What is nuclear energy and how it works

Nuclear energy is that which is released when a Nuclear reaction (nuclear fission or nuclear fusion), this means, the one that occurs in the nucleus of an atom being able to happen artificially or spontaneously.

If you wonder What is nuclear energy forkeep in mind that this type of energy is very present in our lives since it uses to produce thermal, electrical and mechanical energy. In addition, it also has other uses in medicine, in agriculture for pest control, in arms manufacturing, in archeology, among other uses. If you want to see these and more examples of nuclear energy uses, here we offer you a summary.

Within nuclear energy, would you know how to say how many types of nuclear energy are there? Depending on the way in which it is produced there are two types:

• Nuclear fission: This is used to obtain atomic energy and consists of the rupture of an atomic nucleus to acquire other smaller ones. It is the most used since so far it is the one that has best managed to handle.
• Nuclear fusion: This process consists in the union of two or several atomic nuclei to produce energy, although today this option is not viable.

Let’s start with clarify What is the raw material of nuclear energy. This is obtained by the Uranium isotope fissionspecifically the U-235. This chemical element is the only one capable of causing the nuclear fission reaction, which could produce very radioactive and polluting waste such as plutonium.

Now you know where it comes from, but it is necessary to clarify How nuclear energy is obtained To know how it works or what is the process that is followed to achieve thermal, electrical and mechanical energy from it. From the U-235 uranium from which this energy is obtained, the process to achieve nuclear fission is as follows:

1. In the nuclear fission process, which is practically based on a collision, a neutron is triggered to hit the uranium atom core.
2. This will fragment in two or more elements with a lower atomic weight.
3. As a consequence there is a massive release of energy, in addition to the generation of new neutrons, thus initiating a neutron chain reaction that will continue to hit other atoms so that they are divided into smaller ones.

Nuclear energy occurs in nuclear and most common plants are those that work through pressure water reactors.

Nuclear energy enters into non -renewable energies since it is obtained thanks to uranium, specifically to U-235. But why is it not renewable? It is not renewable because uranium is a chemical compound that is extracted from nature and, although there are great reserves such as the one that can be found under sea water, it is not profitable to exploit them. So, you can only count on those reserves present on the earth’s surface, these are being exploited at a greater rate than their regeneration, therefore this means that uranium is not a renewable element and consequently nuclear energy either.

Here we tell you much more about doubt: is nuclear energy renewable?

Finally, then, the main advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy. We start with the advantages of nuclear energy:

• Among the characteristics of nuclear energy that we can see as an advantage we find that it is an energy considered as clean regarding the emission of polluting gases, since to generate it, gases are not emitted to the atmosphere.
• Producing nuclear energy has a very economical cost, being able to reduce energy costs.
• A nuclear power plant in general does not interrupt the production of its energy, practically the operation of these is constant, so large amounts of energy can occur.

Nuclear energy has not only advantages, which could perfectly contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, it presents some disadvantages that unfortunately have greater weight than the advantages. The disadvantages of nuclear energy are:

• Nuclear power plants generate very hazardous waste that takes thousands of years to decompose, in addition to being very polluting. Waste of a nuclear power plant can be mortal.
• Nuclear energy is part of non -renewable energies.
• When a nuclear power plant suffers an accident, the consequences they have for the environment are very serious, prolonging you are in time; They are also a danger to people’s health. Surely you know Chernobil or Fukushima accidents, and the consequences it had for both the population and the environment.

The disadvantages are not many, but they are too serious, therefore nuclear energy should be replaced by other safer types of energy for the population and the environment. If you want to discover more about this, we also recommend reading these other specific ecology articles on the advantages and disadvantages of nuclear energy and how nuclear energy affects the environment and the human being. In addition, below you can see a video summary about its advantages and disadvantages.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwc6puirzha

If you want to read more articles similar to What is nuclear energy and how it workswe recommend that you enter our category of non -renewable energy.