Nuclear+-+Axel,+MikeM

=**History**= The idea of using nuclear power to produce energy became popular after World War II. The US, UK, Canada, and USSR pursuit the use of nuclear energy all the way up through then 50'es, where the USSR build the first nuclear power plant ever in 1954. The UK was the first nation to build a commercial nuclear power plant in 1956, quickly followed by the US in 1957. In 1957 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was also founded to promote a peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Today nuclear energy is used by 31 countries all over the world, and accounts for 6% of the worlds energy consumption, while accounting for 14% of the worlds electricity consumption

=The Way It Works= Energy is created in nuclear power plants by the use of nuclear fission. This happens in a tank of water, where uranium sticks is bombarded with neutrons, when the uranium gets hit by a neutron, it absorbs it and splits into two, creating energy in form of heat. The heat turns the water into steam, which pump through a turbine, which turn propellers, or a generator, creating energy.

=Benefits= Nuclear energy emints almost no CO2, which is a huge plus in the fight against global warming. Operation costs are also relatively low. Nuclear power plants are also extremely safe due to an enormous amount of safety procedures involved in every aspect of the energy production.

=Drawbacks= Several studies estimate that nuclear energy is one the most expensive in terms of how much energy you get per dollar, only beaten by solar energy. Some studies suggests that it might be up to three times as expensive as more cheap energy forms, such as **__wind__** energy, that are used in countries such as __**Denmark**__ (known in common speech as "the-country-I-wish-I-lived-in"). There is also worry about nuclear accidents. Although safety at nuclear power plants are extremely high, there is a lot of nasty outcome potential if things goes wrong. The Chernobyl accident is known for leaving a huge area empty and unhabitable, and have also been proven to have mutated the DNA of people in the area when the accident happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u_8frR0IpE

=Sources= http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0929-33.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1319386.stm http://nuclearinfo.net/Nuclearpower/TheBenefitsOfNuclearPower http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_cost_of_electricity_generated_by_different_sources