Term Papers on Nuclear Energy

Term Paper Title	Nuclear Energy
# of Words	976
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.9

Nuclear Energy

        During the twentieth century scientists have discovered how to unleash
the most powerful energy of all; Nuclear energy.  The study of nuclear energy
began for the same reasons that most scientific studies are begun; to understand
more about the universe and the laws by which the universe works.  The more
knowledge we have about the universe, the more we can control the world in which
we live.
     Nuclear energy is contained in the center, or nucleus of an atom.  This
energy is also known as atomic energy because its obtained from atoms,
unfortunately this is not a good choice of words (because many other energies
are obtained from atoms).  An atomic bomb explosion shows just how powerful
muclear energy really is.  Such as the underwater explosion of an atomic bomb at
Bikini during 1946.  This powerful type of energy comes from many things such as
atoms and subatomic particles; an atom is a tiny bit of matter that has very
little weight.  They are much too light to be weighed directly, but scientists
have developed methods of determining these tiny weightd by using special
labratory instruments.  Hydrogen is the lightest of all atoms and carbon atoms
weigh twelve times more than the hydrogen atom.    Atoms that make up one
alement are not like atoms that make up another element.
     These (atoms) are not simple particles, their structure is very complexe.
They are, in fact, made up of smaller bits of matter called subatomic particles.
An atom has two parts.  Those two parts are; 1)at the center is a nucleus, a
densely packed core composed of two kinds of paticles: protons and neutrons and
2)electrons.  The charge in a nucleus of an atom is carried by a particle called
a proton, the number of protons in an atom's nucleus is calle the atomic number
of the atom.  Atomic numbers are always whole numbers such as +92. Each atomic
number is always a whole number, and each chemical element has its own atomic
number. Protons have a positive electrical charge, yet electrons have a negative
charge and since opposite charges attract, it keeps them in their orbits around
the nucleus.  Neutrons are neutral and weigh a bit more than protons.  The
breaking  apart or joining together of atomic nuclei is called a nuclear
reaction.  A tramendous amount of energy may be released by a nuclear reaction.
Nuclear energy is housed in a nuclear reactor.  There are many types of nuclear
reactors such as a pressurized water reactor.
     There is no specific place where nuclear nergy may be found, neither is
there a special geographical place a nuclear power plant must be located.  There
are many hundreds of nuclear power plants throughout the world, not to mention,
many military and research reactors.  In the United states alone there are over
a hundred plants; about 15% of the nations electricity is produced at these
plants.  Frace is the leading user of nuclear energy throughout the world, 65%
of their electricity is prduced in Nuclear power plants. Other leaders include;
Belgium-60%, Sweden-50%, Switzerland-40%, Finland-38%, West Germany-30%, Japan-
22%, Spain a...

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