Nuclear power: Difference between revisions

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 ==Fission==
-[[Nuclear fission]] is what's currently used in all of today's nuclear power plants. Fission derives [[energy]] from heavy radioactive elements - in particular, [[uranium]].
+All of today's nuclear power plants run on nuclear fission.
 ===Supply===
-Uranium is a mineral that occurs naturally as ''a mix of two isotopes'': uranium-238 (99.3%) and uranium-235 (0.7%). The proportion does not vary in nature. Current nuclear reactors can only derive energy from the uranium-235 part.
+Today's nuclear plants depend on uranium-235, which is far too scarce. If the whole world was powered this way, we'd start to run out of it in '''less than 4 years''':
-If the whole world was powered ''only'' by nuclear fission, we'd start to run out of uranium-235 in '''less than 4 years''':
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-We'd run out even faster [[energy demand scenarios|if all nations were developed]].
+<small>We'd run out even faster [[energy demand scenarios|if all nations were developed]].</small>
+Since uranium-235 and uranium-238 occur together in nature{{x|in the following proportion: uranium-238 (99.3%) and uranium-235 (0.7%). The proportion does not vary, no matter what part of the Earth's crust the uranium is mined from.}}, the 238 component ends up as [[nuclear waste]].
+These two problems could be solved with [[breeder reactors]] that make use of uranium-238 and/or [[thorium]] - both of which are far more abundant fuels. However, major innovations are needed before this is viable and safe.
-Potential solutions:
+For now, nuclear power is best suited as only a [[baseload]].
-* Using nuclear power '''only''' as a [[baseload]] (in other words, only for the electricity that '''has to''' be available 24/7). Other energy could come from [[solar]] and [[wind]].
-* Extracting [[uranium from seawater]] (but the viability of this is questionable (like [[lithium|other trace minerals]]), because the concentration is extremely low).
+<small>There is also some talk about extracting [[uranium from seawater]], but the viability of this is questionable (like [[lithium|other trace minerals]]), because the concentration is extremely low.</small>
-* [[Breeder reactors]] could make use of uranium-238 (and also [[thorium]] which is somewhat more abundant than uranium).
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 ==Fusion==
-[[Nuclear fusion]] is '''not''' currently viable for generating power. Scientists are working on it - because in theory, it could power the world for millions of years, from only tiny amounts of abundant material, and with almost no pollution. Fusion has the potential to completely solve the [[energy]] crisis, but it is nowhere near ready yet (despite some misleading news headlines). It's certainly worthwhile to invest time & money into fusion, but we can't "put all our eggs in one basket". [[Climate change]] is near a [[tipping point]], so we need clean [[energy]] sooner than fusion might be available.
+[[Nuclear fusion]] is '''not''' currently viable for generating power. It has great ''potential'' solve the [[energy]] crisis{{x|it could power the world for billions of years, from only tiny amounts of abundant material, and with almost no pollution}}, but it is nowhere near ready yet (despite some misleading news headlines).
+The most recent [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbpUj1-tEhs breakthrough] was in December 2022. Fusion research & development is certainly worthwhile, but we can't "put all our eggs in one basket". [[Climate change]] is near a [[tipping point]], so we need clean [[energy]] sooner than fusion might be available.