BIOL-103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Uranium-235, Plutonium-239, Uranium Oxide
3 Oct 2018
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Document Summary
Nuclear energy: energy contained within nucleus"s of atom > change in nucleus. > release of energy: not a fossil fuel, primarily used to generate electrcity and not anything else, globally currently: 372 billion watts of electricity (~6% of total energy use) Uranium 235: most widely used isotope, 1 kg = energy. Plutonium 239: different forms with different concentrations of material needed. Nuclear reactors: 10 different designs in use, 73% use light water, 27% use heavy water (candu reactors), candu = canadian deuterium uranium. Advantages: large supply, low environmental impact (without accidents), emits 1/6 as much co2 as coal, moderate land disruption and water pollution (without accidents), moderate land use, low risk of accidents because of multiple safety systems. Coal: ample supply, high net energy yield, very high air pollution, high co2 emissions, high land disruption from surface mining, high land use, low cost with huge subsidies.
