10 EXAMPLES OF NUCLEAR ENERGY - ENVIRONMENT - 2025

The nuclear energy can have various uses: heat, electricity, food preservation, find new resources or used as a medical treatment. This energy is obtained from the reaction that takes place in the nucleus of atoms, the minimum units of matter of the chemical elements of the universe.

These atoms can come in different shapes, called isotopes. There are stable and unstable ones, depending on the changes they experience in the nucleus. It is the instability in the content of neutrons, or atomic mass, which makes them radioactive. It is radioisotopes or unstable atoms that produce nuclear energy.

The radioactivity they give off can be used, for example, in the field of medicine with radiotherapy. One of the techniques used in the treatment of cancer, among other uses.

List of 10 examples of nuclear energy

1- Electricity production

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Nuclear energy is used to produce electricity more economically and sustainably, as long as it is put to good use.

Electricity is a fundamental resource for today's society, so the lower costs that are produced with nuclear energy, can favor the access of more people to electrical means.

According to 2015 data from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), North America and South Asia lead the world's electricity production through nuclear power. Both exceed 2000 terawatt hours (TWh).

2- Improved crops and increased world resources

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) states in its 2015 report that there are "795 million undernourished people in the world."

The proper use of nuclear energy can contribute to this problem by generating more resources. In fact, FAO develops collaborative programs with the IAEA for this purpose.

According to the World Nuclear Association, atomic energy contributes to increasing food resources through fertilizers and genetic modifications in food.

The use of nuclear energy allows a more efficient use of fertilizers, a rather expensive substance. With some isotopes such as nitrogen-15 or phosphorus-32 it is achieved that the plants take advantage of the maximum amount of fertilizer possible, without it being wasted in the environment.

On the other hand, transgenic foods allow greater food production through the modification or exchange of genetic information. One of the ways to achieve these mutations is through ion radiation.

However, there are many organizations that oppose this type of practice because of its damage to health and the environment. This is the case of Greenpeace, which defends ecological agriculture.

3- Pest control

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Nuclear energy allows the development of a sterilization technique in insects, which serves to avoid pests in crops.

It is the sterile insect technique (SIT). According to a story from FAO in 1998, it was the first pest control method that made use of genetics.

This method consists of raising insects of a specific species, which is normally detrimental to crops, in a controlled space.

The males are sterilized through small molecular radiation and are released in the plagued area to mate with the females. The more sterile male bred insects there are, the fewer wild and fertile insects.

In this way, they are able to avoid economic losses in the field of agriculture. These sterilization programs have been used by various countries. For example, Mexico, where according to the World Nuclear Association, it was a success.

4- Food preservation

The control of pests from radiation with nuclear energy, allows a better conservation of food. Irradiation techniques avoid massive food waste, especially in countries with a hot and humid climate.

In addition, atomic energy serves to sterilize the bacteria present in foods such as milk, meat or vegetables. It is also a way to extend the life of perishable foods, such as strawberries or fish.

According to proponents of nuclear power, this practice does not affect the nutrients in products or have detrimental effects on health.

The majority of ecological organizations do not think the same, which continue to defend the traditional method of harvests.

5- Increase in drinking water resources

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Nuclear reactors produce heat, which can be used for water desalination. This aspect is especially useful for those dry countries with a lack of drinking water resources.

This irradiation technique makes it possible to convert salty sea water into clean water suitable for drinking. Furthermore, according to the World Nuclear Association, isotope hydrological techniques allow more accurate monitoring of natural water resources.

The IAEA has developed collaboration programs with countries such as Afghanistan to seek new water resources in this country.

6- Use of nuclear energy in medicine

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One of the beneficial utilities of radioactivity from nuclear energy is the creation of new treatments and technologies in the field of medicine. This is what is known as nuclear medicine.

This branch of medicine allows professionals to make a faster and more accurate diagnosis of their patients, as well as to treat them.

According to the World Nuclear Association, ten million patients in the world are treated with nuclear medicine every year and more than 10,000 hospitals use radioactive isotopes in their treatments.

Atomic energy in medicine can be found in x-rays or in treatments as important as radiotherapy, widely used in cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, "Radiation therapy (also called radiation therapy) is a cancer treatment that uses high doses of radiation to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors."

This treatment has a drawback; It can cause side effects on healthy cells in the body, damaging them or causing changes, which normally recover after healing.

7- Industrial applications

The radioisotopes present in nuclear energy allow a greater control of polluting substances that are emitted into the environment.

On the other hand, atomic energy is quite efficient, leaves no waste and is much cheaper than other industrially produced energies.

The instruments used in nuclear plants generate a much greater profit than they cost. In a few months, they allow you to save the money that they cost in an initial moment, before they are amortized.

On the other hand, the measurements that are used to calibrate the amounts of radiation also usually contain radioactive substances, usually gamma rays. These instruments avoid direct contact with the source to be measured.

This method is especially useful for substances that can be extremely corrosive to humans.

8- It is less polluting than other types of energy

Nuclear power plants produce clean energy. According to the National Geographic Society, they can be built in rural or urban areas without having a great environmental impact.

Although, as has already been seen, in recent events such as Fukushima, the lack of control or an accident can have catastrophic consequences for large hectares of territory and for the population of generations of years and years.

If compared to the energy produced by coal, it is true that it emits less gases into the atmosphere, avoiding the greenhouse effect.

9- Space missions

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Nuclear energy has also been used for expeditions in outer space.

Nuclear fission or radioactive decay systems are used to generate heat or electricity through thermoelectric radioisotope generators that are often used for space probes.

The chemical element from which nuclear energy is extracted in these cases is plutonium-238. There are several expeditions that have been carried out with these devices: the Cassini mission to Saturn, the Galileo mission to Jupiter and the New Horizons mission to Pluto.

