Manual extract

NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS

Nuclear power stations contain reactors which are used to produce power through controlled
nuclear fission.
How a nuclear power station works can be illustrated as follows [a diagram also accompanies the
text]: energy produced by fission, which is released in the form of heat, passes from the reactor to a
cooling fluid. Here it is transformed into steam to feed a turbine, which works a generator which in
turn produces electric power. The working mechanism of a nuclear power station is therefore very
simple, but the risks involved in using nuclear fuels require that it function in conditions of
maximum security.
Unfortunately, 100% safe nuclear power stations do not exist and for this very reason the use of
nuclear energy has given rise in the past and is still giving rise to a great deal of controversy.
Nuclear power stations are indeed better equipped than any other to satisfy the ever-growing
demand for energy and enable us to save other resources which are nearer to being worked out, like
oil, but at the same time they can cause immeasurable damage.