Introduction

Nuclear energy is considerd as a huge energy source.Modern world need huge energy in daily life.Only nuclear energy can solve the problem for all country.
The world needs ever increasing energy supplies to sustain economic growth and development. But energy resources are under pressure and CO2 emissions already threaten our climate.

What options do we have for switching to a cleaner and more efficient energy future?How much will it cost? And what policies do we need? The IEA analysis demonstrates that a more sustainable energy future is within our reach, and that technology is the key. Increased energy efficiency, CO2 capture and storage, renewable, and nuclear power will all be most important. We must reduce the dependency on fossil fuels with its consequent effects on energy security and the environment.This innovative work demonstrates how energy technologies can make a difference in an ambitious series of global scenarios to 2050. The study contains technology road maps for all key energy sectors, including electricity generation, buildings, industry and transport.

Consideration to Design a Nuclear Power Plant

1. Responsibility for the environment
2. Economical Challenge
3. Global warming
4. Fuel avalibility
5. Local Environment Support
6. Efficiency in that area
7. Cost benefit analysis to compare with other fuel
8. Construction time
9. High Security
10. Plant life time
11. Waest management

News about Nuclear Energy

3 March 2008
Nuclear Energy for New Europe 2008

Nuclear Society of Slovenia is organizing the international conference Nuclear Energy for New Europe 2008, which will take place in Portorož from 8 to 11 Sept [more]

6 February 2007
ISO 9001 Compliance

We have earned the ISO 9001:2000 certification in December 2006. [more]

30 August 2006
Geographic Distribution of Visits

We have made a map of Slovenia, showing where our visitors are coming from. [more]

17 January 2006

Mini Encyclopaedia of Nuclear Energy

Mini Encyclopaedia of Nuclear Energy has been published. Check it out on-line in PDF or order your free copy! [more]

28 November 2005

New Lecture and Exhibition on Nuclear Fusion

Permanent exhibition at Nuclear Technology Information Centre has been enriched by the Nuclear Fusion Exhibition. At the same time new lecture on fusion is possible as well. [more]

Energy Units

BTU Content of Common Energy Units 1 barrel (42 gallons) of crude oil = 5,800,000 Btu

1 gallon of gasoline = 124,000 Btu
1 gallon of diesel fuel = 139,000 Btu
1 gallon of heating oil = 139,000 Btu
1 barrel of residual fuel oil = 6,287,000 Btu
1 cubic foot of natural gas = 1,031 Btu
1 gallon of propane = 91,000 Btu
1 short ton of coal = 20,754,000 Btu
1 kilowatt-hour of electricity = 3,412 Btu

Working Principle

How a nuclear fission reactor works

>>> The Proton-Proton Chain
>>> The Triple-Alpha Process
>>> Advanced Nuclear Burning Stages
>>> The Solar Neutrino "Problem"


The Proton-Proton Chain :

1H + 1H --> 2H + e+ + neutrino
2H + 1H --> 3He + gamma-ray
3He + 3He --> 4He + 2 1H

The individual nuclear reactions proceed rather slowly, and it is a very small fraction of nuclei in the core of the sun with enough energy to overcome the electrical repulsion.


The Triple-Alpha Process :

4He + 1H --> 5X
4He + 4He --> 8X
4He + 4He + 4He --> 12C



Advanced Nuclear Burning Stages :

nuclear burning stages are given below



>>>>Successive nuclear burning stages, involving more massive nuclei with higher charges, will require increasingly high temperatures to overcome the increased electrical repulsion.

>>>>The amount of energy released by each successive reaction stage decreases so that later nuclear burning stages become shorter and shorter.

>>>>Once fusion reactions have produced an iron core, further fusion reactions no longer produce energy, but absorb energy from the stellar core. As we shall see this may have a catastrophic effect on the star as it nears the end of its life.


