Since the finding of the power nuclear energy contains it has been used more and more by many countries around the world. Although still not a major part of the worlds main energy core, nuclear power makes up roughly 17 percent of the earths electricity. Some countries have become highly dependant on nuclear energy with France being one of them, at the moment 75 percent of Frances electricity comes from nuclear energy, where as in the U.S. nuclear power supplies electricity to about 15 percent of the country.
There are currently between 400-450 nuclear power plants in the world, with more than 100 of those working today are situated in the U.S.
Advantages of using nuclear energy is that it available at anytime because the main component atom is Uranium, an element that is commonly found on earth due to its incorporation into the earth during the earths formation, it is originally formed in the stars.
A billet of highly enriched uranium that was recov...
English: Nuclear power plant in Cattenom, France D...
The control room at a U.S. nuclear power plant.Uranium 238 makes up 99 percent of the earths uranium and has an extremely long half life (4.5 billion years) there are a few other types of uranium including 235. The power in Uranium 235 is unbelievable, if a pound of highly enriched uranium 235 was to be used in a nuclear submarine or aircraft carrier to power it, the amount of energy / power produced would be the equivalent of 1 million gallons of gasoline. Three- percent enrichment is enough to power a civilian nuclear power plant, where as nuclear weapons enrichment is more on the order of 90- 95 percent. Well constructed nuclear power plants have an important advantage when it comes to electrical power generation- this is they are clean. Compared to coal-fired plants a nuclear power plant is a dream come true from an environmental side. It is proven...