User:Divyashreensg/sandbox

=                   NUCLEAR POWER = In our day to day life we do several works like running,walking, playing, dancing etc. we are able to do work because we have energy. Energy is defined as ability to do work.In our daily life we use different different appliances and electrical and electronic devices like water pump, electric lamp, fans, television etc. Do these also require energy to do their work? What kind of energy do they use for them to work? Yes they use none other than the electrical energy.

So the next question arises, Where do we get electrical energy from? Power stations? or substations? Then where do these station get energy from originally? There are different sources of electricity generation. viz.,
 * Hydro electric power station
 * wind mills
 * solar power
 * thermal electrical power station
 * nuclear energy etc.

Among all these one important source of electricity generation is nuclear energy.Let us anwer some basic questions about it. 1. Necessity of Nuclear power 2. What is nuclear energy? 3. Advantages of nuclear energy 4. Locations

1. Why do we need nuclear energy though there are other sources?
India has very limited reserves of fuels like coal and oil. As per the estimates these types of resources can exist only up to 100 years, if alternate resources are not found. And the these fuels also generate harmful gases when burnt leading to pollution of atmosphere. Considering wind mill, it require certain speed to rotate,unless which it does not rotate leading to no generation of energy. Hydro electric power stations are seasonal as it requires water. Hence this sources of generation is inevitable and also cost efficient.

2. what is nuclear energy?
We know that atom is the basic unit of a matter. We also know the structure of the atom. This consists of a dense nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons and electrons surrounding it.The atom will be stable if and only if the number of protons and the number of electrons are equal. If two atoms has same number of protons and has different atomic mass,we call it as isotopes. All elements have one or more number of isotopes. Some isotopes are naturally stable, and some become stable by emitting radiations like alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays (electromagnetic rays) etc. However, few unstable isotopes of heavy elements like Uranium and Plutonium undergoes fission transformation with the release of huge amount off energy called as nuclear energy. A part of this energy is converted into kinetic energy of he fragments(small atoms). Te kinetic energy of the fragments gets converted into heat energy and released in he meddium, when these fragments moving at high speed are stopped by any medium.

Protects ecology
These plants are located in un-inhabitted areas and not needed to destroy large forest areas. It does not emit harmful gasses like CO2, CO, NO as in the case of thermal power station (burning of coal). It also does not produce any flame smoke or as.

Cost effective
Apart from he cost of Uranium, the cost of transportation is very low for Uranium as the quantity used is less though sufficient amount of electricity is generated.

Sustainability
As already mentioned,India has very limited reserves of fuels like coal and oil. As per the estimates these types of resources can exist only up to 100 years. But India has large reserves of nuclear fuel in the form of Thorium in the sands of beaches of Kerala and Orissa. These large reseves are enough to meet the energy needs for many generations.
 * The waste generated is in very small quantity and is hence stored in the plant premises safely.

4. Where are nuclear power plants located in India?

 * Tarapur Atomic Power station, Tarapur, Maharashtra


 * Rajatan Atomic power station, Rawatbhata, Rajasthan
 * Madras Atomic power station, Kapakkam, Tamilnadu
 * Narora Atomic Power station,Kakarapar, Gujarat
 * Kaiga Atomic Power station, Kaiga, Karnataka
 * Kudankulam Atomic Power project, Kerala