A slide presentation prepared by Energy Solutions for use by Boy Scouts and High School students

1. Nuclear Energy and the Use of
Nuclear Materials
Accompanying Power Point Presentation Material
for High School
and Middle School Teachers
By
Drs. Raul A. Deju and Harry Babad

2. Chapter 1. Energy

3. What is Energy?
• As world population increases and as
societies in the world become more
advanced, humanity will use more energy.
Energy is the agent of progress- however,
we must use it wisely.
• Energy is the capacity to do work.

4. Principal Sources of Energy
• Fossil Fuels- coal, oil, and gas
• Wind Energy
• Solar Energy
• Hydroelectric Power
• Biomass
• Ethanol and Bio-diesel
• Geothermal Energy
• Nuclear Energy
• Tidal Energy
• Fuel Cells

5. Coal is crushed into a powder form and is used to
power a steam boiler which in turn drives an
electric generator.
A coal generating station

6. Oil is extracted from deep in the earth and transported to refineries
where gasoline and other oil–derived products are manufactured.
Gasoline or diesel are the principal products that are used to fuel cars,
trucks, and planes.
Petroleum refinery

7. Characteristics of Fossil Fuels
• Coal, oil, and gas are non-renewable carbon based
(fossil) fuels.
• Fossil fuels contribute to global warming.
• In the US, coal is the fossil fuel most used for electricity
production while gasoline derived from oil is the
preferred fuel of the transportation sector.
• Burning coal to produce electricity produces sulfur
dioxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate
matter.
• When producing electricity from fossil fuels the power
plants must include extensive pollutant containment
devices. In the future, any coal burning plants will need
to sequester the carbon dioxide emissions.

8. The wind hits the blades of a large turbine and the
resulting energy is converted into electricity.
A large wind farm

9. Solar cells are used to receive the energy of the
sun’s rays and transform this energy into
electricity.
Solar Collectors

10. A turbine connected to an electricity generator converts the energy of
flowing or falling water into mechanical energy. The falling water’s
energy needs to be captured generally by building a dam.
A hydroelectric dam

11. Ethanol plants can use crops such as corn or sugar or non-crop
cellulosic material to produce an alcohol-based fuel that can be used
principally in the transportation sector to replace gasoline. Cars that
can use an 85% ethanol, (E-85) blend are manufactured today.
Ethanol plant adjacent to a large coal generating station

12. Nuclear Energy
Side view of a nuclear power plant
Aerial view of a nuclear power plant

13. What about nuclear energy?
• Nuclear energy takes advantage of the
enormous energy produced when atoms of
uranium are literally split apart. The resulting
energy is then used to boil water and produce
steam to power an electrical turbine.
• Nuclear reactors produce about 20% of the
electricity in the world today.
• Three nuclear accidents many years ago have
reshaped the nuclear industry forever to where
today many consider it the safest industry in the
world, while still many regard it as something to
be feared.

14. Other Forms of Energy
• Biomass Plants generally use wood, paper
waste, agricultural or municipal waste as a
source of fuel.
• Geothermal energy uses the heat inside the
earth’s crust and inside deep hot steam to drive
turbines to produce electricity.
• Energy can also be drawn from chemical
reactions, by capturing the energy from tides
and in many other ways that we are only
beginning to think about.

15. There is a new and important
energy source out there….
• It is called energy conservation + energy
efficiency.
• We save energy every time we walk and not
take a car. We also can do things efficiently by
organizing our activities to minimize energy use.
• Every time we save energy we save the planet
for us and future generations.

16. Energy and Global Warming
• The worst culprits of global warming are fossil-
fuel-based electricity plants and cars, trucks, and
planes. They contribute a vast amount of
carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
• Nuclear energy and renewable fuels such as
wind and solar essentially contribute no carbon
dioxide emissions and effectively save us from
global warming. Of course, conservation and
efficiency are best to help us save our
resources. One must also deal with nuclear
waste.

