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Energy is one of the main requirement of sustaining human civilization. Conventional sources of energy, which account for over 85% of the total energy consumed by the mankind, are fossil fuels. Fossil fuels were formed over millions of years from remains of plants and animals by action of pressure and heat and are now found beneath the earth's surface. When such fuels are burnt, they release chemical energy trapped in them. Fossil fuels consist of coal, petroleum and natural gases. Coal is a solid hydrocarbon with nearly 75% of the world's deposit being found in China, USA and the Russian Federation. Though most abundant and the lesat expensive of the three, burning coal causes a lot of environmental problems as it releases harmful chemical SO  , which can cause acid rain. In addition, release of large amount of carbon dioxide is responsible for global warming. Oil and natural gas deposits are limited and they are being depleted at a very fast rate. Though the nature makes them, fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy as it takes nature millions of years to make them while humans consume them at a fast rate. Nuclear energy is produced from practically unlimited amount of energy trapped in all matter. Production of nuclear energy does not produce particulate impurities like NO , SO etc. and also does not release CO . In this sense, nuclear energy is a clean fuel. However, there are several issues connected with disposal of radioactive nuclear waste and decommissioning of old nuclear power plants, which makes the production of nuclear energy a contentious subject. In addition, the technology that produces nuclear power can also be used to produce nuclear bombs, which makes transfer of nuclear technology a delicate issue. Nuclear energy is made available by fission and by fusion . In the following, we will discuss the principle behind production of nuclear energy. |
