Aim: Nuclear chemistry, the good, the bad and the ugly. Oct. 6, 2010 Aim: Nuclear chemistry, the good, the bad and the ugly. Do now: If we started with 20 grams of calcium and now have 5 grams of it left over, how many half lives passed?

THE GOOD Nuclear Power plants produce energy Nuclear power is produced by controlled (i.e., non-explosive) nuclear reactions. Commercial and utility plants currently use nuclear fission reactions to heat water to produce steam, which is then used to generate electricity. fission and fusion appear promising for space propulsion applications, generating higher mission velocities with less reaction mass

THE BAD The most important waste stream from nuclear power plants is spent nuclear fuel. It is primarily composed of unconverted uranium as well as significant quantities of transuranic actinides (plutonium and curium, mostly). In addition, about 3% of it is fission products are from nuclear reactions. The actinides (uranium, plutonium, and curium) are responsible for the bulk of the long-term radioactivity, whereas the fission products are responsible for the bulk of the short-term radioactivity

THE UGLY Mutatation of fish and other living organisms Pollution of the land Mutations of the human tissue upon exposure (video)