17. Additional Reading Recommended
to Supplement Chapter 1
• Andrew Darvill’s Science Site – Energy Resources Home Page
The site describes all commonly used energy sources and their advantages and
disadvantages from a British teacher’s point of view.
http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/index.htm
• Alternative Energy Blog—Solar-Energy-Wind-Power
A discussion site about renewable Energy alternatives http://alt-e.blogspot.com/
• The Energy Blog
The Energy Blog is a place where all topics relating to The Energy Revolution are
presented and form the basis for discussion. http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/
• Energy Kid’s Page — Energy Facts
A good source of basic facts about energy alternatives for young people published by the
U.S. Energy Information Administration http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/ and
Scientific Forms of Energy
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/science/formsofenergy.html
• USDOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
The EERE site provides information on the 10 DOE technology programs. It is especially
useful to find out what’s going on both in energy, as well as transportation. A youth
oriented page is also available on the site, as is one for teachers.
http://www.eere.energy.gov/; http://www.eere.energy.gov/kids/ and
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/education/
• Coal vs. Nuclear, University of Wollong. Article on Nuclear Power and Australia);
http://www.uow.edu.au/eng/phys/nukeweb/reactors_nuc_v_coal.html
• Solar vs. Nuclear Energy: Exploring the Best Options for Hawaii
By Michael R. Fox Ph.D., 4/4/2007 8:42:14 PM The Hawaii Reporter,
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?80ac913f-6520-43f4-934b-b2c7534b4bf0

18. Chapter 2. Nuclear Energy Production
Nuclear plant containment building
Nuclear plant fuel pool

19. Nuclear Energy Production
• Nuclear energy is a form of energy that has both
environmental and economic benefits and
problems.
• The uniqueness and complexity of all the
processes that produce nuclear fuel and use it to
generate electricity have led to both major
benefits and social controversy.

20. Nuclear fission produces heat when neutrons are
used to bombard heavy atoms such as Uranium.
Typical fission reaction

21. Nuclear power is produced in reactors. These
include various components principally, nuclear
fuel, moderators, coolants, steam generators,
turbines, condensers, cooling towers and of course
a containment structure.
Typical pressurized water reactor

22. What is in a nuclear reactor?
• Nuclear Fuel- mostly enriched Uranium although
some reactors use natural Uranium.
• Moderators such as water or heavy water are
used to control the velocity of fast neutrons and
therefore moderate nuclear reactions.
• Coolants such as water or heavy water serve to
absorb and take away the heat from the fission
reaction.

23. There is More!
• Steam Generators – Hot water from a nuclear
reactor is pumped through a heat exchanger to
generate high pressure steam.
• Turbine Generators produce electricity derived
from the steam.
• Control rods are inserted or withdrawn from the
core of a nuclear reactor to control the rate of
reaction or even to halt the reaction.

24. and more!
• The condenser removes the heat to convert the
steam back to water.
• The cooling tower removes the heat to return the
cooling water to ambient temperature.
• The containment structure protects those
outside from the effect of radiation exposure in
case of a malfunction inside and also serve to
prevent intrusion.

25. The world is heavily dependent on nuclear power as a source of
electricity. About 60 new plants are in planning or under construction
throughout the world.
Nuclear reactors and net operating capacity in the world, 1956 to March 2005 (GWe)

26. The front end of the nuclear fuel cycle identifies
the steps that are needed to feed the fuel to run
nuclear reactors.
Exploration
and mining
Milling or In-situ
Solvent Recovery
Concentration and
Conversion
Enrichment
Fuel Fabrication Reactor
Operations
Front end of the nuclear fuel cycle

27. Uranium provides the energy source for nuclear reactors. 1
ton of uranium has the equivalent energy of 20,000 tons of
coal!
Typical fuel pellet
Fuel assembly in a representative
boiling water reactor (about 4.3
meters [14 feet]) tall and each
weighing about 317.5 kilograms
(700 pounds). NFI type 9x9 Fuel.

