Is nuclear energy clean energy? Are its benefits greater than its risks? One of the basic characteristics of our "modern" societies is the usage of various products/goods/services that are involved to our lives.
We can think hundreds of such goods that were not used before and we are using them today in order to satisfy our wants and to meet our needs: from walkman to cars, from computers to bank machines. Of course, there are thousands of businesses and manufacturers that supply all these products/services and they all require energy to work.
Can we imagine our "modern" world without electricity? Can we imagine it, without the kind of energy that produces electricity? Purpose of this text is to examine one basic source of energy-nuclear energy. This text will discuss advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power.
We will examine the basic points about nuclear energy and we will compare them to the usage of other energy sources. But, what do we mean by nuclear energy? .
Nuclear energy refers to the energy that we can obtain if we split atoms. Atoms have neutrons, protons (both in nucleus) and electrons (around nucleus). If nucleus breaks up, huge amount of energy is released. This procedure is called fission. .
The energy is explained by the difference of mass between fission products and reactants. The energy and the heat that are produced can be used to produce electricity. The whole issue was under consideration from the beginning of the 20th century but the greatest physician; Albert Einstein explored the usage by giving enough details. Later on, the impact of nuclear energy was understandable in order to give a great energy source and "unfortunately- the absolute lethal weapon. .
The World War 2 and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombs proved the consequences of nuclear power as a war "tool". One important thing that we must mention is that the products of a nuclear explosion (as a bomb or as an accident) have the ability to "keep" their radioactivity for a period of time.