FISSION TECHNOLOGIES

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FISSION TECHNOLOGIES
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FISSION!!!
MOVIE CLIP
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Nuclear Chain Reactions
Play Movie
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Little Boy
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Inside the little guy
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Hiroshima
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(No Transcript)
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PAYLOADS

• TYPICAL ATOMIC BOMBS HAVE PAYLOADS OF _at_ 10
  KILOTONS
• THAT IS THE SAME DESTRUCTIVE FORCE AS EXPLODING
  10,000 TONS OF TNT!!!!

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Nuclear Power Plants

• Nuclear power plants use fission just like a
  nuclear or atomic bomb.
• But in a power plant, the chain reactions are
  somewhat controlled.
• How? Lets look at a diagram of a nuclear reactor
  in a power plant

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Diagram of a power plant
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Fuel rods

• The uranium are first processed into small
  pellets about the size of a pencil eraser.
• Then the pellets are placed into rods.

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Fuel rods
U-238
U-235
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Cant Explode

• Nuclear power plants cannot explode like a
  nuclear bomb!

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What about Chernobyl?
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What about Chernobyl?
Heat exchanger
Core
steam
generator
H2O
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Was it a nuclear explosion?
NO! IT WAS A PRESSURE EXPLOSION FROM THE STEAM!
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Even if it did!
Containment Dome
Core
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In Russia
Containment Dome
Core
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In Russia
Core
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Control Rods

• We can think of the control rods as neutron
  sponges.
• If neutrons are stopped, the chain reaction stops

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Fuel Rods
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Control Rods
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Cooling Towers

• A cooling tower is a tall, hollow cylinder that
  is pinched a little at the top (those towers they
  feature on The Simpsons with the steam coming
  out of it).
• The warm water from the reactor core must be
  cooled before releasing it to the environment to
  protect the wildlife.
• Some of the water evaporates in the cooling
  tower, but most of it is recycled to be used in
  the reactor core once it is cooled.

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Only steam is released!
H2O
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Benefits of Nuclear Power

• The power from one kilogram of uranium is equal
  to the power of 100,000 kilograms of oil.
• No carbon dioxide emissions to contribute to the
  Greenhouse Effect
• No sulfur emission to contribute to acid rain.
• No need to use pipelines to transport gas and oil.

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How much of the U.S. uses nuclear power?
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FUSION TECNOLOGIES
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FUSION

• Joining nuclei of two atoms to form a heavier
  atom.
• Extremely HIGH temperatures.
• Hydrogen isotopes combine to form heavier
  elements and release energy.
• Electrostatic repulsion between atoms must be
  overcome in order for fusion to happen.

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(No Transcript)
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Hydrogen Bomb
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HYDROGEN BOMBS

• MUST DETONATE ATOMIC (FISSION) BOMBS JUST TO GET
  THE REACTION TO OCCUR

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PAYLOADS

• TYPICAL PAYLOADS OF A HYDROGEN BOMB IS _at_5
  MEGATONS
• THAT IS THE SAME DESTRUCTIVE FORCE AS 5 MILLION
  TONS OF TNT!!