Nuclear Power: Lesson 10

Nuclear power provides around 11% of the world's electricity and some key points about it include: 1) The US leads the world with 99 operating reactors providing 20% of its electricity. 2) France obtains over 75% of its electricity from nuclear power. 3) Advantages are zero greenhouse gas emissions, energy security from relying less on imported fossil fuels, and relatively stable fuel prices.

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Nuclear Power: Lesson 10

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Nana Budu Kofi HAYFORD

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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

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LESSON 10

Ghana Christian International

NUCLEAR POWER
High School
OBJECTIVES

• By the end of the lesson, students should be able to describe the global
production of nuclear energy
NUCLEI POWER

• Until a few years ago, the future of nuclear power looked bleak, with a number
of countries apparently 'running down' their nuclear power stations and many
other nations firmly set against the idea of introducing nuclear electricity.
• However, heightened fears about oil supplies, energy security and climate
change have brought this controversial source of power back onto the global
energy agenda to a virtual halt.
NUCLEI POWER

• No other source of energy creates such heated discussion as nuclear power.

The main concerns about nuclear power are:
1. power plant accidents, which could release radiation into air, land and sea
2. radioactive waste storage/disposal — no country has yet implemented a
long-term solution to the nuclear-waste problem
3. rogue state or terrorist use of nuclear fuel for weapons
4. high construction and decommissioning costs
5. the possible increase in certain types of cancer near nuclear plants.
NUCLEI POWER

• In addition, because of the genuine risks associated with nuclear power and the
level of security required, it is seen by some people as less 'democratic' than
other sources of power.
• By early 2015, 30 countries around the world were operating 443 nuclear
reactors for electricity generation, with 66 new nuclear plants under
construction, Nuclear power accounted for almost 11 per cent of the world's
electricity production in 2012.
NUCLEI POWER

• With 99 operating reactors, the USA leads the world in the use of nuclear
electricity. This amounts to 32.7 per cent of the world's total , producing about
20per cent of he USA's electricity. At one time, the rise of nuclear power
looked unstoppable.
• However, a serious incident at the three Mile Island nuclear power plant in
Pennsylvania in 1979, and the much more serious Chernobyl disaster in
Ukraine in 1986, brought any growth in the industry to a virtual halt.
NUCLEI POWER

• No new nuclear power plants have been ordered in the USA since then,
although public opinion has become more favourable in recent years, as
memories of the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl incidents recede into the
past, and as worries about polluting fossil fuels increase. The big advantages of
nuclear power are:
NUCLEI POWER

• there are zero emissions of greenhouse gases - this has become increasingly
important as concerns about climate change have increased n it means reduced
reliance on imported fossil fuels
• (which can help ease concerns about energy security) n it is not as vulnerable
to fuel price fluctuations as oil and gas uranium, the fuel for nuclear plants, is
relatively plentiful and most of the main uranium mines are in politically stable
countries nuclear power plants have demonstrated a very high level of
reliability and efficiency in recent years.
NUCLEI POWER

• The next major consumers of nuclear energy after the USA are France (17.2
per cent of the 2012 world total), Russia (7.2per cent) and South Korea (6.1
per cent).
• France obtains over 75 per cent of its electricity from nuclear. All the countries
where nuclear power accounts for more than 30per cent of electricity
producion.
• Global nuclear power production declined slightly between 2002 and 2012,
from 185.8 million tonnes oil equivalent to 183.2million tomes. The current
decade will be crucial to the future of nuclear energy, with many counties
making final decisions to extend or begin their nuclear electricity capability
NUCLEI POWER

• A few countries have developed fast breeder reactor technology.

• These reactors are very efficient at manufacturing plutonium fuel from their
original uranium fuel load.
• This greatly increases energy production - but it could prove disastrous should
the plutonium get into the wrong hands, as plutonium is the key ingredient for
nuclear weapons.
QUESTIONS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
THANK YOU