Nuclear Energy
9th and 10th Grade Informational Reading Texts
Nuclear changes occur with a simultaneous release of energy. Where does this energy come from? If we could precisely measure the masses of the reactants and products of a nuclear reaction, we would notice that the amount of mass drops slightly in the conversion from reactants to products.
According to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, energy (E) and mass (m) are related by the following equation: E = mc2, where c is the speed of light, or 3.00 × 108 m/s. In the course of the chemical reaction for uranium, the mass difference is converted to energy, which is given off by the reaction:
E = (−0.0001834 kg) (3.00 × 108 m/s) 2 = −1.65 × 1013 J = −1.65 × 1010 kJ
(For the units to work out, mass must be expressed in units of kilograms.) That is, 16.5 billion kJ of energy is given off every time 1 mol of uranium-235 undergoes this nuclear reaction. This is an extraordinary amount of energy. Compare it to combustion reactions of hydrocarbons, which give off about 650 kJ/mol of energy for every CH2 unit in the hydrocarbon-on the order of hundreds of kilojoules per mole. Nuclear reactions give off billions of kilojoules per mole.
If this energy could be properly harvested, it would be a significant source of energy for our society. Nuclear energy involves the controlled harvesting of energy from fission reactions. The reaction can be controlled because the fission of uranium-235 (and a few other isotopes, such as plutonium-239) can be artificially initiated by injecting a neutron into a uranium nucleus. The overall nuclear equation, with energy included as a product, is then as follows:
235U + 1n → 139Ba + 94Kr + 31n + energy
Thus by the careful addition of extra neutrons into a sample of uranium, we can control the fission process and obtain energy that can be used for other purposes.
Artificial or induced radioactivity, in which neutrons are injected into a sample of matter that subsequently causes fission, was first demonstrated in 1934 by Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot, the daughter and son-in-law of Marie Curie.
A nuclear reactor is an apparatus designed to carefully control the progress of a nuclear reaction and extract the resulting energy for useful purposes. The energy from the controlled nuclear reaction converts water into high-pressure steam, which is used to run turbines that generate electricity. The two main components of the power plant are the nuclear reactor itself and the steam-driven turbine and electricity generator.
Although the fission of large nuclei can produce different products, on average the fission of uranium produces two more free neutrons than were present, to begin with. These neutrons can themselves stimulate other uranium nuclei to undergo fission, releasing yet more energy and even more neutrons, which can in turn induce even more uranium fission. A single neutron can thus begin a process that grows exponentially in a phenomenon called a chain reaction.
The first controlled chain reaction was achieved on December 2, 1942, in an experiment supervised by Enrico Fermi in a laboratory underneath the football stadium at the University of Chicago. Because energy is produced with each fission event, energy is also produced exponentially and in an uncontrolled fashion. The quick production of energy creates an explosion. This is the mechanism behind the atomic bomb.
Although fairly simple in theory, an atomic bomb is difficult to produce, in part because uranium-235, the isotope that undergoes fission, makes up only 0.7% of natural uranium; the rest is mostly uranium-238, which does not undergo fission. To make uranium useful for nuclear reactors, the uranium in uranium-235 must be enriched to about 3%. The enrichment of uranium is a laborious and costly series of physical and chemical separations. To be useful in an atomic bomb, uranium must be enriched to 70% or more. At lesser concentrations, the chain reaction cannot sustain itself, so no explosion is produced.
Fusion is another nuclear process that can be used to produce energy. In this process, smaller nuclei are combined to make larger nuclei, with an accompanying release of energy.
Fusion occurs in nature: The sun and other stars use fusion as their ultimate energy source. Fusion is also the basis of very destructive weapons that have been developed by several countries around the world. However, one current goal is to develop a source of controlled fusion for use as an energy source. The practical problem is that to perform a fusion, extremely high pressures and temperatures are necessary. Currently, the only known stable systems undergoing fusion are the interiors of stars. Currently, researchers are looking for safe, controlled ways for producing useful energy using fusion.
According to Albert Einstein's theory of relativity, energy (E) and mass (m) are related by the following equation: E = mc2, where c is the speed of light, or 3.00 × 108 m/s. In the course of the chemical reaction for uranium, the mass difference is converted to energy, which is given off by the reaction:
E = (−0.0001834 kg) (3.00 × 108 m/s) 2 = −1.65 × 1013 J = −1.65 × 1010 kJ
(For the units to work out, mass must be expressed in units of kilograms.) That is, 16.5 billion kJ of energy is given off every time 1 mol of uranium-235 undergoes this nuclear reaction. This is an extraordinary amount of energy. Compare it to combustion reactions of hydrocarbons, which give off about 650 kJ/mol of energy for every CH2 unit in the hydrocarbon-on the order of hundreds of kilojoules per mole. Nuclear reactions give off billions of kilojoules per mole.
If this energy could be properly harvested, it would be a significant source of energy for our society. Nuclear energy involves the controlled harvesting of energy from fission reactions. The reaction can be controlled because the fission of uranium-235 (and a few other isotopes, such as plutonium-239) can be artificially initiated by injecting a neutron into a uranium nucleus. The overall nuclear equation, with energy included as a product, is then as follows:
235U + 1n → 139Ba + 94Kr + 31n + energy
Thus by the careful addition of extra neutrons into a sample of uranium, we can control the fission process and obtain energy that can be used for other purposes.
Artificial or induced radioactivity, in which neutrons are injected into a sample of matter that subsequently causes fission, was first demonstrated in 1934 by Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot, the daughter and son-in-law of Marie Curie.
A nuclear reactor is an apparatus designed to carefully control the progress of a nuclear reaction and extract the resulting energy for useful purposes. The energy from the controlled nuclear reaction converts water into high-pressure steam, which is used to run turbines that generate electricity. The two main components of the power plant are the nuclear reactor itself and the steam-driven turbine and electricity generator.
Although the fission of large nuclei can produce different products, on average the fission of uranium produces two more free neutrons than were present, to begin with. These neutrons can themselves stimulate other uranium nuclei to undergo fission, releasing yet more energy and even more neutrons, which can in turn induce even more uranium fission. A single neutron can thus begin a process that grows exponentially in a phenomenon called a chain reaction.
The first controlled chain reaction was achieved on December 2, 1942, in an experiment supervised by Enrico Fermi in a laboratory underneath the football stadium at the University of Chicago. Because energy is produced with each fission event, energy is also produced exponentially and in an uncontrolled fashion. The quick production of energy creates an explosion. This is the mechanism behind the atomic bomb.
Although fairly simple in theory, an atomic bomb is difficult to produce, in part because uranium-235, the isotope that undergoes fission, makes up only 0.7% of natural uranium; the rest is mostly uranium-238, which does not undergo fission. To make uranium useful for nuclear reactors, the uranium in uranium-235 must be enriched to about 3%. The enrichment of uranium is a laborious and costly series of physical and chemical separations. To be useful in an atomic bomb, uranium must be enriched to 70% or more. At lesser concentrations, the chain reaction cannot sustain itself, so no explosion is produced.
Fusion is another nuclear process that can be used to produce energy. In this process, smaller nuclei are combined to make larger nuclei, with an accompanying release of energy.
Fusion occurs in nature: The sun and other stars use fusion as their ultimate energy source. Fusion is also the basis of very destructive weapons that have been developed by several countries around the world. However, one current goal is to develop a source of controlled fusion for use as an energy source. The practical problem is that to perform a fusion, extremely high pressures and temperatures are necessary. Currently, the only known stable systems undergoing fusion are the interiors of stars. Currently, researchers are looking for safe, controlled ways for producing useful energy using fusion.