28. The Back-End of the Nuclear Fuel
Cycle
• The back end describes the processes needed
to safely handle reactor waste and to ultimately
decommission a nuclear reactor.
• In countries other than the US, a closed-loop
nuclear fuel cycle is preferred and spent nuclear
fuel is reprocessed to produce new fuel. This
closed cycle is more efficient in capturing energy
that would otherwise be thrown away.

29. Additional Reading Recommended
to Supplement Chapter 2
• Nuclear Power from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power
• Nuclear Fuel Cycle, World Nuclear Association, January 2007,
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf03.html
• Nuclear Reactor Technology from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor
• A Case for Nuclear-Generated Electricity by Heaberlin, Scott W., Published by
Battelle Press, 2003, ISBN: 1-57477-136-1
• The Nuclear Energy Option by Professor Emeritus Bernard L. Cohen University
of Pittsburgh Published by Plenum Press, 1990. Much to our surprise, after
rereading Professor Cohen’s book his arguments ring as true today as they did
in 1990. http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/%7Eblc/book/index.html
• The Need for Nuclear Power by Richard Rhodes and Denis Beller;
http://www.nci.org/conf/rhodes/index.htm/
• Electrical Supply Status, Nuclear Energy Institute,
http://www.nei.org/keyissues/reliableandaffordableenergy/electricitysupply/,
and references therein to the IAEA and elsewhere.

30. Chapter 3. What is Radiation?
Our sun is a large source of radiation.
Radiation is energy that travels through space.

31. The energy spectrum ranges from low frequency (higher wavelength)
waves such as those involved in radio transmission to high frequency
(smaller wavelength) energy waves known as ionizing radiation.
The energy spectrum.
Wavelength
(meters)

32. Ionizing radiation occurs in various forms principally alpha particles,
beta particles, and gamma rays. All of these have various penetrating
abilities.
α, β, and γ penetrating power

33. Various Forms of Ionizing
Radiation
• Alpha particles are super-energized helium
nuclides; they are dangerous if inhaled or
ingested; they have very limited penetration
distance.
• Beta particles are high energy, negatively-
charged electrons; they are a skin, inhalation
and ingestion hazard; They can be stopped by
normal clothing.
• Gamma rays are highly energetic
electromagnetic energy and can only be stopped
by very dense materials.

34. Neutrons: A Form of Ionizing
Radiation
• Neutrons are particles produced by the decay of
some radioactive substances or through a
process called nuclear fission. Some neutrons
are high energy, fast moving particles while
others are low velocity low energy particles.

35. Radiation is not to be feared. Radiation safety is essential for its proper
usage. Knowing the nature of a source of radiation, the source location
and its intensity allows us to take advantage of nuclear materials
without subjecting ourselves and others to the negative consequences
we fear.
Radiation signage

36. Radiation is all around us. For example the Aurora Borealis visible in
the northern latitudes is the result of the interaction of cosmic radiation
from outer space with the outer layers of the atmosphere.
Aurora Borealis

37. Many man-made products contain radioactive materials. Smoke
detectors use Americium-241 to trigger a sound alarm. Americium-241
detects smoke in the air.
Smoke detector

38. As atoms decay, they give up radiation and produce various unstable
elements on their way to producing a stable element. Uranium-238
goes through 14 transformations on its way to becoming Lead-206.
The uranium decay chain
Uranium-238
∝ Rays
Thorium-234
β Rays
Protactinium-234
β Rays
Uranium-234
∝ Rays
Thorium-230
∝ Rays
Radium-226
∝ Rays
Radon-222
∝ Rays
Polonium-218
∝ Rays
Lead-214
β Rays
Bismuth-214
β Rays
Polonium-214
∝ Rays
Lead-210
β Rays
Bismuth-210
β Rays
Polonium-210
∝ Rays
Lead-206 stable

39. Half Life
• The half life of a radioactive isotope represents
the time that is needed for half of the unstable
atoms of a given radio-isotope to decay.
Uranium-238 has a half life in the billions of
years and roentgenium has a half life of less
than one second.

