Nuclear Power as An Alternative Energy Source

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Recommended: Growing importance of nuclear energy

Nuclear fission is going to become more and more useful in worldwide power production for the foreseeable future. The reasons are numerous, but can be summarized by the relative ease of reliable power production that is provided. This does not go without having many disadvantages. But it is the fact that nuclear fission provides a massive amount of reliable electrical energy at a relatively low cost that has many countries investigating the possibilities of nuclear power generation. To understand why nuclear power would be the only option (at this time) for an alternative to fossil fuel burning for energy production is to understand its history, the world’s current power production from nuclear power, and where it is going in the foreseeable future. The first man-made nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile 1, achieved critical status on December 2, 1942 (Department of Energy 1982). This crude reactor resembled more of a wood and brick lattice work than what many think of a nuclear reactor. This reactor was built under the supervision of both Enrico Fermi (who, along with J. Robert Oppenheimer, are known as the “fathers of the atomic bomb”) and Leo Szilard (first to conceive the idea of a nuclear chain reaction). It is Szilard that is responsible for the formation of the Manhattan Project (Department of Energy 2006). More importantly for power production, the reactor was made of a series of piles of uranium and graphite bricks, with wood planks providing both support and structural references. The control mechanisms were made of cadmium coated rods that easily absorbed the free-flowing neutrons of the controlled chain reaction. This first reaction produced only ½ of a watt of energy, but within ten days, the production was at 20... ... middle of paper ... ...: Characterization, treatment, and environmental impacts. Berlin: Springer. Stacy, Susan M. 2000. Providing the principle: A history of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory: 1949-1999. Idaho Falls: Idaho Operations Office of the Department of Energy. United States Department of Energy. 1982. The first reactor. Washington: Department of Energy. Accessed website: www.nuclear.energy.gov/pdfFiles/DE00782931.pdf. Accessed November 20, 2011. United States Department of Energy. 2006. The history of nuclear energy. Washington: Department of Energy. Accessed website: www.nuclear.energy.gov/pdfFiles/History.pdf. Accessed November 20, 2011. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Accessed website: http://www.nrc.gov. Accessed November 20, 2011. Wittman, Nora. 2011. The scramble for Africa’s nuclear resources. New African (June): 72-74.

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