Here are the answers to the questions on your worksheet about nuclear energy.
1. What are the three main sections of a nuclear power plant?
The three main parts are:
1.
The Reactor: This is where the fuel (uranium) is kept and where the heat is created.
2.
The Turbine: The heat turns water into steam, and the steam spins this giant fan-like machine.
3.
The Generator: The spinning turbine powers this machine, which creates the electricity that goes to our homes.
2. What starts the nuclear chain reaction?
A
neutron starts the reaction. When a neutron hits a uranium atom, it splits the atom and releases more neutrons, which then hit other atoms, keeping the chain going.
3. What does fission mean?
Fission means
splitting. In nuclear power, it is the process of splitting the center (nucleus) of an atom into two smaller parts to release energy.
4. What two products are formed from the fission of uranium?
When uranium splits, it creates:
1.
Lighter elements (often called fission fragments or nuclear waste), such as krypton and barium.
2.
Energy (in the form of heat) and free neutrons.
5. How much nuclear waste is produced in 60 years of a power plant operating?
Nuclear plants produce very little waste by volume compared to other power sources. All the used fuel rods from one nuclear plant running for 60 years would fit in a space roughly the size of a
convenience store parking lot (or about 700 tons). It is very dense and compact.
6. How much would a coal plant produce?
A coal plant produces a huge amount of waste. In just one year, a single coal plant can produce over
100,000 tons of ash and sludge. Over 60 years, this would be millions of tons of waste, which is much larger than nuclear waste.
7. Where are most of the nuclear waste and spent fuel rods currently?
Most of them are stored safely at the
power plants where they were used. They are kept in special pools of water or in thick concrete and steel containers called "dry casks" right on the plant's property.
8. What is the estimate for how long it takes nuclear waste to completely decay?
It takes a very long time. Some parts of the waste become safe in a few hundred years, but the most dangerous parts (like Plutonium-239) take about
24,000 years to decay to safe levels. To be completely harmless like natural uranium, it can take hundreds of thousands of years.
9. What materials are used to shield or block nuclear radiation?
To stop radiation, you need thick, heavy materials. The most common ones are:
*
Lead (very dense metal)
*
Concrete (thick walls)
*
Steel
*
Water (used inside the reactor pool)
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of nuclear energy worksheet.
