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Class presentations by Tameka, Sad, Clay, Justin, Richard F., Chloe, Kayla H., Courtney, Steven, Curtis, Richard L., Javan, Renee and Kimaya

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Presentation Rubric uses a 5 point grading scale KNOWLEDGE: PARTICIPATION: LENGTH: CONTENT: DESIGN: HANDS-ON ACTIVITY:

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Nuclear Energy in Perspective We are running out of fossil fuels After WWII, new use for the Atom Bomb Using nuclear energy to make electricity In 1975, 53 plants were operating in U.S. 2003, 104 plants were still working No new plants are planned

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Nuclear Energy World Wide Many nuclear plants are being build world- wide Nuclear power generates about 17% of the worlds energy France and Japan leads the world Followed closely by China and India

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After Chernobyl Many have rethought nuclear power Can we solve the problems? What are the pros? What are the cons?

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Justin and Clay 5th

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What is Nuclear Power? Power is generated by heating pressurized water Water is heated through Nuclear Fission When one atom splits in two Steam is used to power the generator The Generator supplies energy

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How it impacts Society? July 08, 430 operating nuclear power plants 31 Countries 15%- Worlds Electricity 77%- Frances Electricity 65%-Lithuania Electricity 20%- United States Electricity

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Yay!!! Minimal CO2 emissions Self dependant cost Releases less radioactivity in air then coal-burning

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Neh!!!!! Mining uranium Transportation and disposal issues High building cost Not safe to house and hold

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By: Chloe Robertson and Richard Farmer

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Nuclear They plants release low levels of radioactive waste gases. They produce about 250 tons of highly radioactive waste that require safe storage. They can have accidents that lead to scores of human deaths, untold numbers of cancer, and widespread long lasting environmental contamination. They dont produce any acid-forming pollutants or particulates. Emits no carbon dioxide. In order to fuel plants less manual work is needed.

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Coal Coal plants releases 100 times more radioactivity than nuclear power plants. They produce about 600,000 tons of ash requiring disposal. Not prone to major accidents, possibility of fire. Emits over 300,000 tons of sulfur dioxide and other pollutants that lead up to acid rain. Emits over 7 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global climate change. My manual labor is need so efficiently supply plants.

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Nuclear Power Coal Less work, more energy. Lots of waste thats non recyclable or disposable. More catastrophic disasters if any accidents. Limited amount of power per year. Lot of human work just to fuel. Not a lot of waste but lots of pollutants. Little harm done if accident occurs. Large supply of coal.

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Which prevails??? Amounts of used in tons:

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By, Courtney Ciera Elzy And Kayla Jesse Howard

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Radioactive Emissions When uranium or any other element undergoes fission, the split halves are called atoms. These are newly formed atoms called the direct product of the fission, and they are unstable isotopes. Unstable isotopes are usually called radioisotopes; they can become stable by being spontaneously ejected with subatomic particles, high energy radiation, or BOTH! Radioactivity is measured in curies, one gram of pure radium-226 gives off one curie per second(approximately 37 billion spontaneous disintegrations into particles and radiation) Radioactive Emissions are the particles and the radiation. Radioactive Wastes are indirect products of fission along with the direct products.

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Biological Effects Radioactive Emissions can penetrate biological tissue; Sieverts are used to measure the damage that radioactive emissions can do. The emissions do not leave any physical damage, and you can feel them either. But they are capable of dislodging electrons from atoms so that they strike. After this ions are left behind, which are charged particles. The emissions are called ionizing radiation. This process includes breaking chemical bonds or changing the structure of molecules. In Lower Doses the radiation causes actual damage to the DNA. Other effects include weakening of the immune system, mental retardation, and development of cataracts.

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Sources of Radiation Uranium and Radon Gas are also a source of radiation besides nuclear power. Background Radiation is the the MAJOR source of radiation exposure. The average person in the U.S. receives a dose of about 36 millisieverts per year. Even when you are close to a nuclear power plant, the radiation levels are much lower than normal background levels. Measurements have shown that public exposure to radiation from normal operations of a power plant is less than 1% of natural background radiation.

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Radioactive Wastes Radioactive Decay is a process in which, as unstable isotopes eject particles and radiation, the become stable, and cease to be radioactive. When radioactive material is not in contact with humans and other organisms the decay proceeds harmlessly. The rate of radioactive decay is such that half of the starting amount of a given isotope will decay in a certain period. In the next equal period, half of the remainder decays and so on. Half-Life is the time for half of the amount of a radioactive isotope to decay. The half-lives of various isotopes range from a fraction of a second to many thousands of years.

