NUCLEAR

ENERGY
Prepared by:

Prof. Bernie B. Domingo

Chemistry Instructor
INTRODUCTION
Nuclear chemistry is the study of reactions involving changes in atomic
nuclei. This branch of chemistry began with the discovery of natural
radioactivity by Antoine Becquerel and grew as a result of subsequent
investigations by Pierre and Marie Curie and many others. Nuclear
chemistry is very much in the news today. In addition to applications in
the manufacture of atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs, and neutron
bombs, even the peaceful use of nuclear energy has become
controversial, in part because of safety concerns about nuclear power
plants and also because of problems with radioactive waste disposal. In
this chapter, we will study nuclear reactions, the stability of the atomic
nucleus, radioactivity, and the effects of radiation on biological
systems.
WHAT ARE THREE BENEFITS OF NUCLEAR
ENERGY?
Advantages of nuclear power. The generation of
electricity through nuclear energy reduces the
amount of energy generated from fossil fuels (coal
and oil). Less use of fossil fuels means lowering
greenhouse gas emissions (CO2 and others).Oct 15,
2014
WHAT ARE 2 ADVANTAGES OF NUCLEAR
ENERGY?
Advantages of nuclear power generation: Nuclear power
generation does emit relatively low amounts of carbon
dioxide (CO2).

The emissions of green house gases and therefore the

contribution of nuclear power plants to global warming is
therefore relatively little.
WHAT ARE THE GOOD THINGS ABOUT
NUCLEAR ENERGY?
1 in 5 households and businesses in the U.S. receive
their electricity from nuclear energy. Nuclear power
facilities can produce energy at a 91% efficiency rate
24/7, with virtually zero carbon emissions. 13% of the
world's electricity comes fromnuclear power plants that
emit little to no greenhouse gases.
WHAT ARE THE PROS OF NUCLEAR
ENERGY?
Pros of Nuclear Energy
Low Pollution: Nuclear power also has a lot fewer
greenhouse emissions. ...
Low Operating Costs: Nuclear power produces
very inexpensive electricity. ...
Reliability: It is estimated that with the current rate
of consumption of uranium, we have enough
uranium for another 70-80 years.
WHAT ARE 3 DISADVANTAGES OF NUCLEAR
ENERGY?
Disadvantages.
Like fossil fuels, nuclear fuels are non- renewable
energy resources.
If there is an accident, large amounts of radioactive
material could be released into the environment.
In addition, nuclear waste remains radioactive and is
hazardous to health for thousands of years.
WHY IS NUCLEAR ENERGY BETTER THAN FOSSIL
FUELS?

The main benefits of nuclear power are that is it more

efficient than burning fossil fuels as the amount of
energy released from uranium per gram is much more
than that of fuels such as oil or coal; approximately
8,000 times more efficient in fact.
IS NUCLEAR ENERGY
CHEAP?
Nuclear power plants are expensive to build but
relatively cheap to run. In many places, nuclear
energy is competitive with fossil fuels as a means of
electricity generation. Waste disposal and
decommissioning costs are usually fully included in
the operating costs.
WHY SHOULD WE USE NUCLEAR
ENERGY?
We should use nuclear power instead of other
sources of energy because it can produce high levels
of electricity without causing damage to our
environment and atmosphere.
Nuclear power plants produce less pollution than many
of our other current energy sources, including coal fire
and natural gas plants.
WHAT IS NUCLEAR ENERGY USED
FOR?
Nuclear energy can be used to create electricity,
but it must first be released from the atom. In
nuclear fission, atoms are split to release the
energy.
A nuclear reactor, or power plant, is a series of
machines that can control nuclear fission to
produce electricity.
SUMMARY: HOW NUCLEAR ENERGY
WORKS
Sa
m
pl
e Pr
ob
lem
Beta-particle emission leads to an increase in the
number of protons in the nucleus and a
simultaneous decrease in the number of neutrons.
Some examples are :

Electron capture is the capture of an

electron—usually a 1s electron—by the nucleus. The
captured electron combines with a proton to form a
neutron so that the atomic number decreases by one
while the mass number remains the same. This
process has the same net effect as positron emission:
which is larger than 18.9984 amu (the measured mass of 19 9F) by 0.1587
amu.
The difference between the mass of an atom and the sum of the masses of its
protons, neutrons, and electrons is called the mass defect. Relativity theory
tells us that the loss in mass shows up as energy (heat) given off to the
surroundings. Thus, the formation of 199F is exothermic. Einstein’s mass
energy equivalence relationshipstates that
NUCLEAR
FISSION
Nuclear fission is the process
of splitting a nucleus into two
nuclei with smaller masses.
Fission means “to divide”
Remember that fission has 2
s’s, therefore it splits into TWO
parts.
FISSION
CONT.
Only large nuclei with atomic
numbers above 90 can
undergo fission.
Products of fission reaction
usually include two or three
individual neutrons, the total
mass of the product is
somewhat less than the mass
of Uranium-235.
CHAIN
REACTION

A chain reaction is an ongoing

series of fission reactions.
Billions of reactions occur each
second in a chain reaction.
CHAIN REACTION
CONT.

On earth, nuclear fission

reactions take place in nuclear
reactors, which use controlled
chain reactions to generate
electricity.
CHAIN REACTION
CONT.

Uncontrolled chain reactions

take place during the explosion
of an atomic bomb.
FISSION
PRODUCTS
The products of nuclear fission
reactions are radioactive, but the
energy released from these
reactions is less harmful to the
environment than the use of fossil
fuels.
The products are intensely
radioactive and must be treated
and/or stored.
NUCLEAR
FUSION
Nuclear fusion is the combining
of two nuclei with low masses
to form one nucleus of larger
mass.
Nuclear fusion reactions are
also called thermonuclear
reactions.
NUCLEAR FUSION
CONT.
Fusion reactions exist in stars.
Our sun is a good example of a
thermonuclear (fusion) reaction.
It is almost impossible to create fusion
reactions on earth since they need
temperatures above one million
degrees Celsius in order to take
place.
NUCLEAR FUSION
CONT.

Nuclear fusion produces less

nuclear waste than nuclear
fission and the materials are
easier to obtain.
 POST
TEST
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Practice Exercises
 THANK
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