Developing Nuclear Power as Alternative Energy

Nuclear power plants are very “clean-burning” and their efficiency is rather staggering. Nuclear power is generated at 80% efficiency, meaning that the energy produced by the fission reactions is almost equal to the energy put into producing the fission reactions in the first place.

There is not a lot of waste material generated by nuclear fission—although, due to the fact that there is no such thing as creating energy without also creating some measure of waste, there is some. The concerns of people such as environmentalists with regards to using nuclear power as an alternative energy source center around this waste, which is radioactive gases which have to be contained.

The radiation from these gases lasts for an extraordinarily long time, so it can never be released once contained and stored. However, the volume of this waste gas produced by the nuclear power plants is small in comparison to how much NOx (nitrous oxide—that is, air pollution) is caused by one day's worth of rush-hour traffic in Los Angeles.

While the radiation is certainly the more deadly by far of the two waste materials, the radiation is also by far the easier of the two to contain and store. In spite of the concerns of the environmentalists, nuclear power is actually environmentally friendly alternative energy, and the risk of the contained radiation getting out is actually quite low. With a relatively low volume of waste material produced, it should not be a difficult thing at all for storage and disposal solutions for the long term to be developed as technology advances.

The splitting of an atom releases energy in the forms of both heat and light. Atomic power plants control the fission reactions so that they don't result in the devastating explosions that are brought forth in atomic and hydrogen bombs. There is no chance of an atomic power plant exploding like a nuclear bomb, as the specialized conditions and the pure Plutonium used to unleash an atomic bomb's vicious force simply don't exist inside a nuclear power plant. The risk of a “meltdown” is very low.

Although this latter event has happened a couple of times, when one considers that there are over 430 nuclear reactors spread out across 33 nations, and that nuclear reactors have been in use since the early 1950s, these are rare occurrences, and the events of that nature which have taken place were the fault of outdated materials which should have been properly kept up.

Indeed, if nuclear energy could become a more widely accepted form of alternative energy, there would be little question of their upkeep being maintained. Currently, six states in America generate more than half of all their electrical energy needs through nuclear power, and the media are not filled with gruesome horror stories of the power plants constantly having problems.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Regulatory agency for nuclear power production and other civilian uses of nuclear materials.
www.nrc.gov

JAI Corporation
Small business providing consulting expertise and technical services in nuclear fuel cycle engineering, radioactive waste management, radioactive materials transportation, nuclear safety and licensing, and related fields.
www.jaicorp.com

British Nuclear Fuels
BNFL is an international business providing nuclear fuel, reactor services, and spent fuel management. Information on services, products, press releases, contacts and research.
www.bnfl.com

NucNet - the World's Nuclear News Agency
A subscription based news service offering up-to-the-minute news about important developments in nuclear power world-wide.
www.worldnuclear.org

Approved Gas Masks
Wide selection of U.S. and Israeli gas masks, gas mask filters, chemical suits, potassium iodide, and nuclear, chemical, and biological survival gear.
www.approvedgasmasks.com

UIC - Uranium & Nuclear Power Information Centre, Australia
The UIC web site is to assist public understanding of uranium mining and nuclear electricity generation.
www.uic.com.au

Bruce Center for Energy Research and Information
A virtual magazine about the world's largest combined nuclear power generation and nuclear waste storage facility on the shoreline of Lake Huron, Ontario, Canada.
www.friendsofbruce.ca

Nuclear Percussion Ensemble
World music, improvisation, and original compositions.
www.rubright.com

Science Magazine: Energy special issue: 1989
Article topics included photovoltaics, safe nuclear power, natural gas, efficiency in use of electricity. Now in PDF format.
www.sciencemag.org

Nuclear Junior
Steve's webpage for Nuclear Junior. Photo gallery, sound bytes, band information, upcoming gigs.
www.angelfire.com

RSL Rovtech Systems Ltd
Manufacture of underwater camera systems and remotely operated vehicles for aquatic, nuclear and offshore industries.
www.rovtechsystems.co.uk

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
A vendor of nuclear power reactors. In addition to selling CANDU® power reactors and MAPLE research reactors, AECL engages in a wide range of R&D activities, provides nuclear engineering services and nuclear waste management research.
www.aecl.ca

N.E.T
Nuclear Energy Tomorrow focuses on understanding nuclear energy, interactive learning about nuclear energy.
library.thinkquest.org

Russia - Nuclear complex
News, information, and analysis about Russian nuclear power plants, nuclear waste, and reprocessing, from the Bellona Foundation.
www.bellona.no

Nuclear Energy in Slovenia
Site has resources in Slovenian and English on nuclear energy as well as links to Slovenian nuclear plants, institutes, and agencies.
www2.ijs.si

Point Source
Nuclear energy information resource from students in Nuclear Engineering Dept. at University of Wisconsin-Madison.
www.ans.neep.wisc.edu

TransWare Enterprises Inc.
Providers of nuclear, mechanical, and software engineering services, specializing in engineering analysis and software development. Primary developers of the EPRI codes CHIRON, CPM-3, and RAMA.
www.twe.com

Centre for Nuclear Energy Research
Incorporated research and development laboratory on the UNB campus in Fredericton, N.B. Conducts research and development work related to the operation and maintenance of CANDU nuclear power stations.
www.unb.ca

Frham Safety Products, Inc.
Company provides nuclear and industrial safety equipment. Site has technical data on products, descriptions of product lines, company information and contacts, and online sales materials.
www.frhamsafety.com

Entergy Nuclear
Nuclear utility provides general information about the company and the technology, plus its individual power plants in the northeastern and southern United States.
www.entergy-nuclear.com

Nuclear Energy
Personal website with extensive information and links on nuclear energy, how fuel is made from uranium and plutonium, how it is used and how it works, as well as the implications.
members.iinet.net.au

Urban Survival Kit.net
Products and kits including gas mask are designed for trained emergency service personnel as well as civilian protection against exposure to nuclear, biological, chemical, and other weapons of mass destruction.
www.urbansurvivalkit.net

BULATOM
News and views on the Bulgarian nuclear industry. Events, calendar, contact information and information about the organization, its aims and achievements.
www.bulatom.org

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U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
"Protecting public health and safety through regulation of nuclear power and the civilian use of nuclear materials . . . . . ."
http://www.nrc.gov/

Nuclear Energy Institute
"The Nuclear Energy Institute is the policy organization of the nuclear energy and technologies industry . . . . . ."
http://www.nei.org/

Nuclear Energy Institute Science Club
"NEI provides accurate and timely information on the nuclear industry to members, policymakers, the news media, and the public . . . . . ."
http://www.nei.org/

American Nuclear Society
"The American Nuclear Society is a not-for-profit, international, scientific and educational organization. It was established . . . . . ."
http://www.ans.org/

World Nuclear Association
"Welcome to the World Nuclear Association, representing the technology, people and organisations of the global nuclear energy industry . . . . . ."
http://www.world-nuclear.org/

TVA nuclear plants
"TVA’s nuclear plants continually put more than 5,700 megawatts of electricity into the power grid . . . . . ."
http://www.tva.gov/

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