INTRODUCTION

The ever increasing population of world has challenged man-kind to find alternative sources of energy. One breakthrough was to use the energy present in the nucleus of an atom. All the stars in the sky, including sun, radiates energy due to a series of nuclear reaction occurring in them. We have also recognised and are utilising the fact that nuclear energy can be used too produce electricity. It is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and do useful work. Nuclear Electric Plants, Nuclear Ships and Submarines use controlled nuclear energy to heat water and produce steam.

 In space, nuclear energy decays naturally in a radioisotope thermoelectric generator Nuclear power provides about 6% of the world's energy and 1314% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity. Also, more than 150 naval vessels using nuclear propulsion have been built.

HISTORY
Nuclear energy was first discovered in 1934 by Enrico Fermi. The first nuclear bombs were built in 1945 as a result of the infamous Manhattan Project. The first plutonium bomb, code-named Trinity, was detonated on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico. On August 6th 1945 the first uranium bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. Three days later a plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. There is over 200,000 deaths associated with these detonations. Electricity wasnt produced with nuclear energy until 1951.

NUCLEAR REACTION
When a nucleus interacts with another nucleus or a particle like neutron resulting in the formation of new nuclei, the process is called a nuclear reaction. Such reactions follow the following laws: (i) The total charge (number of protons) before and after the nuclear reaction remains the same. 235 U + 10n 14056Ba + 310 n + Energy 92 Total no. of protons before the reaction is = 92 + 0 = 92 Total no. of protons after the reaction = 56 + 36 + 3*0 = 92

(ii) The total number of nucleons before and after the nuclear reaction remains the same. In the above reaction, total number of nucleons before reaction = 235 + 1 = 236 Total number of nucleons after reaction = 140 + 93 + 3*1 = 236 (iii) The total mass of the products is not equal to reactants. The difference in the mass is converted into energy which can be calculated by Einstein s mass energy relation E = mc2 (where E = energy produced during nuclear reaction; m = mass of reactants mass of products; c = velocity of light)

NUCLEAR FORCE
As the protons are packed very closely due to the small size of the nucleus, the repulsive electrostatic forces between the protons is large enough to disintegrate the nucleus. But this actually does not happen. It can therefore be concluded that in case of a stable nucleus attractive forces exist between the nucleons which is stronger than the electrostatic forces of repulsion. These attractive forces are called nuclear forces. It has been found that the nuclear forces are independent of the charge on nucleons and exist between proton-proton, proton-neutron, neutronneutron.

 In small nuclei, nuclear forces are greater than electrostatic forde of repulsion and therefore, small nuclei are stable. whereas., in big unstable nuclei, electrostatic forces of repulsion are greater than nuclear forces of attraction. Naturally occurring uranium consists of 2 isotopes. 23892U is stable whereas 23592U has a delicate balance between electrostatic forces of repulsion and nuclear forces of attraction. It has been found that if a slow moving neutron strikes U-235, the balance of the forces is disrupted and U-235 splits into 2 nuclei, neutrons and releases energy. Such a nuclei which can be split thereby releasing energy is called fissile nuclei. Three such important nuclei are U235, Plutonium- 239 and Thorium- 232.

NUCLEAR FISSION
The process of splitting up of a fissile nucleus (like U235) by a slow moving neutron is called nuclear fission. When a slow moving neutron strikes the U-235 nucleus, it may yield in any of the following products.
140 Ba 56

+ 9336Kr + 310n + energy + 9038Sr + 210n +energy

144 235 92U

+ 10 n

236 U 92

54Xe

Unstable

144 Cs 55 139 La 57

+ 9037Pb + 210n + energy + 9542Mo + 210n + 70-1e + energy

 It has been observed U-235 splits into two groups of nuclei. a. A heavy group of nuclei with mass number 130 140. b. A light group of nuclei with mass number 85 104.

