Nuclear Energy is Green Energy Essay -- Power Plant Energy

Introduction In the turn of the new century, man has nearly depleted all the fossil fuels in the world and is desperately in need of a new clean and efficient energy source. A solution to this search of a new energy source is nuclear power. Nuclear power has been proven to be an amazing and powerful source of energy since World War Two however has not been efficiently brought to commercial use. Albert Einstein first came up with the idea of nuclear energy where mass could be converted into energy through his theory of relativity. The power of nuclear technology was later demonstrated in the Manhattan project and Hiroshima with Chicago Pile-1, the first man-made reactor in 1942. In December of 1951 during the Korean War, electricity was first generated by a nuclear reactor at the EBR-I experimental station in Idaho producing up to 100kW. Later, people saw the use of nuclear technology to produce energy and nuclear power became popular. In 1954 the USSR built a nuclear power plant which generated 5 megawatts of electricity which was enough for 2000 homes, the British built the first commercial nuclear power plant in 1956 (which produced 50MW and later 200MW) and the United States followed an year later with the Shippingport Reactor in Pennsylvania. (Nuclear Power, July 27, 2007, Para 5) Nuclear power is generated using many types of radioactive elements, the most common being uranium-238, uranium-235, and also plutonium 239. Like all conventional thermal power plants, a heat source is needed to create steam from water which turns turbines and create electricity. In one of the nuclear processes known as light water, a beam of slow neutrons is directed towards un-enriched natural uranium found which has a chemical composition of... ...tible, safe and clean energy source?, Energy for Future Centuries, Retrieved on July 31, 2007 from http://www.fusie- energie.nl/artikelen/ongena.pdf (Ongena, January 25, 2001, Pg 7, Para 2) (2007). Fact Sheet on the Three Mile Island Accident, United States Nuclear Reglatory Commision, Retrieved on July 31, 2007 from http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html Chernobyl disaster. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved July 31, 2007, from http:/Volumes/Untitled/cosmos/Chernobyl_disaster.html Nuclear Power. (2006). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved July 27,2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power (2007, July, 28). More than 12,000 MW nuclear power generation by 2020. The Economic Times, Retrieved July 31, 2007, from http://Volumes/Untitled/cosmos/2240670.cms.html (Economic Times, July 28, 2007, Para 2)