Foundations

The invention of nuclear power began in 1938 when German scientists discovered that uranium atoms can be split, creating a LOT of power. Also known as nuclear fission.

Elemental Power

Uranium (a radioactive element (#92)) is put into small ceramic pellets and stacked together into sealed metal tubes called fuel rods. About 200 pellets are stacked together and are used to generate power. These rods are put into high amounts of water which cools the rods and sustains the chemical reaction that occurs.

More About Nuclear Fission!

Nuclear fission produces heat, it turns water into steam, which spins a turbine to produce carbon-free electricity. Yay, more energy created by motion but also radiation?!

One uranium pellet produces the same amount of energy as one ton of coal (2,000 pounds) since it is 80 million times denser than coal! Or about 150 gallons of gas.

Current Statistics + Disposal

Nuclear reactions generate 10% of the world's power. After the uranium runs out of energy, they have to dispose of it somewhere and that somewhere is several hundreds of meters underground or in a lab depending on its radioactivity level.

Technologies like Geiger Counter measures the amount of radiation in an object by ticks.

A Cold War

The role of nuclear energy technology in the Cold War was the reason it began. During the Cold War there were 2 tensions, the United States and the Soviet Union with their
Allies. Both sides threatened to use intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons on each other. It was basically a standoff of who will shoot the first shot.

The Race

Nuclear bombs started to be created way more after the Cold War began as it was a time of an arms race. (Whoever can get more weapons the fastest.)

Breakdown Of The Bomb

Nuclear bombs are made of chemical explosives in a sphere of uranium-235 or plutonium-239. A blast occurs which compresses the sphere resulting in the radioactive atoms to come together and split apart releasing huge amounts of energy causing an explosion.

Less Lethal Uses

Nuclear technology isn’t only for bombs and violence; it can also be used as medicine or in space exploration, but it's considered risky.

Examples of nuclear technologies in medicine include:

  • X-rays
  • Radioactive Therapies
  • CT scans.

Radioactive Medic

Marie Curie was a professor of General Physics and discovered radioactivity in 1896,
she brought portable x-ray machines to the battlefield during World War 1, making x-rays one of the greatest advances in medicine.