Brief 4 - Message Delivery: What is Nuclear Power?

Nuclear power uses fission - the division of atoms. It divides uranium to create heat which, in simple terms, boils water and produces steam which turns a turbine and creates electricity. Uranium is an unstable component as it is radioactive. This means it can easily be split down into smaller parts. Kinetic energy from the atoms splitting turns into heat energy. Although Uranium isn't infinite it is in ample supply and the amount used for the process is  smaller than the amount of fossil fuels. One advantage of nuclear power is that it is so much more efficient than coal. 250g of uranium produces 20000 times more electricity than the same amount of coal. It is less harmful to the enviroment as it doesn't release any green house gases however  there is pollution from the radioactive waste. There is also the disadvantage that there is a risk of a disaster such as that of chernobyl. With a Brief understanding of Nuclear power and how it works it will now make understanding the following research easier.