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Disposal of Radioactive Wastes Short term containment allows the radioactive decay of short lived isotopes. In 10 years fission wastes lose more than 97% of their radioactivity. Long term containment refers to the EPA in which the recommend a 10,000 year minimum, and the National Research Council opted for 100,000 years to provide protection from the long-lived isotopes. Sort Term; Spent Fuel is stored in a swimming pool like tank, on the sites of the nuclear power plants; the water dissipates waste heat. It also acts as a shield against the escape of radiation; the pools accommodate 10-20 years of spent fuel. The capacity of storage pools in the U.S. nuclear plants reach 50% by 2004 and plan to reach 100% by 2015. 47,000 tons of radioactive waste is in the U.S today(more than that).

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By Curtis Edmonds And Steven Willis

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The Conversion When a 235 U atom fissions, two or three atoms are ejected. Only one of these neutrons needs to hit a 235 U atom to cause a chain reaction. The remaining neutrons are absorbed by something else 238 U usually absorbs the extra neutrons When this occurs, 238 U converts to Plutonium This Plutonium is also known as 239 Pu.

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239 Pu 239 Pu can be purified and used as a nuclear feul SO the 238 U is converted into fissionable 239 Pu And the good news? 235 U produces two more atoms than needed for a reaction So it may produce more fuel than it consumes. Over 99% of uranium is 238 U, so converting that to 239 Pu effectively increases nuclear reserves This explains why creating nuclear energy is fast and effective.

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Breeder Reactors All of the listed conversions are formed from breeder reactors There is more security needed for Breeder Reactors because of high Plutonium 239 Pu can be used to create weapons More safety for B.R.s are also needed.

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Breeder Reactors, cont. Because the U.S. doesnt use nuclear energy as much There is enough un used Uranium So the use for a Breeder Reactor is unnecesary B.R.s are mostly used for military practices because of Plutoniums ability to create weapons France, Russia, and Japan are the only countries to use Breeder Reactors commercially.

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By Javan & Richard

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Safety Safety is closely linked with Security. It relates mainly to intrinsic problems or hazards. It relates mainly to external threats to materials or facilities. Many plants are not safe. Which could lead to injury or even death.

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Meltdowns Three Mile Island and Chernobyl are to good examples of meltdowns. Meltdowns are accidents in a nuclear reactor. These meltdowns can be dangerous Three mile island the reactor was severely damaged The radiation was contained no one was hurt At Chernobyl the reactor exploded Leaving 56 people dead and others injured

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Terrorism Nuclear power plants can make easy targets. They can easily attacked by planes if planned right. When September 11 th occurred the U.S. Realized The opportunities of terrorism in the U.S. with nuclear power that is why it is a debates about what to do with the plants

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Quiz What is safety closely related to? What is the worst thing that can happen in a plant? What happened at Chernobyl?

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Kimaya Davis Renee Mitchell

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Opposition to Nuclear Power People have a distrust of technology they dont understand. Observers are critical of the way nuclear technology is being managed. Lax safety, operator failures, and cover-ups by nuclear plants. High costs of construction & unexpectedly short operational lifetimes. Disposing of nuclear waste. Nuclear power plants are a target for terrorist attacks. When accidents happens, probabilities become realities.

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If.Then.But (nuclear power) In the United States the main problem is that there will eventually be a shortage of crude oil for transportation. If we were moving toward a total electric economy, then nuclear generated electricty could be substituted for oil based fuels. Nuclear power competes with coal fired power in meeting the demands for base-load electrical power. There are financial risk of nuclear power, and coal is cheaper. There are still environmental problems of mining and burning coal that results in global climate change.

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Rebirth of nuclear power? The continued use of fossil fuels may have been so damaging to the atmosphere that we have to result to another source. If the rebirth of nuclear power is to come then it is agreed that a number of changes will have to be made. Political leadership will be required to accomplish all of the developments

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Where it starts George W. Bush has made expanding nuclear energy a major component of his energy policy. Vice President Cheneys National Energy Policy report includes various steps that led to Bushs expansion in his policy. Proposing the Nuclear power 2010 program, could become operational by 2010 By approving the Yucca Mountain site for repository could be moving toward a resolution of nuclear waste.

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