Uranium (Nuclear) Study Guide
Nuclear fusion Nuclear fission
Name the two processes in which nuclear energy is released from an atom
Dry casks
One place to store used nuclear fuel is under water. What is the other temporary solution?
Moveable control rods
What are located between the fuel assemblies of a nuclear power plant?
Radioactive waste Unused nuclear fuel
What are the two things contained in spent fuel?
Yellow cake
What do they call the concentrated powder made from uranium?
Spent fuel
What do they call the fuel removed from a nuclear reactor?
Reactor pressure vessel
What do they call the shell surrounding a reactor core?
The uranium fuel cycle
What do they call the steps from mining the uranium ore, through its use in a reactor and ending with disposal?
Steam generators
What do they use at a nuclear power plan in place of a turbine to produce electricity?
Thermal and radiant
What energy forms are released in tremendous amounts when a nucleus splits in two?
The reactor
What is considered the center of a nuclear power plant?
Uranium 235
What is the most commonly used form of uranium for energy production?
Breeding
What is the process that converts uranium into plutonium?
Enrichment
What is the process that increases the percentage of uranium 235 from .7% to between 3 and 5%?
Rems or millirems
What is the unit used to measure radiation?
A naturally occurring radioactive element.
What is uranium?
In situ leaching
What method do we use in the U.S. to obtain uranium instead of mining?
Atom bomb
What was nuclear fission first used for?
1938
What year did German scientists successfully split a nucleus?
When the earth was created
When was uranium formed?
Underground in deep geological repositories
Where do most scientists believe is the safest place to store nuclear waste?
Nucleus of an atom
Where does nuclear energy come from?
Third
Where does nuclear energy rank among the other sources in the production of electricity in the U.S.?
Shippingport, Pennsylvania
Where was the first nuclear power plant brought online?
Nuclear fission
Which energy release process do nuclear power plants employ?
They have more neutrons than protons
Why are radioactive atoms unstable?
3-mile Island, Pennsylvania Chernobyl, Russia Fukushima, Japan
List the locations of the three worst nuclear accidents in the world:
Alpha particles Beta particles Gamma rays
List the three forms of radiation:
Vermont New Hampshire South Carolina New Jersey Illinois
List the top five states for nuclear generated electricity in the U.S.:
Where do they ship uranium hexafluoride to be enriched?
Gaseous diffusion plant
12 - 18 months
How long do the fuel rods remain in use before being replaced?
100 years
How long do they estimate the uranium reserves to last at our current rate of usage?
149 gallons
How many gallons of oil would it take to produce the energy of one pencil eraser-sized pellet of enriched uranium?
10.9%
How much of the world's electricity does nuclear energy provide?
