Chris,+Declan,+Alex+N++-+Nuclear+Power

Chris, Declan and Alex's page Nuclear power good or bad mind map.

A radioactive atom will slowly decrease its radioactivity over time and decay.
 * ~ Isotope ||~ Half-life ||
 * Strontium-90 || 28 years ||
 * Caesium-137 || 30 years ||
 * Plutonium-239 || 24,000 years ||
 * Caesium-135 || 2.3 million years ||
 * Iodine-129 || 15.7 million years ||

The definition of half-life is the time it takes for half of the radioactivity to decay.

1g of uranium is worth 3 tonnes of coal. Uranium has an energy content of about 3 million times greater than fossil fuels.


 * __The down side to nuclear power__**

Lots of nuclear waste to dispose of.

If a nuclear power plant has a reactor meltdown the area surrounding will have to be me shutdown for many years for example the Chernobyl accident.

the average size of a nuclear plant is 400m2 which means we may have to kick some people out of there homes for the space.

Working in a nuclear power plant increases the chances of getting cancer.

one nuclear fuel cell once used up will stay radioactive for over 100 billion years. The US pays Russia, United Kingdom, France, Japan and India to handle the used fuel cells.


 * __What some governments think__**

South Australian government refuses to have a nuclear power plant built in there state.

__**Other renewable power sources**__

Wind farms are large areas of land where wind turbines have been installed. Wind turbines work by having huge airplane like propellors that spin when the wind blows through them, causing them to produce electricity. Wind turbines require a minimum wind speed of 16km/h to efficiently produce electricity.
 * Wind farms:**

The use of solar panels is completely eco-efficent, as it has no carbon emissions. However, the production of solar panels does emit carbon. Solar panels are expensive because of the high standard silicon and other materials needed to produce them.Solar sheets are also made out of copper gallium and indium.
 * Solar panels:**

Hydroelectric plants use the kinetic energy of a flowing river or water source as a way of generating electricity. it is completely renewable because it does not take anything away from the environment.
 * Hydroelectric plants:**

__**How a nuclear reactor works:**__

There are lots of different reactors in operation around the world some of the types are described below.

This type of reactor is the most commonly used to date.
 * Pressurized water reactors**


 * Boiling water reactors**


 * High temperature gas cooled reactors**

These reactors operate at much higher operating temperature than pressurized water reactors and uses gas as the primary coolant.

 * Heavy water reactors**

In nuclear fusion, energy is released when atoms are combined or fused together to form a larger atom. This is how the sun produces energy. Fusion is the subject of ongoing research, but it is not yet clear that it will ever be a commercially viable technology for electricity generation.

In nuclear fission, atoms are split apart to form smaller atoms, releasing energy. Nuclear power plants use this energy to produce electricity.


 * __How the waste is transported__**

Nuclear waste is transported in specially made ships, trains and trucks each of them needing different storage systems for the way they travel. For example trains will have to use highly reinforced containers for fast travel and maximum safty while trucks will use compact barrels for slow but mass transport.

The newspapers we used: []

[|http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/013] []