40. Many radionuclides are very useful. Here are
some of their uses:
Color brighteners in dental fixtures; dating old rocks4.5 billion yearsUranium-238
Check radioactivity counters at in-vitro diagnostic labs15.7 million yearsIodine-129
Carbon dating of ancient artifacts
Test new drugs for harmful by-products5730 yearsCarbon-14
Irradiate blood for transfusions
Calibrate equipment
Sterilize garbage and medicinal wastes
Treat cancers,30 yearsCesium-137
Industry11 yearsKrypton-85
Medical therapy8 daysIodine-131
Agriculture20 minutesCarbon 11
UseHalf-lifeIsotope

41. But we must use them safely
Monitoring programs are essential components of radiation protection

42. The Key is Safety
• While the atom can be safely harnessed, it takes
knowledge of the consequences of radiation to
do so. A person, however, does not become
radioactive by exposure to radiation. X-rays will
not make you glow in the dark. A smile from a
friend may make you actually glow, but it won’t
be because that smile includes some Uranium-
238 color brighteners.

43. Additional Reading Recommended
to Supplement Chapter 3
• US Environmental Protection Agency on Radiation and
Radioactivity http://www.epa.gov/radiation/understand/
• What We Know About Radiation, an NIH Fact Sheet
http://www.nih.gov/health/chip/od/radiation/
• About Background Radiation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_radiation
• Radiation And Modern Life: Fulfilling Marie Curie's Dream
(Hardcover) by Alan E. Waltar (Author), Helene Langevin-Joliot,
Publisher: Prometheus Books (November 5, 2004), ISBN-10:
1591022509, ISBN-13: 978-1591022503
• Radiation, Health and Safety, Nuclear Industry Association
(UK), http://www.niauk.org/images/stories/pdfs/radiation-health-
safety.pdf
• Radiation and Life, World Nuclear Association, July 2002,
http://www.world-nuclear.org/education/ral.htm

44. Chapter 4. How safe are nuclear plants?
Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactor Site Banqiao Hydroelectric Dam in China
26,000 people died from the break of the Banqiao
Hydroelectric dam in China while no one died as a result
of the Three Mile Island accident.

45. To understand nuclear plant safety one must understand
the consequences of exposure to nuclear radiation through
various pathways.
Main environmental pathways of human radiation exposure

46. The three worst nuclear accidents
changed the industry forever
• Three Mile Island, US
• Chernobyl, Ukraine
• Windscale, UK

47. The Windscale nuclear reactor accident in the UK
resulted from a fire in the graphite reactor which
led to some radiation exposure
Windscale Nuclear Reactor

48. The key that saved lives in Three Mile Island was
the containment structure
Schematic of TMI 2. (Note the reactor containment building, a feature missing
from the Chernobyl Reactor.)

49. The legacy of TMI is greater safety
TMI-1 and TMI-2. The TMI-1 reactor is still in operation. TMI-2 was shut down after
the accident but there were no visible external signs of the accident on the site.

50. Chernobyl led to a major evacuation and an entombment of
a reactor, yet loss of life was more limited than initially
anticipated. It helped change the design and safety culture
worldwide.
Monitoring the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

51. The views from Chernobyl
Chernobyl immediately after the accident
A herd of almost extinct Przewalski's horses roams
Ukraine's Chernobyl exclusion zone
A conceptual rendering of the new, safe confinement
being planned to replace the aging sarcophagus. (Note
that the flat end wall is shown transparent so that
buildings inside may be seen.)

