small quantities of radioactive elements. And that doesn't include the large sources that get loose around the countryside here.

In the breakdown of the USSR, many tonnes of nuclear materials went missing. Some frightening portions were weapons grade fissionable material. But there are many sources (source: a bulk quantity of radioactive material that was produced to act as a portable generator for radiation energy) that got away. Highly radioactive materials are unknowingly being stripped and recycled as scrap. Over there, and even over here, too.

We need to get up to speed on this stuff. All of it. And we need to spool up quick. There are two serious problems with radiation: it's seriously dangerous (and for a long time in many cases), and it's invisible. The latter makes it easier to ignore. Working around the stuff can get you dead in seconds. And you may not even know it until after the fact. Dramatic, but true.

Radiation due to uncontrolled radioactive waste and other unconfined radioactive material is a growing threat. It quietly adds its contribution to cancers and the genetic damage we as a people suffer from. Radiation is all around us. It sits in dim corners. It flows in our waters. It rides the currents of air all over the globe. It does so unfelt. Unheard. Unseen. And we sleep very well at night without thinking about it.

The energy released by burning one kg of fuel can vary depending on the type of fuel. For example, burning one kg of gasoline releases approximately 43 MJ of energy, while burning one kg of natural gas releases around 50 MJ of energy.

When the atom of an element is split you obtain two atoms of a different element. If the combined weight of the two new atoms have a total mass (weight) less than the mass (weight) of the original atom, the difference in mass must be converted to energy by the equation E = m x C x C where E is energy, M is the mass and C is the speed of light. The speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second = 186,000 miles per second... a very large number.

Marie Curie's contribution to nuclear energy was primarily in the area of research on radioactivity. She discovered the elements polonium and radium, which are highly radioactive. Her work laid the foundation for later research in nuclear physics and the development of nuclear energy.

A nuclear reactor requires the neutrons released from one reaction to trigger the fission of other nuclei. Control rods are required to absorb some of these neutrons so as to prevent a runaway chain reaction.

This means that the nuclear material is of a high enough concentration to fissile (allow for a fission chain reaction). This is because Uranium comes naturally as 99.3% U238, which cannot sustain fission, and .7% U235, which is what they want for the fuel. So they have to find away to pull away the U238 and leave the U235. As they concentrate the U235, it becomes concentrated enough so that it can sustain fission (too much U238 bogs down the reaction and will eventually end the fission). When it reaches this point of concentration, it is concidered reactor grade. Different elements have different needed concentrations to reach this level.

The military uses depleted uranium primarily for armor-piercing ammunition and armor plating for vehicles due to its high density and ability to penetrate armor. It is also used in some military vehicles for counterweights and ballast.

A reactor in a welder is used to control the voltage and current output of the welding machine. It helps regulate the amount of electricity flowing through the welding circuit, which is essential for producing consistent and high-quality welds.

In the liquid drop model, excitation energy in a nucleus gives rides to modes of motion or oscillations. On a potential energy surface, the saddle point corresponds to the critical deformation of unstable equilibrium in the nucleus.

The energy source you mean must be coal, but you seem to have two questions mixed together

To build a homemade chain reaction, first, gather materials like dominos, marbles, popsicle sticks, and other small items. Create a series of connected elements where the action of one item triggers the next in a chain. Experiment with different setups and designs to see how they interact and cause a chain reaction. Remember to have fun and be creative in building your homemade chain reaction!

Depending on:

- the type of the nuclear reactor

- the electrical power of the nuclear reactor

- the type of the nuclear fuel

- the enrichment of uranium

- the estimated burnup of the nuclear fuel

etc.

This is going to be a big number! Each fission releases 200 MeV, and 1 MeV = 1.6 X 10-13 Joules, so 1 fission = 3.2 x 10-11 Joules. Now if the thermal power produced by the reactor is 3000 MW (corresponding to an electrical output of 1000 MW) this means 3000 x 106 Joules per second, or 3 x 109 Joules /sec. So the number of fissions/sec in the reactor is 3 x 109 divided by 3.2 x 10-11 , so if we call 3/3.2 = unity, for simplicity, the number of fissions per second is 1020. I said it would be big!

Reactor physicists use a number called the neutron flux to describe the intensity of the nuclear fission process, this is the number of neutrons crossing an area of 1 sq cm per second. This number helps to define the fuel rating and effects on reactor components in the active core. Obviously the total number of fissions occurring in the reactor overall per second depends on this and the size of the reactor.

If you touch radioactive material, you may suffer from radiation exposure, which can lead to skin burns, radiation sickness, and an increased risk of developing cancer. It is important to seek medical attention immediately and follow proper decontamination procedures to minimize the health risks.

A fission fragment is a term we apply to the "pieces" of an atomic nucleus that appear when a heavy radionuclide fissions. We'd better look a bit more closely to see what's up.

We know that at the extreme upper end of the periodic table appear some really heavy elements. We also know that these heavy elements, regardless of which isotope, are all unstable. That means they will eventually decay by some method. One of the decay schemes that a few radionuclides undergo is called spontaneous fission. Spontaneous fission (which is covered in a separate question) is the natural "splitting" of an atomic nucleus approximately in two. This fission will result in the appearance of two ligher nuclei (along with one or more neutrons). It is the two atomic nuclei that appear as a result of the fission process that we call fission fragments.