Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy

• Nuclear energy used for electricity

• Very similar to fossil fuel plants

Electricity Flow

Nuclear energy is mainly used for electricity.

More data can be found at the EIA

Fusion vs Fission

• Fusion joins atomic nuclei

• Sun is a fusion reaction

• Fission splits atomic nuclei

• Nuclear energy is a fission reaction

Fission

Electronic vs Nuclear Energy Levels

• Mass Energy Equivalence

• $E = mc^2$

• The very high binding energy in the nucleus allows for small amounts

  of fuel to release large amounts of energy

• 3 million times more electricity per kg than coal

Nuclear Decay

• Elements become other elements (the goal of alchemists)

• Iron most stable

Nuclear Fuel

Uranium Metal

Uranium Mine

Uranium Ore

Uranium Yellowcake

Nuclear Fuel Rods

Nuclear Reactor Core

Nuclear Reactor Diagram

Nuclear Waste Disposal

Half Life

• Definition

• Relation to carbon dating

• Relevance to end of life

• Plutonium 239 half life of 2400 years

Half Life

Water Fuel Storage

Above Ground Fuel Storage

Electricity Death Rates

$\textrm{Death Rate} = \frac {\textrm{Number of Deaths}} {\textrm{Electrical Energy Delivered}}$

Electricity Death Rates

Source	Deaths per TWh
Coal	161
Solar	0.44
Nuclear	0.04

Source: nextbigfuture.com based on WHO data

Nuclear energy

• Over 430 nuclear reactors

• 370 GW of capacity

• 70 reactors under construction

• About 10% of world electricity production

Nuclear Electricity Production

Nuclear Installed Capacity

Capacity vs Delivered Electricity

• US Nuclear Capacity

• US Nuclear Energy Production

Lifetime cost of nuclear electricity

• Cost is seen as a key weakness for nuclear electricity

• Plant construction

• Fixed operation and maintenance

• Variable operation and maintenance

• Decommissioning cost

• Waste disposal

Lifetime cost of nuclear electricity

• cost of construction 83.4 USD/MWh

• fixed operation and maintenance 11.6 USD/MWh

• variable operation and maintenance (fuel) 12.3 USD/MWh

• total 108.4 USD/MWh

• compare to coal (65.7, 4.1, 29.2, 100.1)

• compare to natural gas (17.4, 2.0, 45.0, 67.1)