ATOMIC ENERGY/NUCLEAR

POWER

Atomic Energy/Nuclear Energy

Co-Initiated by
BS-Physicists:
Mansoor Ahmad
Wasim Rashid
Muhammad Osama Khan
Shahzada Muzamil Ahmad
Javid Iqbal
Mamtaz Ali
and
Salman Ryan

Outline
What is Atomic Energy?
How is Atomic Energy formed?
Overview of Pakistans Power Sector (PPS)
Pakistan Nuclear Power Reactors
History of Nuclear Power
Uranium Mining
Manhattan Project
Shippingpor Atomic Powers
Intl Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Nuclear Power Countries
Shippingpor Atomic Powers
Major Problem of Nuclear Energy

What is Atomic Energy?

Atomic energy is energy carried by

atoms. The term originated in 1903
when Ernest Rutherford began to speak
of the possibility of atomic energy.[1] The
term was popularized by H. G. Wells in
the phrase, "splitting the atom", devised
at a time prior to the discovery of the
nucleus. Atomic energy may include:

Atom Constituents

Nuclear binding energy, the energy required to split a

nucleus of an atom.
Nuclear potential energy, the potential energy of the
particles inside an atomic nucleus.
Nuclear reaction, a process in which nuclei or nuclear
particles interact, resulting in products different from the
initial ones; see also nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.
Radioactive decay, the set of various processes by which
unstable atomic nuclei (nuclides) emit subatomic particles.
The energy of inter-atomic or chemical bonds, which holds
atoms together in compounds.
Atomic energy is the source of Nuclear power, which uses
sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity.

Nuclear Energy can be produced

by two process:

1)Nuclear fission
2)Nuclear fusion

What is Nuclear
fission?
a nuclear reaction in which a heavy
nucleus splits spontaneously or on
impact with another particle, with the
release of energy.

What is Nuclear fusion?

a nuclear reaction in which atomic
nuclei of low atomic number fuse to form
a heavier nucleus with the release of
energy.

How Atomic Energy is formed?

"Nuclear power is derived

from energy that is released when
relatively large atoms are split in a
series of controlled nuclear reactions.
The resulting heat is used to boil water
which drives a steam turbine to generate
electricity. The process of splitting an
atom is known as nuclear fission

Pakistan Power Sector

Initially two vertically integrated utilities i.e. WAPDA and KESC, were responsible for
generation, transmission and distribution in their areas

UPTO 70s: Performance of KESC and WAPDA was very good

IN 80s: Some deterioration observed. Demand-Supply shortfall started
IN 90s:

Budget constraints lead the government to seek involvement of private sector

in power generation projects

1992: Govt. prepared strategic plan to reform Pakistan power sector

1993: Energy Task Force created, Power Policy 1994 formulated
1994: Creation of PPIB & preparation of National Power Plan by WAPDA
1997: Autonomous regulatory body NEPRA created, through an Act.
2001: WAPDA Vision 2025 prepared
2002: NEPRA issued a future plan for Pakistan Power Sector
2005: Medium Term Development Framework (MTDF) prepared

Nuclear Power Today

Provides almost 20% of worlds

electricity (8% in U.S.)
69% of U.S. non-carbon electricity
generation
More than 100 plants in U.S.
None built since the 1970s

200+ plants in the Europe

Leader is France
About 80% of its power from nuclear

Pakistan Nuclear Power Reactors

KANUPP-I Paradise Point, Karachi, Sindh
Province
KANUPP-II Paradise Point, Karachi,
Sindh Province
KANUPP-III Paradise Point, Karachi,
Sindh Province
Muzaffargarh Nuclear Power Complex
Muzaffargarh, Punjab

Synopsis

Pakistan is the 7th nuclear weapon state and

nuclear power.
As of 2009,the nuclear power plants make
up to 2.4% share the total generation, where
the electricity made by fossil fuel is 65.2%
and 33.9% of it is from the Hydro Power
At present ,Pakistan has two nuclear
reactors of 425 MW Power to generate
electricity .The third nuclear reactor has
operated in 2010.

Early History of Nuclear Power in

the U.S.

Initials to Atomic Energy

Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth

In 1902 Ernest Rutherford showed that radioactivity as a
spontaneous event emitting an alpha or beta particle from the
nucleus created a different element.
By 1911 Frederick Soddy discovered that naturally-radioactive
elements had a number of different isotopes (radionuclides), with
the same chemistry
In 1932 James Chadwick discovered the neutron. Also in 1932
Cockcroft and Walton produced nuclear transformations by
bombarding atoms with accelerated protons, then in 1934 Irene
Curie and Frederic Joliot found that some such transformations
created artificial radionuclides.
Fermi continued his experiments, mostly producing heavier
elements from his targets, but also, with uranium, some much
lighter ones.