NUCLEAR CHAIN REACTION

When a U-235 nucleus is bombarded by a neutron, it splits up into 2 medium sized nuclei along with the emission of 2 or 3 neutron. These neutron may be absorbed by the surrounding U235 nuclei resulting in emission of more neutrons. Thus, one fission reaction triggers another fission reaction. This is called nuclear chain reaction.

UNCONTROLLED NUCLEAR REACTION

One U-235 nucleus fission releases 3.2 * 10-11 J of energy. Theoretical calculations show that 1 kg of U-235 will release 8.18 * 1013 J of energy in less than 1 minutes time. This is a very huge rate of release of energy with time. We do not have devices to constructively use energy released at this rate. Therefore such a release of energy can only cause a big explosion. This is the basis of atom bomb.

CONTROLLED NUCLEAR REACTION

A chain nuclear reaction can be controlled to release energy at a rate which can be handled comfortably to produce electricity.

NUCLEAR REACTOR
A device in which electricity is produced by the process of controlled nuclear fission reaction is called nuclear reactor.

Inside the core:

a. Fuel rods: Enriched U-235 is used in the form of rods and placed in the reactor core . Another fuel is plutonium-239. b. Control Rods: Control rods made up of boron or cadmium are placed in between the fuel rods in the core. The function of these rods is to absorb neutrons. The length of the control rods in the reactor core can be adjusted. c. Moderators: The moderators serves to slow down the high speed neutrons moving all around the reactor core. High speed neutrons cannot be captured by a U-235 nucleus. The common moderators are heavy water (D2O) and graphite. d. Coolant: The coolant absorbs the heat released from nuclear fission reaction and transfers it to water present in heat exchanger. The commonly used coolants are heavy water , liquid sodium. e. Shield: The structure of the core is made by thick concrete walls to absorb the radiations emitted during nuclear reaction.

Outside the core:

a. Heat Exchanger: The hot coolant, coming from the reactor core, heats the water present in the heat exchanger into pressurised steam. b. Steam Turbine: The pressurised steam is passed on to the steam turbine which rotates dynamo of generator producing electricity.

Working:
At the start, the fuel rods are placed in their positions and control rods are inserted fully inside the core in between the fuel rods. The space between the fuel rods and control rods is filled with moderator. When the control rods are pulled out of the reactor core, a stray neutron hits a U-235 atom and fission reaction is initiated. This reaction releases more neutrons thereby starting a chain reaction.

 While a neutron moves from the surface of one fuel rod to the other, it strikes the atoms of the moderator. It transfers its energy to the moderator and slows down. This neutron is called thermal neutron. When this thermal neutron strikes another U-235 nucleus, a fission reaction takes and the Uprocess continues. Excess neutrons are absorbed by control rods. When the speed of reaction increases, the control rods are inserted in the core in order to absorb more neutrons. On the other hand, if the reaction speed decreases, control rods are pulled out. The heat generated in the core is absorbed by the coolant. A pump moves the heated coolant at high pressure to the heat exchanger. In the heat exchanger, heat is transferred from the coolant to water. This water is converted into high pressure steam. This steam is guided to turn the blades of a turbine which is connected to a generator which produces electricity. The used steam is brought back to the heat exchanger through a condenser in a closed loop.

ALTERNATIVE FUEL FOR NUCLEAR REACTION

Plutonium-239 is another fissile nucleus that is used as a Plutoniumnuclear fuel. Pu-239 does not occur in nature and is Putherefore, artificially prepared by the following set of reactions:
a. A high speed neutron is bombarded on U-238 U238 U + 1 n 239 U 92 0 92 b. U-239 being unstable emits a - particle U239 U 239 Np + 0 e -1 93 92 c. Np-239 (neptunium) again emits a particle Np239 Np 239 Pu + 0 e -1 94 93
In the above process a non fissile U-238 nuclei is converted Uinto a fissile nuclei Pu-239. this is done in reactor called Pubreeder reactors.

