nuclear energy?

Question

can someone please give me a link to a picture on how nuclear energy works itsfor science class 10 points for best answer

Answer 1

I don't know a link, but can provide a bit of an explanation. Uranium contains three isotopes: 234, 235, and 238. The amount of 234 is too small to be interesting. In natural uranium, 235 is 0.71% of the mass, almost all the rest is 238. U-235 has the property that if an atomic nucleus is struck by a neutron, the atom will probably fission (break into two pieces), and release several neutrons in the process. Most are released immediately (prompt neutrons), but some take a while to show up. U-238 also captures neutrons, but is less likely to fission than is U-235. If an assemblage of uranium can be made to produce more neutrons than are absorbed in the production process, a reaction can continue. The propensity of U atoms to capture neutrons depends strongly on their energy, and a reaction in natural uranium works better if the neutrons, which are traveling rapidly when produced, are slowed down by a substance called a moderator. Reactors use three different materials as moderators:
- Graphite. This was used in the reactors that made the plutonium for the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
- Heavy water: water which contains a significant quantity of deuterium as opposed to normal hydrogen. A Canadian reactor design called CANDU uses this.
- Normal water. Because water absorbs some neutrons, a reaction cannot take place with water as a moderator unless the uranium is enriched in its percentage of U-235. Uranium enrichment plants are found in Ohio and at Oak Ridge in Tennessee. Most US nuclear reactors use normal water with uranium enriched to 2 to 3% U-235.
So you build your reactor by assembling uranium (in the form of fuel rods or cans) with your moderator, and add some control rods (which absorb neutrons) to control the speed of the reaction. The reaction produces a large amount of heat, which is used to make steam and spin a turbine; from here on, nuclear power is the same as power from coal -- but it doesn't produce tons of carbon dioxide. (It produces pounds of radioactive waste instead.)

Answer 2

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear1.htm

Answer 3

http://mymookie.net/everything-guide.htm

Answer 4

Why don't you just visit http://www.uic.com.au and have a look at what they've got.