Nuclear Power Industry in the UK - Admission/Application Essay Example

Nuclear Power Industry in the UK Introduction Conventional energy sources like the oil and natural gas deposits is exhausting day by day and it is necessary for the human to find out other alternatives for our future energy requirements. Nuclear energy is one option though it has certain merits and demerits. Nuclear energy can be liberated either through nuclear fusion process (combining two light nuclei to form a large nucleus) or nuclear fission process (breaking of a heavy nucleus into various components) It is difficult for us to conduct nuclear fusion process under controlled environment because of the huge amount of thermal energy required to fuse two nuclei together. But, controlled nuclear fission process is possible with the help of nuclear reactors. ‘A nuclear reactor produces and controls the release of energy from splitting the atoms of certain elements. In a nuclear power reactor, the energy released is used as heat to make steam to generate electricity. A nuclear reactor is a device which can be used for controlling nuclear chain reactions and sustaining it in a steady rate in order to output the nuclear energy in a controlled manner from a nuclear fission process. Fuel, moderator, coolant, control rods, containment, steam generator and pressure tubes are the essential components of a nuclear reactor. Uranium Oxide is usually used as fuel. Moderator (usually graphite or heavy water) is used for slowing down the fast moving neutrons released after the fusion process in order to get the control over the chain reaction. Control rods (cadmium or boron rods) further controls the reaction by absorbing excess neutron produced from the fusion process. Coolant is a liquid or gas circulating through the core so as to transfer the heat from it. Steam generator uses the heat liberated from nuclear fusion to convert the water into steam which is needed to operate the turbines of an electric generator. (Nuclear Power Reactors, 2009) ‘Nuclear reactors are of different types; Boiling Water Reactor (BWR), Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR), Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) are some of them. In the boiling water reactor the same water loop serves as moderator, coolant for the core, and steam source for the turbine. In the pressurized water reactor, the water which flows through the reactor core is isolated from the turbine. In the LMFBR, the fission reaction produces heat to run the turbine while at the same time breeding plutonium fuel for the reactor’ (Boiling Water Reactor, n.d) Boiling Water reactor (Boiling Water reactor, n.d) Used nuclear fuel has long been reprocessed to extract fissile materials for recycling and to reduce the volume of high-level wastes. New reprocessing technologies are being developed to be deployed in conjunction with fast neutron reactors which will burn all long-lived actinides. A significant amount of plutonium recovered from used fuel is currently recycled into MOX fuel; a small amount of recovered uranium is recycled (Processing of Used Nuclear Fuel, 2009) Advantages of using nuclear power to generate electricity for the UK The popular energy sources of oil is exhausting rapidly and it is already established that most of the oil producing countries are already attained their peak oil state (A state in which the maximum production of oil happens and there after the production will started to decline) It is necessary for UK like developed countries to develop new energy sources for their future energy requirements. Nuclear energy seems to be a better option for UK since electric power generation from other sources like hydro electric projects and thermal projects are not much suited to UK’s geographic conditions. Moreover, environment protection is a major concern for all the countries including UK. Petroleum processing and the usage of it in vehicles liberate toxic gases like Carbon Dioxide and methane to the atmosphere which not only increases the atmospheric temperature, but damages the protective ozone layer at the top of the atmosphere also. Hydro electric projects on the other hand cause challenges to the balance of eco system. Nuclear energy seems to be the best solution for UK’s energy crisis when we analyse the long term goals and the disadvantages of all these projects. Disadvantages of using nuclear power to generate electricity for the UK Nuclear power projects have disadvantages also. The main disadvantage of the nuclear power project is the disposal of nuclear waste produced from the nuclear reactors. Most of the waste coming out after the nuclear reaction processes is again radioactive. These radioactive nuclear wastes will last for thousands of years liberating harmful nuclear radiations. It is not possible to dispose this waste safely on earth either on land or under the sea. Some countries are thinking of disposing the nuclear wastes into outer universe. Another disadvantage of nuclear power projects are the reduced life of nuclear reactors. Nuclear reactors only last for about forty to fifty years. (Nuclear Energy, n.d) It is not possible and safe to use the nuclear reactors more than its life period. So new reactors need to be commissioned which is not an easy task when we consider the expenses of establishing a nuclear reactor. Conclusions When we analyses the merits and demerits of nuclear power, we can conclude that nuclear power is the future energy source for UK because of the increased advantages compared to the disadvantages. The availability of nuclear fuels and the exhausting oil resources all over the world, and the increasing energy demands increases the possibility of nuclear power as a future energy source for UK. The so called solar energy projects are another option for the energy requirements, but the technology required to convert solar energy into useful forms of mechanical energy is still expensive which underlines the importance of nuclear power for the future energy requirements of UK. References 1. Nuclear Power Reactors (2009), Retrieved on July 23, 2009 from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf32.html 2. Boiling Water Reactor (n.d), Retrieved on July 23, 2009 from http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/NucEne/reactor.html 3. Processing of Used Nuclear Fuel (2009), Retrieved on July 23, 2009 from http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf69.html 4. Nuclear Energy (n.d), Retrieved on July 23, 2009 from http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/nuclear_energy_body.html Read More