The last space experiment that was carried out with this method was the launch of the Curiosity vehicle, within the investigations that are being developed around the Planet Mars.

The latter is much larger than the former and is capable of producing more electricity than solar panels can produce, according to the World Nuclear Association.

10- Nuclear weapons

The war industry has always been one of the first to catch up in the field of new techniques and technologies. In the case of nuclear energy it was not going to be less.

There are two types of nuclear weapons, those that use this source as a propulsion to produce heat, electricity in different devices or those that directly seek the explosion.

In this sense, it is possible to distinguish between means of transport such as military planes or the already known atomic bomb that generates a sustained chain of nuclear reactions. The latter can be manufactured with different materials such as uranium, plutonium, hydrogen or neutrons.

According to the IAEA, the United States was the first country to build a nuclear bomb, so it was one of the first to understand the benefits and dangers of this energy.

Since then, this country as a great world power established a policy of peace in the use of nuclear energy.

A program of collaboration with other states that began with President Eisenhower's speech in the 1950s to the United Nations organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

11- Fuel for automobiles

In a scenario in which pollution problems and CO ₂ emissions are more taken into account, nuclear energy appears as a possible solution that gives so many headaches to environmental organizations.

As we mentioned in the first point, nuclear production helps to generate electricity for whatever use is desired, such as fuel for automobiles.

Additionally, nuclear power plants could produce hydrogen, which can be used in electrochemical cells as a fuel cell to power the car. This not only represents an environmental well-being, but also an important economic saving.

12- Archaeological finds

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Thanks to natural radioactivity, archaeological, geological or anthropological finds can be dated with greater precision. This means speeding up the collection of information and establishing better criteria when assessing the localized remains.

This is achieved thanks to a technique called radiocarbon dating, a radioactive isotope of carbon that may be more familiar to you by the name of carbon 14. This is capable of determining the age of a fossil or object that contains organic material.

The technique was developed in 1946 by physicist Williard Libby, who was able, through nuclear reactions in the atmosphere, to structure the mechanisms of this dating method.

13- Nuclear mining

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Mining is one of the most polluting and costly resource exploitation activities, being questioned by ecologists and environmental societies for decades.

Erosion, water pollution, loss of biodiversity or deforestation are some of the serious damages that mining produces. However, it is an industry that, today, is totally necessary to extract minerals of great importance to humanity.

Mining requires huge amounts of polluting energy to function at a good level, something that could be solved with nuclear energy. Projects have been presented in which by building small nuclear power plants in places close to the mines, up to 50 or 60 million liters of diesel could be saved.

Negative effects of nuclear energy

Some of the dangers of using atomic energy are as follows:

1- The devastating consequences of nuclear accidents

One of the biggest risks with nuclear or atomic energy is accidents, which can happen in reactors at any time.

As has already been demonstrated in Chernobyl or Fukushima, these catastrophes have devastating effects on life, with high contamination of radioactive substances in plants, animals and in the air.

Excessive exposure to radiation can cause diseases such as cancer, as well as malformations and irreparable damage in future generations.

2- Harmful effects of transgenic foods

Environmental organizations such as Greenpeace criticize the farming method advocated by the promoters of nuclear energy.

Among other qualifiers, they affirm that this method is very destructive due to the large amount of water and oil it consumes.

It also has economic effects such as the fact that these techniques can only be paid for and accessed by a select few, ruining small farmers.

3- Limitation of uranium production

Like oil and other sources of energy used by humans, uranium, one of the most common nuclear elements is finite. That is, it can run out at any time.

That is why many defend the use of renewable energy instead of nuclear energy.

4- Requires large facilities

Nuclear power production may be cheaper than other types of power, but the cost of building plants and reactors is high.

In addition, you have to be very careful with this type of construction and with the personnel who will work on them, as they must be highly qualified to avoid any possible accident.

The biggest nuclear accidents in history

Atomic bomb

Throughout history, there have been numerous atomic bombs. The first took place in 1945 in New Mexico, but the two most important, without a doubt, were those that broke out in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Their names were Little Man and Fat Boy Respectively.

Chernobyl accident

It took place at the nuclear power plant in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine on April 26, 1986. It is considered one of the most serious environmental catastrophes along with the Fukushima accident.

In addition to the deaths it produced, almost all workers at the plant, there were thousands of people who had to be evacuated and who were never able to return to their homes.

Today, the city of Prypiat remains a ghost town, which has been looted, and which has become a tourist attraction for the most curious.

Fukushima accident

It took place on March 11, 2011. It is the second most serious nuclear accident after Chernobyl.

It occurred as a result of a tsunami in eastern Japan that blew up the buildings where the nuclear reactors were located, releasing a large amount of radiation to the outside.

Thousands of people had to be evacuated, while the city suffered severe economic losses.

References

1. Aarre, M. (2013). Nuclear Energy Pros and Cons. Retrieved on February 25, 2017 from energyinformative.org.
2. Blix, H. The Good Uses of Nuclear Energy. Retrieved on February 25, 2017 from iaea.org.
3. National Cancer Institute. Radiotherapy. Retrieved on February 25, 2017 from cancer.gov.
4. Greenpeace. Agriculture and GMOs. Retrieved on February 25, 2017 from greenpeace.org.
5. World Nuclear Association. Other uses of nuclear technology. Retrieved on February 25, 2017 from world-nuclear.org.
6. National Geographic Society Encyclopedia. Nuclear Energy. Retrieved on February 25, 2017 from nationalgeographic.org.
7. National Nuclear Regulator: nnr.co.za.
8. Tardón, L. (2011). What effects does radioactivity have on health? Retrieved on February 25, 2017 from elmundo.es.
9. Wikipedia. Nuclear Power. Retrieved on February 25, 2017 from wikipedia.org.