NUCLEAR ENERGY IN INDIA

Developed countries depend heavily on nuclear reactor for their electricity generation requirements. Around 30% of the total electric power is generated from nuclear reactors. In India, around 3% of the total electric power is generated through nuclear reactors. The nuclear reactors in operation are: (a) Tarapur in Maharashtra, (b) Kota in Rajasthan, (c) Kalpakkam in Tamil Nadu & (d) Narora in Uttar Pradesh. Some other nuclear power are in the pipeline which are expected to become operational soon.

 India has major research centres for atomic energy: One of these is Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) at Mumbai. Some others are located at Gulmarg in Srinagar and Kolkata in West Bengal.

NUCLEAR FUSION
Nuclear Fusion is a process in which two or more lighter nuclei combine to form a heavy and stable nucleus resulting in the release of energy. The mass of products of a nuclear fusion reaction is less than the mass of the reactants. This difference in mass is converted into energy which can be calculated by the formula E = mc2 , where, m = mass of reactants mass of product Some examples of nuclear fusion reactions are:
2 H+ 1 1 H+ 1 2 H 1 1 H 1 3 H+1 H 1 1 2 H+0 e 1 +1

+ Energy (4.0 MeV) + 00 + Energy (0.4 MeV)

Special Conditions for Nuclear Fusion

When 2 nuclei come near to each other, there will be a strong electrostatic force of repulsion between them. This is because both the nuclei are positively charged (due to presence of protons). To overcome the repulsive force, so that the nuclei may collide, the nuclei should possess very high kinetic energy. The conditions in which a nucleus can have such high amount of kinetic energies are: 1. Temperature of the order of 107-108 K 2. Using particle accelerators which are capable of generating high kinetic energy particles.

Suns Energy
The reason for the energy radiated by sun was given by Hans Bethe in 1939. According to his theory, the core of sun is at a very high temperature which is suitable for nuclear fusion reaction. Sun is made up of 92% hydrogen, 7.8% helium and other material by mass. Nuclear fusion reaction is going on continuously in the core of the sun resulting in the production of enormous amount of energy which the sun radiates. This theory has now been widely accepted.

ADVANTAGE OF NUCLEAR FUSION OVER NUCLEAR FISSION

The nuclear fusion reaction has a number of advantages over nuclear fission. These are:
1. The energy released per unit mass from nuclear fusion reaction is more than nuclear fission reaction. 2. Nuclear fusion reaction does not involve radioactive substances and therefore, is a better option than nuclear fission reaction for generating electricity.

NUCLEAR HAZARD
Nuclear fission process involves radioactive substances which emit , particles, radiations. These are harmful because of their high ionisation and penetrating power. If these fall on us, the molecules (of which a cell is made up of) are ionised which disturbs biochemical process. The exact damage that these radiations can produce depends on the dose of radiation, rate at which the dose is given.

Forms of Nuclear Hazards

In case of an atom bomb explosion a fallout cloud is produced which emits harmful radiations killing lakhs of people within a short span of time, also effecting a large population who suffer from incurable diseases like cancer.

Hydrogen bomb which is based on fusion reaction, the damage is more extensive. Apart from radiation the tremendous amount of heat energy and shock waves cause mass destruction. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are 2 examples of this in front of us.

Nuclear Accidents
If something goes wrong in a nuclear reactor harmful radiations may be released into the atmosphere. This can effect a large population and environment around the accident site. Sometimes the extent of damage can be up to hundreds of kilometres. Nuclear accidents like in 3 Mile Island reactor in the U.S, Chernobyle reactor in former U.S.S.R and Fukoshima reactor in Japan are some examples.

NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE

The spent fuel rods are the most radioactive of all nuclear wastes. These are temporarily stored in a storage pool next to the reactor. The pool contains water and Boric Acid. The Boric Acid helps in absorbing the radiations given out by spent fuel rods. Later on deep mines, which are not in use, or underground ocean floor are important places for their storage. These radiation effect the human health in the following ways: 1. Somatic Effect: This effect leads to diseases like cancer. 2. Genetic Effect: The radiation can cause a change in the genes which are then passed on to the coming generation.