52. New nuclear plants incorporate multiple safety layers.

53. Additional Reading Recommended
to Supplement Chapter 4
• How Safe Are Nuclear Plants, FAQs, IAEA InfoLog January 2006,
http://www.iaea.org/blog/Infolog/?page_id=23
• Safety of Nuclear Power Reactors, World Nuclear Association, September 2007.
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf06.html
• List of Civilian Nuclear accidents, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_civilian_nuclear_accidents
• Three Mile Island Accident NRC Fact Sheet,
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html
• Three Mile Island: 1979, Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 48, March 2001; NEI, Nuclear Energy Overview
8/5/00.
• Chernobyl Disaster From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster
• Chernobyl Accident, Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper 22, World Nuclear Association, May 2007;
http://www.uic.com.au/nip22.htm
• OECD NEA 1995, Chernobyl Ten Years On, radiological and health impact, - 2002 update; IAEA 1996, Ten
years after Chernobyl: what do we really know? (From April 1996 conference), May 2007
• The Chernobyl accident — UNSCEAR's assessments of the radiation effects,
http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html
• Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts, Chernobyl Forum, IAEA 2006.
http://www-ns.iaea.org/meetings/rw-summaries/chernobyl_forum.htm
• Wormwood Forest – A Natural History of Chernobyl
By "Mary Mycio the pioneering American reporter who first visited the city of Kiev in 1989. She later
became the Kiev correspondent for the Los Angeles Times and a contributor to a variety of newspapers
around the world. http://www.chernobyl.in.ua/en/home/

54. Chapter 5. Managing Nuclear Waste
The proposed Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository near Las Vegas, Nevada

55. There are two sources of
nuclear waste
• Commercial production to produce nuclear
materials, generate power, or conduct
research.
• Military applications including nuclear
weapons production.

56. The Military Waste Legacy
• The two major sites containing military
waste today are the Hanford Site in
Washington State and the Savannah River
Site in South Carolina.
• A number of sites have already been
cleaned up while a great deal of clean-up
work is underway.

57. The Hanford Site has 53 million gallons of high
level nuclear waste mostly stored in underground
tanks.
The volume of Hanford high-level waste

58. Defense Waste Forms
• High level waste contains the fission products
and transuranic elements generated in a reactor
core.
• Transuranic waste is waste containing more
than 100 nanocuries of alpha-emitting isotopes
per gram of waste with half lives greater than 20
years.
• Low level waste is basically very low activity
waste.

59. High Level Waste
• This waste will be encapsulated in a glass matrix
and sent to a geologic repository for final
disposal. The process of making the waste into
a glass will be carried out in massive facilities at
places like Hanford and Savannah River.

60. TRU Defense (Military) Waste goes to a nuclear
waste repository in New Mexico- the WIPP facility
WIPP Facility near Carlsbad, New Mexico

61. Commercial Waste
• In the US, commercial nuclear activities
generate spent fuel rods that are held for
disposal at reactor sites until a commercial
waste repository is available.
• Low level waste (Classes A, B, and C)
depending on the level of radioactivity are sent
to low level waste landfills. Some materials can
be recycled.

62. In many other countries the spent fuel is
reprocessed to obtain additional energetic value.
This is economical today and is certainly more
effective than a once-through fuel usage cycle.
The COGEMA reprocessing plant

63. Commercial spent fuel in reactors
can be stored safely
Above-ground fuel storage containersSpent fuel pool storage at reactors

64. Low level radioactive waste is disposed safely
today.
Aerial and side view of the cell at the Clive, Utah, low-level radioactive waste
site.

65. A deep geologic repository for the final disposal of nuclear
waste will use natural geologic barriers to isolate the waste,
essentially for a very long time.
Natural barriers provide isolation for the proposed Yucca Mountain repository

66. Man-made barriers will add protection to fuel
entombed in a geologic repository.
Spent fuel package and engineering barriers

67. Numerous collision and drop tests have proven the safety of casks to
transport and entomb nuclear waste.

68. Nuclear energy plants take responsibility for their
ultimate disposition by setting funds aside for
restoring these sites to their original state.
Decommissioning of Big Rock Point (a) before, (b) during, and (c) celebrating the completion

