GEOG 410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Nuclear Fission, Pierre Curie

• School: UBC
• Department: Geography
• Course: GEOG 410
• Professor: K A R E N A B K K E R

Document Summary

This chapter explores uranium through the risk and hazards (chapter 6), political economy (chapter 7), and social construction of. Nuclear power and uranium mining were on the rise as the previous disasters at three mile island and. Then, in 2011, a tsunami shut down the generators protecting the. Fukushima daiichi nuclear plant and caused multiple core meltdowns. The resulting nuclear devastation near and far from the plant has led japan and other countries to back down from their nuclear power projects, cutting the renaissance short. Yet we continue to use it, in some cases justified on environmental grounds. A short history of uranium: uranium is the heaviest element, and one that has been around since the beginning of earth, the property of radioactivity is the most significant. Radioactive elements emit energy and particles until they become a different, lighter element. Over millions or billions of years, uranium becomes lead.