Nuclear Power
Bruno Caballero
Browns Ferry Operations Training
Nuclear Power
Benefits of Nuclear Energy

1 kg Uranium = 100,000 kg of oil

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Nuclear plants don’t produce:



Less environmental impact to harvest
SO2 (acid rain)
CO2 (greenhouse)
Average cost is much less than fossil
Benefits of Nuclear Energy
Challenges of Nuclear Energy

Waste disposal; several remedies:



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Containment
Treatment
Reduction
Reprocessing (recycling)
Challenges of Nuclear Energy

The nuclear power plant accidents at
Three Mile Island in the United States
and Chernobyl in Ukraine are well
known; however, despite these
incidents, nuclear power has a
remarkable record.
Nuclear Steam Plants


Boiling Water Reactors
Pressurized Water Reactors
Boiling Water
Reactor
Pressurized
Water Reactor
Pressurized
Water Reactor
What produces the energy?
Nuclear fission
235
92
U
236
92
U*
n
NEUTRON
TARGET
NUCLEUS
COMPOUND
NUCLEUS
FISSION
FRAGMENT 1
g-ray
U-236*
U-235
n
n
n
g-ray
FISSION
FRAGMENT 2
What happens to the old fuel?

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Onsite Storage
Yucca Mountain
On-site wet
storage
On-site Dry Cask
Storage