Nuclear Power
By Ben Cheever

Nuclear power uses fission. Fission is when an atom's nucleus is broken apart by neutrons hitting it. This releases gamma rays.

The goal of nuclear power is to generate electricity from nuclear energy.

In a nuclear power plant water is heated by fission. The steam from the hot water is used to power a generator, which creates electricity.

A radioactive isotope that is used in nuclear power plants is uranium-235. Once fission happens more stable isotopes like barium-141 and krypton-92 are produced.

Equation:
1-n+235-U=141-Ba+92-Kr+3 1-n

A half-life is the time it takes for half of a radioactive isotope to decay. Uranium-235's half-life is 700 million years.

INTERESTING FACTS

• There are 444 nuclear reactors around the world.
• Nuclear power plants were responsible for 10.9% of the worlds electricity in 2012.

SOURCES USED

• Nuclearinfo.net
• http://web.ead.anl.gov/uranium/faq/uproperties/faq5.cfm
• Nei.org