2. Are you prepared?... Amazon instant video - start16:18

4. When people think about nuclear power they think about… 1.Effects of radiation 2.Nuclear disasters 3.Nuclear waste disposal

5. What is Radiation? Radiation = particles given off by unstable atoms. 3 Types: –Alpha ( α) Travels few inches Blocked by paper (skin) –Beta ( β) Travels few feet Blocked by aluminum, glass –Gamma ( γ) Travels far Blocked by lead (steel & concrete).

6. www.geology.fau.edu/course_info/fall02/ EVR3019/Nuclear_Waste.ppt

7. Background Radiation The amount of radiation we are exposed to daily from the environment Average = From natural sources  310 millirem/year From manmade sources  310 millirem/year

11. Genetic damages: from mutations that alter genes defects can become apparent in the next generation Somatic damages: to tissue, such as burns, miscarriages & cancers Effects of Radiation www.bio.miami.edu/beck/esc101/Chapter14&15.pp t

12. 434 commercial reactors in 30 countries, producing 11% electricity

13. www.bio.miami.edu/beck/esc101/Chapter14&15.ppt

16. Nuclear Energy The energy that exists within the nucleus of an atom. Nuclear Fission = the release of energy from the splitting of atoms! Nuclear Fusion = the combining of two smaller atoms into one larger atom. http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/29389-assignment-discovery-nuclear-basics-video.htm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGj_aJz7cTs – BBC ~4 minshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGj_aJz7cTs

17. Nuclear Fission http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmy5fivI_4U

18. Nuclear Fusion

19. Nuclear Power Plant 1.a controlled nuclear fission chain reaction 2.heats water 3.produce high-pressure steam 4.that turns turbines 5.which turns generator and creates electricity. http://www.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power2.htm

20. Controlled Nuclear Fission Reaction

21. www.bio.miami.edu/beck/esc101/Chapter14&15.pp t http://www.animatedsoftware.co m/environm/nukequiz/nukequiz_ one/nuke_parts/reactor_parts.s wfhttp://www.animatedsoftware.co m/environm/nukequiz/nukequiz_ one/nuke_parts/reactor_parts.s wf

22. http://www.ida.liu.se/~her/npp/demo.html

23. Nuclear Reactor Where nuclear fission occurs. Surrounded by thick concrete, steel & lead. Blocks all radiation!

24. Inside the Reactor Fuel Rods –35,000 – 70,000 fuel rods –3% Uranium-235 pellets –In water (moderator) Control Rods –absorb extra neutrons –Control the chain reaction http://safetyfirst.nei.org/safety-and-security/interactive-graphic

25. Cooling Tower Water is the coolant in the system. Tower is used to condense hot steam to liquid water. Usually taken from river, lake, ocean. Water can be reused.

27. Renewable or Non-Renewable?

28. Nuclear waste Power plants produce radioactive wastes –mostly spent fuel rods (~4.5 years) –each reactor produces about 20-30 tons yearly Currently stored in pools on site (~5 yrs) and then above ground dry casks –some remain dangerous for tens of thousands of years How should we store this waste?

31. Yucca Mountain

32. Options for Waste –Keep onsight –Bury –Shoot into space –Bury in ocean floor –Bury in Antarctica –Change it into harmless or reprocess to make new fuel

33. Low-Level & High Level Radioactive Waste Emit small amounts of ionizing radiation Stored 100-500 years 1940  1970: put in steel drums, dumped in ocean (still UK & Pakistan) 1970+: gov’t run landfills Stored for thousands of years Mostly spent fuel rods (240,000 yrs) Safety debate Options: –Keep onsight –Bury –Shoot into space –Bury in ocean floor –Bury in Antarctica –Change it into harmless

34. Decommissioning Life span of a power plant = 15-40 years –Parts wear out, Fuel is spent –Plant is shut down Highly radioactive for 240,000 years Must store for 10 times the half-life –What can we do with them?

35. = time needed for one-half of the nuclei in a radioisotope to decay and emit their radiation to form a stable isotope Half-timeemitted Uranium 235710 million yrsalpha, gamma Plutonium 23924,000 yrsalpha, gamma Half-Life www.bio.miami.edu/beck/esc101/Chapter14&15.pp t

36. http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/s earch/assetDetail.cfm?guidAssetID=BE0F B49C-7C70-4C56-95F2-B3904BC9077Fhttp://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/s earch/assetDetail.cfm?guidAssetID=BE0F B49C-7C70-4C56-95F2-B3904BC9077F 10 min video on nuclear energy –Fission, fusion, overview

37. Uranium 92 U 238.02891 6 C Carbon 12.011 How many protons? How many electrons? How many neutrons? 92 protons 92 electrons 146 neutrons What is Radiation?

38. Pressurized Water Reactor Boiling Water Reactor

39. Three Mile Island - 1979.008 sieverts over 7 days Remember 1,000 sieverts is radiation sickness 5,000 is death http://maps.google.com/maps?um=1&hl=en&q=three%20mile%20island%20plant %20map&ndsp=20&safe=on&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=il

40. Chernobyl - 1986 300 sieverts per hour 240 acute radiation sickness; 31 died within 3 months 100,000 people evacuated Some claim up to 985,000 deaths due to Chernobyl

41. Chernobyl Fallout

42. Japan 0.4 sieverts per hour 70,000 people evacuated 140,000 told to stay inside

44. CHERNOBYL Then And Now