The question: How does nuclear fuel effect our lives?

What does nuclear have to do with humans  Have you ever looked outside at night have you ever asked your self where is all the energy that powers our street lights the answer to that my fellow class mates would be our nuclear power plants.

What is nuclear energy  What is Nuclear Energy?  Nuclear energy originates from the splitting of uranium atoms in a process called fission. At the power plant, the fission process is used to generate heat for producing steam, which is used by a turbine to generate electricity.

Positives and negatives of nuclear energy  Positives  No dangerous emissions into the air (less effect on global warming) Relatively small plant gives lots of power (small footprint) Currently, there is lots of fuel available at least in the US, so it reduces our dependency on overseas oil Negatives No way to dispose of spent fuel Nuclear melt downs can ruin your day Hard to tell whether people are making fuel or bombs

What effect does global warming have on the environment  Nuclear power poses a major threat to the environment and to humanity. Most of the time it has proven to be safe and successful, but on some occasions its results have been disastrous.

What is the effect of a malfunction in a nuclear power plant.  Remember, at the heart of every nuclear reactor is a controlled environment of radioactivity and induced fission. When this environment spins out of control, the results can be catastrophic.  For many years, the Chernobyl disaster stood as a prime worst-case example of nuclear malfunction. In 1986, the Ukrainian nuclear reactor exploded, spewing 50 tons of radioactive material into the surrounding area, contaminating millions of acres of forest. The disaster forced the evacuation of at least 30,000 people, and eventually caused thousands to die from cancer and other illnesses

What is the main cause of malfunctions in a nuclear power plant  Chernobyl was poorly designed and improperly operated. The plant required constant human attention to keep the reactor from malfunctioning. Meanwhile, modern plants require constant supervision to keep from shutting down. Yet even a well-designed nuclear power plant is susceptible to natural disaster  So basically the main problem would be a lack of maintenance and improper design.

Wear does the waste product go?  Although not much waste is produced, it is very, very dangerous. It must be sealed up and buried for many thousands of years to allow the radioactivity to die away. For all that time it must be kept safe from earthquakes, flooding, terrorists and everything else. This is difficult.

Is nuclear energy reliable  Nuclear power is reliable, but a lot of money has to be spent on safety - if it does go wrong, a nuclear accident can be a major disaster. People are increasingly concerned about this - in the 1990's nuclear power was the fastest-growing source of power in much of the world. In 2005 it was the second slowest-growing.

In conclusion  Nuclear energy provides a large amount of energy for our society although this is positive,nuclear energy is also negative because it can be a potential disaster for our country of its not maintained well enough.