Non-Renewable Energy

What are the disadvantages of nuclear power?

1. Building and maintaining a safe reactor is very expensive. 2. This makes nuclear plants no longer competitive with other energy sources in many countries. 3. The actual cost of new nuclear power plants is uncertain, so it is difficult to predict whether investors will build new plants in the United States.

What is the process of a coal-fired power plant?

1. Burning fossil fuels release energy in the form of heat, which is used to boil water and produce high-pressure steam. 2. The steam is directed against the blades of a turbine, which is set into motion. 3. The turbine is connected to an electric generator. The turbine sets the generator in motion generating electricity. 4. Steam from the turbine is directed to a condenser where it cools and becomes liquid water to be cycled again.

What are the advantages of nuclear power?

1. Nuclear fuel is a very concentrated energy source. 2. Nuclear power plants do not produce air-polluting gases. 3. Nuclear power plants release less radioactivity than coal-fired plants do, when operated properly. 4. Countries with limited fossil-fuel resources rely heavily on nuclear plants to supply electricity.

What dangers arise from radioactive waste?

1. Plutonium is the most dangerous material in the world. 2. There is a terrorist threat to the large volumes of radioactive wastes currently being stored and taking the chance that this waste can leak or be dispersed as a result of terrorist action. 3. Nuclear Wastes are hazardous.

How is coal formed?

Coal is formed from the remains of plants that lived in swamps hundreds of millions of years ago. As ocean levels rose and fell, swamps were repeatedly covered with sediment.

What is coal used for?

Coal is used to burn energy, electricity generation, and steel production.

What are the parts of a coal-fired power plant?

Coal, Combustion Chamber, Steam turbine, and Generator.

What is the history of nuclear power plants in our country?

In the 1950's and 1960's nuclear power was seen as the power source of the future because the fuel they use because it is clean and plentiful. It was predicted that a nationwide network of nuclear power plants would provide electricity that was too cheap. About 20 to 30 years later about 120 planned nuclear power plants were canceled.

Lignite

Known as brown coal. A soft brown sedimentary rock that is formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a low heat content.

Nuclear Fission

The splitting of the nucleus of a large atom into two or more fragments.

How is electricity generated in a coal-fired power plant?

The turbine sets the generator in motion.

What are the main uses of fuel in our country?

Transportation, manufacturing, heating and cooling buildings, and generating electricity to run machines and appliances.

Radioactive Waste

Wastes that have radioactive material. These wastes are usually by products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine.

How does unstable nuclei become stable by releasing radiation?

When the nucleus breaks down and it emits energy.

What is the process of the nuclear power plant from uranium to electricity?

1. The energy released by the nuclear reaction heats water in the pasteurized first circuit to a very high temperature. 2. The superheated water is pumped to a heat exchanger, which transfers the heat of the first circuit to the second circuit. Water in the second circuit flashes into high pressure steam. 3. Steam is directed against a turbine, setting it in motion. The turbine sets the generator in motion, generating electricity. 4. A third circuit cools the steam from the turbine and the waste heat is released from the cooling tower in the form of steam.

Anthracite

A hard clean-burning coal that is mined out of Pennsylvania. It is one of the most economical fuel and heat sources in the world today.

Fossil Fuels

A non-renewable energy resource formed from the remains of organisms that lived long ago. Some examples are oil, coal, and natural gas.

What states in the U.S.A. have the most oil deposits?

Alaska, Texas, California, and Gulf of Mexico.

What are the four types of coal in order by quality?

Anthracite, Bituminous, Peat, and Lignite.

Bituminous

Black coal having a relatively high volatile content. It burns with a characteristically bright smoky flame.

What are oil and natural gas used for?

Oil and natural gas are used to supply our nation's energy. Oil and natural gas also generate electricity that powers our everyday lives. Oil and natural gas fuel our cars, heat our homes, and cook our food.

How does oil and natural gas form?

Oil and natural gas result from the decay of tiny marine organisms that accumulated on the bottom of the ocean millions of years ago.

What are the four types of coal?

Peat, Anthracite, bituminous, and lignite.

How have changes in human societies change the demand for energy?

People in developed societies use a lot more energy than people in developing countries. The use of energy in some developing countries is growing significantly.

Nuclear Fusion

The combination of the nuclei of small atoms to form a larger nucleus. Fusion releases tremendous amounts of energy.

Peat

The first step in the geological formation of other fossil fuels.