Ryan Mullin
George Ayoub
Reagan Hardy
Lexie Thompson
The Origin

In Chicago in 1942 scientists gathered in front of a clicking clocklike dial
the source of the humming was coming from a pile of metal bricks that
is now referred to by scientists as “the pile.”

Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaeroth, a German chemist.

The element was named after the planet Uranus.

Radiation was discovered by Wilhelm Rontgen in 1895 by passing
electric current through a glass tube producing x-rays.

In 1896 Henry Becquerel found that pitchblende, an ore containing
radium, and uranium which caused a photographic plate to darken.

In the same year (1896) Pierre and Marie Wrie gave the name
radioactivity to this nature.

In 1898, Samuel Prescott showed that radiation destroys bacteria in
food.

In 1902 Ernest Rutherford showed that radioactivity as an event for
emitting alpha or particles from the nuclei created a different element.
The Finding of Nuclear of
Energy
 Nuclear power can come from the
fission of uranium, platinum, or the fission
of hydrogen into helium.
 You can find nuclear energy in uranium
 Its also found in Kazakhastan in Canada
and Australia,
 Those are the 3 producers of uranium.
 Uranium can be found in uranium mines.
The use of Nuclear Power
 Generating homes
 Generating buildings
 Starting heating systems
 Generating stadiums
 Be used as an energy source
 Uranium is abundant
 The amount of waste produced is the least
of any major energy production process.
 Provides benefits other than electricity
generation.
Equipment

To protect themselves from radiators workers wear
protective suites to shield themselves from radiation.

Scientists wear safe protective clothing to measure
the level of radioactivity in surrounding areas.

Nuclear energy workers wear special suites and
respirators that become contaminated with low
levels of radiation.

Workers wear suites to protect themselves from
radiation they wear gasmasks and long suites with
gloves.

The carry around an electrometer, a film badge,
dose meter they wear special coveralls.
Nuclear Power Plant
Pros
and
Cons
•

Produces immense power from tiny
amounts of fuel.
•

Nuclear fuels will last far longer
than fossil fuels such as coal, oil,
and natural gas burned in other
power power plants.

Nuclear power plants produce
“clean” energy that adds little to
air and water pollution.

Fossil-fuel burning plants produce
much pollution including acid rain.


Nuclear energy workers wear
special suits and respirators that
become contaminated with low
levels of radiation.
For every kilogram of nuclear
energy produced, it is the same as
using 1,000 pounds of coal.
•
•
•
•
Nuclear waste gives off
dangerous radiation force
much over 1,000 years.
Safely storing the waste is a
HUGE problem.
All of the nuclear waste made
in the United States over the
last 40 years could cover a
football field,15 feet deep.
Nuclear energy has several
huge drawbacks. “ High-level”
waste that emits strong
radioactivity remains
dangerous for hundreds- even
thousands-of years.
No nuclear waste storage
area is completely safe for
workers. Also the waste sites
must be securely guarded to
prevent intruders.
Finally, as current storage
areas fill up, we will need to
build new, safe sites for future
nuclear wastes.
How Nuclear Power is Used to Make
Steam

No nuclear waste storage area is completely safe for workers.

Also, the waste sights must be securely guarded to prevent
intruders.

Some nuclear wastes are stored in caves or tunnels deep
under the ocean bed. Earthquakes could crack the rocks
and leak radioactivity.

Also, the waste could be set in water for a few years then
mixed in with liquid glass, poured into a steel container and
then set in a cement building until the radio activity wears off,
which can take tens of thousands of years.

There is at least 3,530 cubic feet of radioactive waste each
year.
Atomic Bomb

Definition:
means a trillion.

Definition:

Nuclear reactions happen when neutrons are fired at close atoms
with heavy nuclei, these heavy nuclei break apart to form lighter
nuclei when hit by the neutron, and generates more neutrons that
hit the other nuclei, creating a chain reaction (fission).

When breaking down the nuclei rather than releasing energy
through a chemical reaction. Atomic bombs release more than
80 tera per kilogram.

Bomb chain reactions happens by simply firing two half spheres of
uranium isotope of a basic element, at one amount in a small
chamber.

In new designs the uranium bomb core is surrounded by highexplosive lenses designed to compress the core upon detonation
or with pressure is released on an object causing a blast.

The compressed core goes critical initiating the chain reaction
that goes on until many of the heavy nuclei have broken apart.
is a unit of energy.
Fun Facts!
 Nuclear energy is released either by splitting
atomic nuclei or by forcing the nuclei of atoms
together.
 Nuclear energy comes from mass-to-energy
conversions that occur in the splitting of the atoms.
 Nuclear energy is produced by a controlled
nuclear chain reaction and creates heat-which is
used to boil water, produce steam, and drive a
steam turbine.
 Nuclear power plants need less fuel than ones
which burn fossil fuels.
 In France, nuclear power is the most widespread,
supplying 80 percent of the country’s electricity.
Fun Facts Part:2
 The basic fuel and reactors and Uranium.
 Only a couple prototypes of a fast
reactor has been built so far, one in
Scotland, two in the United States, and
one in France.
 A fast reactor is a reaction that makes
more fuel than it consumes.
 To turn a fast reactor on and off, control
rods are used for a material that absorbs
neutrons, when they soak up many
neutrons the reactor stops. When they
absorb fewer neutrons the reactor
speeds up.
BrainPop Video: Atoms
and Nuclear Energy
Atomswww.brainpop.com/science/#80044
Nuclear
Energywww.brainpop.com/.webloc
Pop Quiz!
 What is nuclear fission?
_______________________________________
 What is the fuel for nuclear power?
_______________________________________
________
 What is a terajoule?
_______________________________________
______
Answer Key:
The splitting of
atoms
Uranium
A trillion unit
of energy
Bibliography
 Jones, Andrew Zimmerman. “NuclearA
fission.” About.com Physics. Andrew
Zimmerman Jones, 2012. Web. 09 Mar. 2012
 WiseGeek. Ed. Conjecture Corporation.
Conjecture 2003. Web 09. Mar. 2012.
 Parker, Steve React: The Nuclear Energy
Science Files. Bethesda, MD: Discovery
Channel School, 1999. Print.
 Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Environmental
Science. Holt, Reinhart, and Winston, Austin
Texas, 2005.
 Gibson, Diane. Sources of Energy Nuclear
Power. North Mankato, Minnesota: Smart
Apple Media, 1980. Print.