The produced neutrons can in turn yield additional fission events, producing a chain reaction that sustains energy production. The energy released is 1 million watt-days per gram of U-235 that undergoes fission, equivalent to 2.5 million times the energy released in burning one gram of coal. The fission process is caused by neutrons in the reactor core and both liberates considerable energy and produces more neutrons. 2, 2008)Īt the heart of the nuclear fuel cycle is the nuclear reactor that generates energy through the fission, or splitting, of uranium and plutonium isotopes… “The nuclear fuel cycle consists of the steps required to produce nuclear power, including the input of fissile material, the processes that convert raw material to useful forms, the outputs of energy, and the treatment and/or disposition of spent fuel and various waste streams…įission image from the Oxford Illustrated Science Encyclopedia (accessed Dec. Moniz, PhD, Director of Energy Studies at the MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, et al., wrote the following in the 2003 MIT interdisciplinary study “The Future of Nuclear Power,” published at the MIT website: John Deutch, PhD, Professor of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Instiutute of Technology (MIT), and Ernest J. Waste not properly isolated from the public and the generally accessible environment may contaminate air, soil, and water supplies.” Radioactive waste can remain radioactive for anywhere from days to hundreds or even thousands of years. Radioactive waste can be in liquid or solid form, and its level of radioactivity can vary… Nuclear power plant operations account for less than one-hundredth (1/100) of a percent of the average American’s total radiation exposure…Īny activity that produces or uses radioactive material generates radioactive waste that must be disposed of properly.
Nuclear power reactors, which use uranium, supply the United States with about 20 percent of its electricity. Most of our exposure is from indoor radon, followed by radiation from outer space and from the Earth’s crust… Naturally-occurring radiation accounts for approximately 80 percent of our exposure. It should be noted that all of the long-term health effects associated with exposure to radiation can also occur in people due to other causes… The additional contribution from all man-made sources of radiation is much smaller.
Factoring in the entire dose of natural background radiation accumulated over a lifetime, the risk of developing cancer as a result of this exposure is estimated to be roughly 1 in 100. While experts disagree over the definition of ‘low dose,’ radiation protection measures are based on an assumption that even small amounts of radiation exposure may pose some small risk.
Radiation can also cause other adverse health effects, including genetic defects in the children of exposed parents or mental retardation in the children of mothers exposed during pregnancy…Ĭurrent evidence suggests that any exposure to radiation poses some risk, however, risks at very low exposure levels have not been definitively demonstrated. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated the following in its May 2007 publication “Radiation: Risks and Realities,” available at “Radiation is known to cause cancer in humans.