12C + 4He --> 160 + gamma-ray

160 + 4He --> 20Ne + gamma-ray

12C + 12C --> 24Mg + gamma-ray

160 + 160 --> 32S + gamma-ray

Ray Produced

Radioactivity :

We all are affected by natural radiation from cosmic rays, radioactive substances.alpha ray,gamma ray ,beta ray.So we all should know about all of the rays and their effect and both advantages and disadvantages.

Radioactive substances :


a) plutonium 239 & 241,
b) uranium isotopes 235 or 233 or 238
c) substances which can be used in a suitable plant to maintain a chain reaction which initiates its own repetition and which are determined in an ordinance having the force of law.
d) spontaneously emit ionizing rays,

Properties of radiation :


>>ALPHA radiation has very low penetrating power. Materials that emit alpha radiation outside the body are harmless, since they are already stopped by the skin. But when these materials enter the body through inhalation or swallowing, they may be harmful.


>>BETA radiation is able to penetrate further through up to 1 or 2cm of tissue. Outside the body materials that emit beta radiation may be harmful to the surface tissue of the body; when such materials enter the body, they may harm the organs in which they are present.


>>GAMMA radiation penetrates even further and is able to go straight through the body. This may harm the organs in the body. X-rays are the same nature as gamma rays and can also affect the organs in the body.


Sources of radiation :

Natural sources of radiation :

This natural radioactivity may be found in rocks, in soil, in materials used for buildings construction, in foods and liquids that we eat and drink, and in the human body itself.


Cosmic radiation, arising from the sun or other galactic bodies, also contributes to natural radiation exposure.

Human -made sources :

The most important of these is the use of radioactive materials for medical applications such as the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients.


Some manufactured goods also contain small radioactive sources, e.g. smoke detectors. Energy generation - for example nuclear energy production, extraction of oil and natural gas, and burning coal - also involves the release of small amounts of radioactivity to the environment.


There is also a low level of residual radioactivity in the environment from the nuclear bomb tests of the 1950s and 1960s.


A severe nuclear accident, like Chernobyl, can add to this man-made radioactivity in the environment.

Comparison the Electricity Production Costs:


>>>Nuclear power is cost competitive with other forms of electricity generation, except where there is direct access to low-cost fossil fuels.


>>>Fuel costs for nuclear plants are a minor proportion of total generating costs, though capital costs are greater than those for coal-fired plants.


>>>In assessing the cost competitiveness of nuclear energy, decommissioning and waste disposal costs are taken into account.


During 1973 American population has grown from 211 million to almost 281 million, economy has grown about 50 percent, but their use of energy have grown only 10 percent. But their economic growth, however, have been fueled largely by electric power.Between 1973 and 1990, their GDP grew by about 50 percent. In the same period, electricity use grew by more than 58 percent. From this information, we can conclude that in order to meet the needs of their strong economy and their growing population, we must have reliable supplies of electric power. The nation's nuclear power plants produced 674 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1996. This was more electricity than the entire country consumed in the early 1950s. Worldwide, there are 442 nuclear power plants at work, contributing about 19 percent of the world's electricity supply.



The relative costs of generating electricity from coal, gas and nuclear plants vary considerably depending on various locations. Coal is economically attractive in countries such as China, the USA and Australia. Gas is also competitive for base-load power in many places.Nuclear energy is, in many places, competitive with fossil fuel for electricity generation, despite relatively high capital costs and the need to internalize all waste disposal and decommissioning costs. If the social, health and environmental costs of fossil fuels are also taken into account, nuclear is outstanding.

Nuclear Reactions

Nuclear energy can be produced by either of two types of reactions: fission, the splitting apart of a massive atomic nucleus, or by fusion of lighter nuclei into a heavier nucleus.

There are four major types of nuclear reaction:

1>>"fission", the splitting of a nucleus into two "daughter" nuclei:
n + 235U -> 141Ba + 92Kr + 3n;

2>>"fusion" of two "parent" nuclei into one daughter nucleus:
p + p -> 2 H + e+ + n + .42 MeV,
where n stands for a "neutrino"

3>>"neutron capture", used to create radioactive isotopes, in whichthe nuclear charge (Z, the atomic number) is unchanged,the nuclear mass (A = number of protons + neutrons, the atomic mass) increases by one,andthe number of neutrons (N) increases by one (note that N always = A - Z);and

4>>various "decay modes", in which nuclei "spontaneously" eject one or more particles and lose energy to become nuclei of lighter atoms.


