Facts About Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy supplies electricity to more than 60 million homes each year, according to the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. More than 100 commercial nuclear power plants produce 20 percent of all the electricity in the United States. One of the major advantages to nuclear energy is that it has very little impact on the environment. Electricity produced with nuclear power is also significantly cheaper than electricity produced by burning coal or fossil fuels.

Defining Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is created when atoms split through fission, according to the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition. When the atoms split, the energy is then released from the atoms in the form of heat.

How Nuclear Power Plants Work

According to the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, nuclear power plants use uranium fuel. Within the reactor, fission splits the uranium atoms and creates energy in the form of heat. Heat then boils water creating steam that’s used to spin a turbine, which creates electricity. Nuclear power plants also have large containment towers made of concrete that prevent radiation from leaking out. Nuclear waste is either stored at the nuclear power plant or buried deep within the ground.

Nuclear Energy & The Environment

Unlike many other electrical power plants, nuclear power plants do not release carbon emissions. According to the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, using nuclear energy saves approximately the equivalent amount of carbon emissions that’s released from all cars each year in the United States. In 1973, nuclear power accounted for 90 percent of all electric utility savings in carbon dioxide.

Countries With Nuclear Energy

According to the Nuclear Energy Agency, the number of nuclear power plants that the United States has is 104, Belgium has seven, Canada has 20, the Czech Republic has six, Finland has four, France has 59, Germany has 17, Hungary has four, Japan has 55, Korea has 20, Mexico has two, the Netherlands has one, the Slovak Republic has five, Spain has eight, Sweden has 10, Switzerland has five and the United Kingdom has 19.

Radioactive Waste

The largest problem associated with nuclear energy is disposing nuclear waste that comes from the power plants. According to the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, disposal methods for nuclear waste that scientists have examined include leaving the waste at storage sites, burying it under the ocean floor, placing it in polar ice sheets, sending it into space, and placing it deep underground. After carefully examining these options, the majority of scientists agree that burying radioactive waste deep underground is the safest solution for disposal.

Uncommon Facts

According to the University of Wisconsin Madison, France produces so much nuclear energy that it actually exports energy and makes a profit. Coal power plants give off more radiation than nuclear power plants do. Radiation from nuclear power plants has not caused any deaths aside from the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine.

References

• Clean and Safe Energy Coalition
• Nuclear Energy Agency
• Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management

Resources

• Universitty of Wisconsin Madison