Did You Know?
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It is impossible for a nuclear reactor to explode like a nuclear bomb. For more information, see: For a lesson about this topic, see: |
After fission was described in 1939, the possibility of using nuclear fission as an energy source was widely discussed by scientists. Some physicists like Leo Szilard, Eugene Wigner, and Edward Teller could foresee the possibility of building an atomic bomb and urged Albert Einstein to write a letter to American President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him that the technology to build such a weapon would soon exist and Nazi Germany might begin working on just such a weapon.
In the early 1940's Allied research into nuclear fission focused on developing the first atomic weapon. Top secret facilities were built at Los Alamos, New Mexico in the United States and at Chalk River, Ontario, Canada (in cooperation with Britain and France). The first atomic explosion code named "Trinity", occurred on July 16, 1945 at Los Alamos, New Mexico. On August 6, 1945 an atomic weapon was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan followed by a second atomic weapon being dropped on Nagasaki just three days later on August 9, ending the Second World War (in the Pacific).
The decision to drop atomic bombs remains controversial. Over 200,000 people were killed by the dropping of these weapons. This has convinced most people that they should never be used again.
After the Second World War, Canada focused its nuclear program toward using nuclear fission to generate electricity, create radioactive isotopes for medicine, manufacturing and conducting scientific research.
The benefits from generating electricity using nuclear fission are enormous. The amount of energy released by the fission of a single kilogram of uranium-235 produces the same energy as burning 3,000,000 kilograms of coal or 3,000,000 litres of fuel oil. In Canada, our nuclear power stations presently use natural uranium, which is comprised of 0.72% uranium-235, and almost all of the rest being uranium-238. Most other nuclear power stations in the world use enriched uranium, which has slightly more than 0.72% uranium-235.
The man below is holding a typical fuel bundle used in CANDU reactors to generate electricity. Inside each bundle are ceramic pellets that are uranium oxide. Each bundle has a mass of about 23 kilograms and can generate about 1,000,000 kilowatts-hours of energy. That's enough energy to run a typical home for 100 years.