History of Nuclear Energy

>>1942 December 2 : First self sustaining nuclear chain reaction
>>1945 July 16 : The American Army tests first atomic bomb
>>1945 August 6 : The little boy dropped on Hiroshima, Japan
>>1945 August 9 : The Fat Boy dropped on Nagasaki, Japan
>>1946 August 1 : Creation of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)
>>1947 October 6 : First investigation by the AEC for peaceful uses of atomic energy
>>1949 March 1 : Site selection in Idaho for National Reactor Testing Station
>>1951 December 20 : Production of first electric power from nuclear energy
>>1952 June 14 : Navy’s first nuclear submarine
>>1953 March 30 : Starting of first nuclear power units by Nautihis
>>1953 December 8 : Atoms for Peace” given by President Eisenhower
>>1954 August 30 : First major amendment of the original Atomic Energy signed by President Eisenhower
>>1955 January 10 : The AEC announces the power demonstration reactor program
>>1955 July 17 : 1000 people of Arco, Idaho first powered by nuclear power plant
>>1955 August 8-20 : International conference on peaceful use of Atomic Energy in Geneva
>>1957 July 12 : First civilian nuclear station generated by Sodium Reactor Experiment in SantaSusana, California
>>1957 September 2 : The price Anderson Act provides financial protection and Act licensees & for major Accident occurs at nuclear plant
>>1957 October 1 : Creation of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria for peaceful Use & prevention for spreading nuclear weapons
>>1957 December 2 : The world’s first largest nuclear plant operation in Shipping port, Pennsylvania.
>>1958 May 22 : Constriction of first nuclear plant merchant ship in Canada
>>1959 October 15 : The first U.S nuclear plant without government funding
>>1960August 19 : The Yankee Rowe Nuclear power Station achieves self sustaining nuclear reaction
>>1961 November 22: The world’s largest ship the U.S.S Enterprise carried with the ability to operate 30- 740800km without refueling
>>1963 December 12: Nuclear plant is ordered as an economic alternative to a fossil fuel plant
>>1964 August 26 : Private Ownership of Special Nuclear Materials
>>1964 October 3 : “Operation Sea Orbit”
>>1965 April 3 : First nuclear reactor in space (SNAP-10A) launched
>>1970 March 5 : Total 48 nation’s treaty for non proliferation of nuclear weapons
>>1971 : 22 commercial plants are in full operation in U.S.A
>>1973 : Built up 41 plants
>>1974 October 11 : AEC functions divided into two agencies---The Energy Research & Development Administration (ERDA) AND the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
>>1977 April 7 : USA plans for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel
>>1977 August 4 : Signed by President Cater for Department of Energy Organization Act.
>>1977 October 1 : Starting the operation of DOE
>>1979 March 28 : Accident in USA, no one injured
>>1982 October 1 : The Shipping port power Station shat down
>>1983 January 7 : The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) establish
>>1983 : Nuclear Power generates more Electricity than natural gas.
>>1984 : 83 plant provide 14% electricity
>>1985 : 100th plant was The Perry power plant in Ohio
>>1986 April 26 : Chernobyl explosions
>>1987 December 22: NWPA is amended
>>1989:109 plants provides 19 persent of electricity
>>1990 March : DOE launches for improving operational safety in Soviet Union
>>1991 :111 plants in USA with capacity 99673 megawatts
>>1992 February 26 : DOE signs a cooperative agreement with the nuclear industry
>>1992 October 24 : The Energy Policy Act pf 1992 is signed into law
>>1992 December 2 : The 50th anniversary of Fermi experiment
>>1993 March 30 : Funding for next generation plant comes form Advanced Reactor Corporation (ARC)
>>1993 September 6 : Joined program by General electronic and DOE