69. Additional Reading Recommended
to Supplement Chapter 5
• Gephart, Roy, Hanford: A Conversation about Nuclear Waste and Cleanup.
Columbus: Published by Battelle Press, 2003, ISBN: 1-57477-134-5
• Understanding Radioactive Waste by Raymond Leroy Murray and Kristin L.
Manke (Paperback - Jul 2003), Battelle Press; 5th edition (July 2003) ISBN-
10: 1574771353, ISBN-13: 978-1574771350
• Long-Lived Legacy: Managing High-Level and Transuranic Waste at the
DOE. A Google Book.
http://books.google.com/books?id=VgGW6JRBf_8C&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&
dq=legacy+"defense+waste"&source=web&ots=HMLcesT_Rx&sig=P8OOZ
ZTdtmXugxPFsojxe3qhivk - PPP1,M1
• Yucca Mountain Project from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca_Mountain/
• Nuclear decommissioning from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_decommissioning
• Decommissioning in Short, a European Overview
http://www.eu-decom.be/about/decominshort/whatis.html
• HLW Recycling (Reprocessing – More Energy from a Pound of Uranium):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reprocessing

70. Chapter 6. Other Uses of Nuclear Materials
(a) X-ray, (b) Positron Emission Tomography (PET), (c) Food Irradiation Symbol, (d) Airline inspection
There are many applications that use nuclear materials including food
irradiation, medical technologies and nuclear batteries.
a
c
b
d

71. Over 10 million nuclear medicine patient
procedures are done in the US every year. The
most common is the use of x-rays
X-ray of the neck X-ray machine

72. Gamma Cameras can view organs from many angles.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) involves using
isotopes produced in a cyclotron to detect cancers. PET is
also used in cardiac and brain imaging.
Gamma camera Shielded syringe for PET scans (Diagplus).

73. Examples of Positron Emission Tomography
A PET scanner PET scan of a 20-year-old’s brain

74. Some cancerous growths can be controlled or eliminated
by irradiating the area containing the growth. External
irradiation can be carried out using a gamma beam from a
radioactive cobalt-60 source.
Tumor targeting

75. Tiny microspheres containing yttrium 90- (half life
64 hours) are infused through a catheter into the
liver to combat liver tumors.
Picture of a SIR-sphere

76. Food irradiation is a low temperature sterilization
that allows food to stay fresh longer
Picture of a government-approved irradiation
facility
Irradiated (stay fresh longer)
strawberries

77. The World Health Organization as well as other
food authorities throughout the world have proven
food irradiation to be safe.
This product has been irradiated

78. Source materials are safely encapsulated such
that they can be safely transported.
A doubly encapsulated sealed radioactive source

79. Plutonium 238 has powered more than 20 NASA
spacecrafts
Atomic-powered NASA deep space probe

80. Tritium is used in commercial signs, for luminous
dials, gauges, and wristwatches. It is also used to
make luminous paints.
Self-luminous exit sign

81. Radiography is used to check for cracks and
fractures in jet engines
Radiography being used to check a jet engine

82. Atomic batteries are not only used in spacecrafts.
They are also used in harsh environments such as
in Antarctica
Atomic batteries being used in Antarctica

83. Some Additional Uses of Nuclear
Materials
• Americium 241- smoke detectors
• Californium 252- for inspecting airline luggage
• Cesium 137- to measure and control the liquid
flow in oil pipelines
• Krypton 85- to measure dust and air pollutant
levels
• Nickel 63- to detect explosives

84. Additional Reading Recommended
to Supplement Chapter 6
• Industrial Nuclear Applications, Nuclear Energy Institute,
http://www.nei.org/howitworks/industrialapplications
• Radioisotopes in Medicine, World Nuclear Association, May 2007, http://www.world-
nuclear.org/info/inf55.html
• Radiation, Health and Safety, Nuclear Industry Association (UK),
http://www.niauk.org/images/stories/pdfs/radiation-health-safety.pdf
• “Food irradiation” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_irradiation/
• “Irradiation of Food and Food Packaging,” http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/opairrad.html/
• “Food Irradiation: The treatment of foods with ionizing radiation,”
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/opa-fdir.html
• “Food Irradiation,” http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/concen/tipcon/irrade.shtml
• Nuclear Powered Ships, World Nuclear Association, March 2007, http://www.world-
nuclear.org/info/inf34.html
• Transport(ation[HB1]) and the Hydrogen Economy, World Nuclear Association, September
2007, http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf70.html
• Nuclear Desalination, World Nuclear Association, October 2006, http://www.world-
nuclear.org/info/inf71.html
• Nuclear Process Heat for Industry, World Nuclear Association, September 2007,
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf116_processheat.html
• Smoke Detectors and Americium, World Nuclear Association, May 2002, http://www.world-
nuclear.org/info/inf57.html

