When we talk about nuclear energy, we immediately relate it to the production of electricity and several historical events, such as atomic pumps launches on August 6, 1945 about Hiroshima and on August 9, 1945 on Nagasaki, the nuclear accident in Chernóbil on September 9, 1982 and, as a more recent nuclear disaster, the accident caused by the earthquake and tsunami in the nuclear power plant in Fukushima March 11, 2011. Nuclear energy is relatively young, since it began to use not long ago. The first nuclear bomb that was created was by the US during World War II and it was from then on when this type of nuclear energy in the civil world began to be used, after checking its potential. From this moment on, the first nuclear plants began to develop in order to use nuclear energy to generate electricity.
At present, France is the leading country in nuclear energy production, followed by the US, Sweden and Russia. Most of the nuclear energy is generated through nuclear fission in nuclear reactors to generate electricity and taking advantage of the heat generated by fission. If you are interested in knowing the uses and the way in which this energy is obtained, it continues to read this interesting ecology article about 10 examples of nuclear energy and its uses.
What is nuclear energy and how it occurs
Nuclear energy is one that It is obtained from atoms in a plant nuclearspecifically The energy inside its nucleus. An atom is the smallest or minimum unit of an element, its nucleus is made up of neutrons and protons and in its orbit it has various electrons, the amount of electrons depends on the type of chemical element in question.
What are the types of nuclear energy? The types of nuclear energy that exist are two. To release this energy inside the atoms, fission or nuclear fusion must be produced in a controlled environment in a nuclear plant, it is not possible to release this energy chemically.
Nuclear fission
Nuclear fission releases the energy inside the atoms through fragmentation. To produce this division, the atomic nucleus is bombarded by neutrons to make it more unstable and decomponing in two nuclei with the same mass.
Nulcear fusion
The nuclear fusion releases the energy after the union of two atomic nuclei that fuse after colliding at very high speeds to obtain a new atomic nucleus. The energy that is useful results from what part of the matter of the nuclei is transformed into photons.
As for Advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy We can say that the most relevant thing is that nuclear energy allows us to reduce the use of fossil fuels and therefore reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, also the amount of electrical energy that occurs since nuclear power plants are working all the time. As a disadvantage we have the great catastrophes mentioned at the beginning of the article that this type of energy in armed conflicts is used. You can delve into this topic with this other post about the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy.
The nuclear energyuses are diverse, the most common of them is the production of electricity, then different will be named Examples of nuclear energy and its applications:
- Electricity generation.
- Military applications and nuclear weapons.
- Nuclear medicine
- Pest control in food crops.
- Food conservation.
- Nuclear cars.
- Water purification.
- Space missions
- Archaeological findings.
- Nuclear mining.
Electricity generation
It is the best known and common use of nuclear energy, since Electricity It is a necessary resource in today’s society for its development. They are generated Large amounts of energy in an economic way from uranium atoms through nuclear fission.
You can learn more about this example of nuclear energy use knowing more about what is electrical energy and examples.
Nuclear weapons and other military applications
The industries dedicated to the manufacture of armaments are always the pioneers in new technologies, even in the field of nuclear energy. In this field two uses of nuclear energy stand out: propulsion and explosion.
On the one hand, Propulsion It is used as a source of heat and electricity, as an example we have the case of Military aircraftand, on the other hand, The explosion which causes a chain of nuclear reactions, as an example we can indicate the atomic bomb.
Nuclear medicine
In medicine, nuclear energy is used both for diagnostic tests, and Radiographsas to give treatments, such as radiotherapy Against cancer. More and more patients are around the world who have treated with nuclear energy, since it gives good results and quickly, although not without some side effects.
Application of nuclear energy to food: pests and conservation
This technique is based on the pest control through nuclear energy radiation That causes the sterilization of insects, it is a technique that has so much defenders, which ensure that it does not affect either food or the people who consume them, as detractors who are in favor of traditional methods of production and see several inconveniences in this application.
This nuclear energy technique will allow lengthen food life They deteriorate rapidly such as, for example, fruits or fish.
Nuclear cars
It is proposed to use the Nuclear energy for cars in order to limit contamination by carbon dioxide. One of the bets that are being developed is the creation of a pile that works with hydrogen that would be in charge of feeding the car for displacement.
Space missions
For these missions the chemical element from which energy is extracted is the Plutonium-238its energy is obtained through nuclear fission to generate heat or electricity that will be used in Space probes. This technique has already been used in Misiones in Saturn, Jupiter and Pluto. The last mission that this nuclear energy was used was on Mars.
Archaeological findings
In this activity the energy nuclear uses to Determine the age of archaeological findingsgeological or anthropological by means of a radioactive carbon test, Carbon 14. Carbon 14 has a radioactive isotope that allows to determine the years of any rest that has organic matter.
Nuclear mining
Mining is an activity that implies a strong impact on the environment, since to carry out it requires deforestation, loss of biodiversity, erosion, aquifer pollution and also requires a large amount of energy that is currently obtained from fossil fuels, specifically from diesel.
Therefore, various projects have been raised to obtain this energy from nuclear energy and, for this, they would be built small nuclear central near the place where the Mining activity.
Water purification
This application is very useful for countries that have large droughts and shortage of fresh or potable waterbut for the moment it does not apply easily. Thanks to the heat generated in the Nuclear reactors could be used for Marine water desalination in a quick and efficient way guaranteeing its potability and solving the big problem of drought that affects so many countries.
Now that you know various Examples of nuclear energy usesWe encourage you to learn more about this with this video about its advantages and disadvantages.
If you want to read more articles similar to Examples of nuclear energywe recommend that you enter our category of non -renewable energy.