Continued

These 1939 developments sparked activity in

many laboratories
Peierls had been a student of Werner Heisenberg,
who from April 1939 presided over the German
nuclear energy project under the German
Ordnance Office. Initially this was directed towards
military applications, but by 1942 the military
objective was abandoned as impractical. However,
the existence of the German Uranverein project
provided the main incentive for wartime
development of the atomic bomb by Britain and
the USA.

The First Atomic Bomb

The immense destructive power of atomic weapons derives from a
sudden release of energy produced by splitting the nuclei of the
fissile elements making up the bombs' core.
The U.S. developed two types of atomic bombs during the Second
World War. The first, Little Boy, was a gun-type weapon with a
uranium core. Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima. The second
weapon, dropped on Nagasaki, was called Fat Man and was an
implosion-type device with a plutonium core.

Origins

After World War II,

development of
civilian nuclear
program
Atlantic Energy Act
of 1946
1954: first
commercial nuclear
power program

The Vision

It is not too much to expect that our

children will enjoy in their homes
[nuclear generated] electrical energy too
cheap to meter.
Lewis Strauss, Chairman of the U.S.
Atomic Energy Commission (1954)

Manhattan Project

Secret government project to create atomic

weapons during World War II

After the war, the government encouraged the

development of nuclear energy for peaceful
civilian purposes.

This led to the technology used in nuclear plants

today

power was gradually increased until the first usable amount of

electricity was generated, lighting four light bulbs and
introducing nuclear generated power for the first time

In 1953, the EBR-1 was creating one new atom of nuclear fuel
for every atom burned, thus the reactor could sustain its own
operation

With this creation of new cores, enough energy was created to

fuel additional reactors

A few years later, the town of Arco, Idaho became the world's
first community to get its entire power supply from a nuclear
reactor

This was achieved by temporarily attaching the towns power

grid to the reactors turbines

Early Beginnings

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) established by

Congress in 1946 as part of the Atomic Energy Act

AEC authorized the construction of Experimental

Breeder Reactor I ( EBR-1) at a site in Idaho in 1949

in August of 1951, criticality (a controlled, selfsustained, chain reaction) was reached using
uranium

A football sized core was created and kept at low

power for four months until December 20, 1951

Atoms for Peace

Began in 1953 and was designed by Eisenhower specifically

to promote peaceful, commercial applications of atomic
energy after the Manhattan Project and atomic bombings on
Japan

Public support for nuclear energy grew, federal nuclear

energy programs shifted their focus to advancing reactor
technologies

With this came the support of utility companies, which saw

nuclear energy as a cheap and environmentally safe
alternative energy choice

Shippingport Atomic
Power Station

Department of Energy and the Duquesne Light Company broke

ground in Shippingport, Pennsylvania in 1954 for the first
commercial electric-generating station in the U.S. to use nuclear
energy

Opened on May 26, 1958, as part of Eisenhowers Atoms for

Peace program

Three years later, it began supplying electricity for the Pittsburgh

area

It was by far the worlds largest commercial nuclear power plant,

surpassing those already in place in the Soviet Union and Great
Britain

Uranium Mining
There are three main methods:

Underground mining

Open pit mining

In Situ Leaching (ISL)

Underground Mining
The Case of the Olympic Dam Mine

Olympic Dam mine is located in

South Australia

Most of the mines profit actually

comes from the copper that they
mine as well

Tunnels are dug into the earth,

where ore is extracted

The ore is crushed into a powder,

then soaked in a lake. The
impurities precipitate and the rest is
dried by heat.

Intl Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA)

Part of U.N.
Oversees global energy security, scientific

concerns

Origin
Eisenhowers Atoms for
Peace
Formed in 1957
Promote peaceful
nuclear use

IAEA Today
Forum for scientific cooperation
Institutes safety measures
Promotes non-proliferation
Featured prominently in recent news
Iraq inspections
Mohammed El Baradei
Head of IAEA
2005 Nobel Peace
Prize Winner

Nuclear Power Countries

Peaceful Uses Of Atomic Energy

Conventional energy sources of the country which

includes coal, gas and petroleum
For cutting the passages for the flow of water in
the rocky regions and large and huge rocks
Used to generate electricity, and has applications
in the fields of agriculture, medicine, research and
industry, too.
The food and agriculture industry is one sector
where atomic energy sees a high volume of use

Demerits of Atomic
Energy

Nuclear Accidents
Nuclear Radiation
High Cost
National Risk
Impact on Aquatic Life
Major Impact on Human Life
Fuel Availability
Non Renewable

Major Problems of Nuclear

Energy:

Cost
Safety
Proliferation
Waste Disposal

Cost

More expensive than coal and natural gas,

but could be made cheaper with carbon
credits

New nuclear plants could generate power

at $31-$46/MWh

It would take 3-4 new plants to absorb the

the early costs of these new plants

Safety

Public remains wary of nuclear power

due to Chernobyl and three mile
island accidents

Nuclear plants vulnerable to terrorist

attacks

Safer, more efficient, and more secure

plants planned for the future

The Future of Atomic

Energy

Half Death

Thank you
for
Being oriented and attending our
presentation