85. Chapter 7. Nuclear Energy and Global Warming
Power generation resulting from burning carbon-based fuels is a major contributor to
global warming. Nuclear energy and renewable fuels, on the other hand, do not contribute
greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

86. Global Warming
• Global warming is the gradual warming of the
earth’s atmosphere as a result of natural causes
such as volcanism and as a result of human
activities, principally the burning of fossil fuels
and the generation of industrial pollutants. A
significant cause of global warming is the
emission of greenhouse gases principally
methane and carbon dioxide.

87. Predicted temperature increases 2070–2100

88. The Greenhouse Effect

89. Carbon dioxide releases from various
types of power plants
Essentially NoneOthers (Tidal and
Geothermal)
Essentially NoneWind Power
Essentially NoneHydroelectric Power
All Renewables
350 bkWh
Essentially NoneSolar Energy (Electric)
750 bkWhEssentially NoneNuclear Power
100 bkWh1,900Fuel Oil
600 bkWh1,300Natural gas
≈ 1,950 bkWh2,100Coal
Total Power Generated in
the United States (2003)
Approximate Amount of
CO2 Released in 1999
(Pounds of CO2 per MWh)
Energy Source
MWh = megawatt hours
bkWh = billion kilowatt hours

90. Growth in Power Demand

91. The power generation mix affects the output of greenhouse
gases. The top represents the U.S. and the bottom
represents France.

92. Additional Reading Recommended
to Supplement Chapter 7
• An introduction to Climate Change
http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Climate_Change/Older/Climate_Change_Introduction.html
and http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/Climate_Change/Older/Global_Warming.html
• Feeling the Heat — An introduction to climate change and how the international
community is responding.
http://unfccc.int/essential_background/feeling_the_heat/items/2918.php
• Global Climate Change Student Guide
• Atmosphere Climate and the Environment Site – The UK
• http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/Resources/gcc/contents.html
• Teachers' Guide to High Quality Educational Materials on Climate Change and
Global Warming; National Science Teachers Association.
• http://hdgc.epp.cmu.edu/teachersguide/teachersguide.htm
• Nuclear Energy and Climate Change from Climate Change.org and references contained
therein
• http://www.climatechange.org/
• Carbon Footprint from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_footprint
• “Global Warming/,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Warming/
• “Climate Change 2007,” http://www.ipcc.ch/ (Provided by Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change)
• Extinction from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinctions
and references contained therein

93. Linkages to Various Web Sites of
Possible Interest
Energy and Climate
EIA Energy Kid's Page Glossary of Energy Terms
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/glossary/index.html
• About Energy Resources
http://home.clara.net/darvill/altenerg/index.htm
• EPA Environmental Kids Club
http://www.epa.gov/kids/
• Finding out about global warming and climate change for Kids and Teachers
http://www.ukrivers.net/climate.html
• Kid Boogaloo Site — Kids Against Global Warming
http://www.alligatorboogaloo.com/kids/features/globey/globey001.html
• NRC Students Corner
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students.html
General Sciences and Technology
• The Way Things Work From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_Things_Work
• Exploring Science and Technology
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students.html
• How Stuff Works
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
• How Things Work-Physics
http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/
• How Stuff Works – It’s Good to Know
http://science.howstuffworks.com/
• About Education – Check out the Sciences Links
http://www.about.com/education/