Nuclear Energy Applications

Application of Nuclear Energy.

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Applications of Nuclear Energy
Electric Power Generation
Medicine
Scientific Research
Food & Agriculture
Consumer Products
Industrial Applications
Space

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Nuclear Fission
Nuclear plants produce electricity by boiling water into steam.
This steam then turns turbines to produce electricity.
The difference is that nuclear plants do not burn anything.
Instead, they use uranium fuel, consisting of solid ceramic pellets, to produce
electricity through a process called fission.

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Nuclear Fusion Process
It is called 'fusion' because it is based on fusing light nuclei such as hydrogen
isotopes to release energy, similar to that which powers the sun and other stars.
Nuclei of two isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium(D) and tritium(T) react to produce
a helium(He) nucleus and a neutron(n). In each reaction, 17.6 MeVof energy
(2.8 pJ) is liberated:
D + T →
4
He (3.5 MeV) + n (14.1 MeV)

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Nuclear Energy Scenario
435 Nuclear Power plants worldwide
1/6 of the worlds power is nuclear
France 76%, Belgium 56%, South Korea 36%, Switzerland 40%, Sweden 47%,
Finland 30%, Japan 33%, United Kingdom 25%, Bulgaria 46%, Hungry 42%,
United States 20%
WEC energy consumption doubled by 2050
World will turn to Fission Energy
Produces very small amount of spent fuel
6yrs of operation, 4-meter cube
Recyclable

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General Working of Nuclear Power Plant

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Medical
In nuclear medicine, medical professionals inject a tiny amount of a
radioisotope—a chemical element that produces radiation—into a
patient’s body.
A specific organ picks up the radioisotope, enabling a special camera to
take a detailed picture of how that organ is functioning.
For example: Myocardial perfusion imaging maps the blood flow to the
heart, allowing doctors to see whether a patient has heart disease and
determine the most effective course of treatment.

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Medical
Bone scans can detect the spread of cancer six to 18 months earlier
than X-rays.
Kidney scans are much more sensitive than X-rays or ultrasounds in
fully evaluating kidney function.
Imaging with radioactive technetium-99 can help diagnose bone
infections at the earliest possible stage.

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Research
TheU.S.FoodandDrugAdministrationrequiresallnewdrugstobe
testedforsafetyandeffectiveness.Morethan80percentofthosedrugs
aretestedwithradioisotopes.
Radioisotopesalsoareessentialtothebiomedicalresearchthatseeks
causesandcuresfordiseasessuchasAIDS,CancerandAlzheimer’s
disease.
Researchersalsouseradioisotopesinmetabolicstudies,genetic
engineeringandenvironmentalprotectionstudies.
Carbon-14,anaturallyoccurring,long-livedradioactivesubstance,allows
archaeologiststodeterminewhenartefactscontainingplantoranimal
materialwerealive,createdorused.

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Food & Agriculture
Food irradiation kills bacteria, insects and parasites that can cause food-
borne diseases, such as trichinosis and cholera.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 76 million
Americans are affected by food-borne illnesses each year, and more than
5,000 die.
In addition to killing bacteria, irradiation can retard spoilage and increase
the shelf life of food.
Food irradiation does not make the food radioactive, and it does not
change the food any more than canning or freezing.

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Bytheendofthe1980s,radiationhaderadicatedapproximately10
speciesofpestinsectsinwideareas,preventingagricultural
catastrophes.ThesepestsincludedtheMediterraneanfruitflyandthe
screwwormfly.
Agriculturalresearchersalsouseradiationto:
develophundredsofvarietiesofhardier,moredisease-resistantcrops—
includingpeanuts,tomatoes,onions,rice,soybeansandbarley
improvethenutritionalvalueofsomecrops,aswellasimprovetheir
bakingormeltingqualitiesorreducetheircookingtime
showhowplantsabsorbfertilizer,helpingresearcherstolearnwhento
applyfertilizer,andhowmuchtouse;thispreventsoveruse,thusreducing
amajorsourceofsoilandwaterpollution.
Food & Agriculture

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Consumer Products
SmokeDetector
•Ionizationofairbyaradioactivesource
producesacurrent.
•Smoketrapstheelectronsandreducesthe
current.
•Settingoffthealarm.
•Manysmokedetectors—installedinnearly90
percentofU.S.homes—relyonatiny
radioactivesourcetosoundanalarmwhen
smokeispresent.

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Consumer Products
Watchesandclocksthat“glowinthedark”useasmallquantityofaradioisotope
asasourceoflight.
Computerdisks“remember”databetterwhentreatedwithradioisotopes
Treatingnonstickpanswithradiationensuresthatthecoatingwillsticktothe
surface
Photocopiersusesmallamountsofradiationtoeliminatestaticandpreventpaper
fromstickingtogetherandjammingthemachine
Radiationsterilizescosmetics,hairproductsandcontactlenssolutions,removing
irritantsandallergensRadiationsterilizesmedicalbandagesandavarietyof
personalhealthandhygieneproducts.

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Industrial Applications
The industries that use radioisotopes include:
―The automobile industry, to test the quality of steel in vehicles
―Aircraft manufacturers, to check for flaws in jet engines
―Mining and petroleum companies, to locate and quantify oil,
natural gas and mineral deposits
―Can manufacturers, to obtain the proper thickness of tin and
aluminum
―Pipeline companies, to look for defects in welds
―Construction crews, to gauge the density of road surfaces and
subsurfaces.

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Space
Unmannedspacecraftrelyonradioisotopethermoelectricgenerators
(RTGs)forthepowertheyneedforspaceexploration.
RTGsuseheatfromPlutoniumtogenerateelectricity.
Thecraftusethiselectricitytorunthecomputersthatcontroltheir
operationandcollectandprocessthevastamountsofdata,including
images,thataresentbacktoEarth.
AtypicalRTGproducesabout300wattsofelectricityandwilloperate
unattendedformanyyears.

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