- Producing nuclear energy
- Advantages over coal


[SLIDE 1]

Nuclear energy is unlike energy derived from fossil fuels in that it involves changing materials at the atomic level.

There are 2 processes involved in the production of nuclear energy. They are:
- Nuclear fission (the splitting of a large atom of one element into smaller atoms of different elements).
- Nuclear fusion (the uniting of two small atoms to form a larger atom of a different element).


[SLIDE 2]

Nuclear fuel is created by the conversion of mass to energy.

Uranium is the primary mineral used in nuclear energy production. There are 2 isotopes or forms commonly used:
- uranium-238
- uranium-235

These isotopes of uranium undergo nuclear fission, breaking into smaller atoms while releasing energy. Nuclear fuel production involves constantly doing this via a chain reaction. A chain reaction occurs when unstable isotopes collide continuously, breaking down into smaller particles via nuclear fission.

Nuclear reactors are structures at nuclear power plants that can withstand a continuous chain reaction.


[SLIDE 3]

Nuclear fuel production has some advantages over coal production.

If nuclear power replaced coal to provide electricity, it would have some advantages such as:
- less fuel needed (1 pound of uranium releases the same amount of energy as 50 tons of coal)
- lower carbon dioxide emissions (coal plants release 7 million tons into the air while nuclear has none directly, though some is produced during the mining of uranium)
- no acid-forming pollutants like sulfur dioxide (coal plants emit more than 300,000 tons of sulfur dioxide while nuclear plants do not emit any sulfur dioxides at all)
- less radioactive waste gases (coal plants release 100 times more radioactivity than nuclear power plants)
- less solid wastes (coal plants produce 600,000 tons of ash that has to be disposed of compared to nuclear plants that produce 250 tons)
- fewer accidents (coal plants have frequent accidents and ongoing reports of healthcare concerns adding up to $1 billion in annual costs)