Atoms for Penn State

We have looked far and wide at the world of nuclear energy.  Over the past weeks, we have looked at the history and science behind nuclear energy, the benefits and the disadvantages of using nuclear power for energy, and even at current events going on in the nuclear world.  However, now, in our final post, we will bring our focus back home and look at a nuclear reactor that is close to all of our own hearts, the Penn State nuclear reactor, the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor.  To start learn about this hub of nuclear activity on our own campus, we will first look at the history of the reactor.

The Breazeale Nuclear Reactor website says that the whole idea of getting a nuclear reactor came from Erin A. Walker, the Dean of Engineering and Architecture in the 1950s.  This was when there were two President Eisenhowers in office; President of the United States of America, Dwight D. Eisenhower and President of Pennsylvania State University, Milton Eisenhower.  Dwight Eisenhower had started the Atoms for Peace program to promote nuclear power all across the country.  This led Milton Eisenhower, Dwight's brother, and Dean Walker to set plans into motion for Penn State to build a nuclear reactor, the university's board of trustees voted to allow the reactor to be built in 1953, and construction was started the following year.  The building was then dedicated on February 22, 1955.  However, this was just the beginning of the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor's life.

(Breazeale Nuclear Reactor)

Even though the nuclear reactors life began in February, it did not go into operation until July.  It may have taken longer for the reactor to begin to be used if President Dwight D. Eisenhower had not stepped in and helped the Penn State Nuclear Reactor to licensed.  The reactor was give the license number of R-2, because the R-1 license was reserved for North Carolina State College (which wasn't licensed until October).  For this reason, Penn State was the first nuclear reactor to be licensed at a college campus.  Along with the beginning of operations at the reactor came the first nuclear energy professor at Penn State, and the operator of the reactor, William M. Breazeale (the reactor was named in his honor in 1971).  In the years since, the Breazeale Nuclear reactor has continued to evolve and modernize with increasing technologies.

Now that we've gone through the history of the Breazeale Nuclear reactor, its time to look at some fun facts for the reactor.  According to the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor website, the reactor is the longest running research reactor in the country.  Also, towards the end of the 1950s, about one third of nuclear reactor operators received their training at Penn State.  Research at the reactor was even done, which created new colors of poinsettias and African violets, through the use of radiation.  However, the Breazeale Nuclear reactor does not create any electricity, because it is only used for research.  The nuclear reactor even helped with the restoration of the Hewer Statue!  I don't know what this statue is, but the website for the reactor says that it used to be in the lobby of Eisenhower Auditorium.  I have never looked for this statue, so I don't know is its still there, but whenever I googled "Hewer Statue," it said it was in Cairo, Illinois.  Upon farther research, Genealogy Trails told me that the statue was created by George Barnard, but I have no idea why it was at Penn State.  However, Barnard has a statue of Lincoln that was given to Penn State as well.  My apologies for losing track of this post to hunt for Hewer, but I thought it was very interesting (If you know anything more about this statue, please share your knowledge in the comments).  Overall, the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor has many fun facts associated with it, and truly a very fun place.

Hewer Statue in Cairo, IL

(Genealogy Trails)

To wrap up this post, I will share with you my experience of visiting the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor.  I took a field trip to see the reactor for my chemistry class during my junior year of high school.  When we arrived at the nuclear reactor, we went to a class room and were taught the very same history that I just told you about, if not even more.  The tour guides also showed us their radiation detecting badges, that measured the amount of radiation that they were subjected to throughout their time working.  They were of course not overly radiated, but it was still cool to see the badges.  We were then shown the nuclear reactor, which was at the bottom of a giant pool.  However, the coolest thing about the nuclear reactor was that it glowed a light blue color, which was really neat to see.  The blue glow of the nuclear reactor is so interesting, that it was the picture on the post cards they gave us (yes, even nuclear reactors have post cards).  This tour was really neat, and maybe one of the best in all of my high school career.  If you are totally jealous and want to go on a tour yourself, you can go here, to see the tours they have to offer.

The Breazeale Nuclear Reactor is an amazing and real life example of the power of nuclear energy.  Over the past few weeks, we have been able to learn a lot about nuclear power together, but it is sadly time for this blog to come to an end.  Hopefully, you can use the knowledge that you have gained from the blog to go on into your future, and be more informed about the never slowing innovation, as well as debate, in the nuclear power world.

(Breazeale Nuclear Reactor)

(Marie) Curie(nt) Events in Nuclear Power

There is always new things happening in the world of nuclear power every day.  Some days a new innovation is created, others a disaster happens, on other days, new legislation is passed, and some days are the anniversaries for big nuclear events.  This week alone all of these different events happened.  With so much going on, it is time that we take a look at these current events.  Today, we will look at two recent events in the news; one positive, a new innovative design for nuclear power plants, and one negative, the anniversary of the Three Mile Island accidents.  To begin we will look at a new innovative nuclear power plant design.

(Pixabay)

X-Energy, an organization committed to creating cleaner energy recently released their design for a new kind of nuclear power plant called Xe-100.  According to Forbes, Xe-100 is a nuclear reactor that can be built more easily and quickly because it is made from "factory-produced components."  It's design is also resistant to meltdowns, and can shut itself down in the event of an accident (like when the plumbing or cooling isn't working).  The power plant is also relatively small as compared to normal power plants, and it can function at much higher temperatures that past plants.  These are only some of the amazing innovations, the most interesting creation by X-Energy is there fuel source to run this plant.

Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, Founder & CEO of X-Energy

(X-Energy)

The fuel source for Xe-100 is known as the pebbles.  The pebbles, as Forbes puts it, are about the size of a tennis ball.  The core of these pebbles is made up of Uranium-235.  The core is surrounded by  a layer of pyrolytic granite, which sounds fancy, but just helps all of the uranium in the core to split during fission.  Around this layer is a final layer of silicon carbide which protects the inner layers.  A bunch of the pebbles are then put together to create the core of the reactor, and as they are used up, they simply fall off, like an apple from a tree.  The pebbles are also cooled by gases, which do not absorb the contaminants from the pebbles, resulting in much less radioactive waste.  These innovations to nuclear power plants seem very promising, but it is because of past event that these ideas are created.

X-Energy Logo

(X-Energy)

This past Tuesday marked the 38th anniversary of the Three Mile Island accident.  According to VOA News, the accident occurred at 4 a.m. at the Three Mile Island Power Plant, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (home to the capital of Pennsylvania and a Penn State branch campus).  The accident occurred due to a plumbing failure, that did not allow the power plant to cool its reactor.  This caused the reactor to continue to overheat, which the operators did not notice at first.  Finally, after half of the reactor core had melted, the operators realized what was going on.  The nuclear power plant was then brought back under control after about sixteen hours.  People most susceptible to radiation, such as pregnant woman and children, were then advised to evacuate the area due to radiation leaks from the accident.  President Jimmy Carter even went to visit power plant to see the damage, in bring calm to the country fearing the worst from the accident.  Overall, out of this disaster came many new safety regulations, as well as people wanting to innovate to make nuclear power plants safer.  It is for this reason that many new innovations, such as Xe-100 and the pebbles were created.

Three Mile Island Power Plant

(VOA News)

The story of nuclear power is still going strong, and will most likely continue on for many years to come.  With innovations like Xe-100 being created to prevent disasters such as Three Mile Island, the current disadvantages of nuclear power may one day no longer be a problem.  Now that we have looked far and wide at all of the history, advantages, disadvantages, and current events of nuclear power, it is time to bring our learning closer to home.  In our final post, we will look at a specific nuclear power plant that is very close to all of us.  More specifically, this nuclear reactor is right on the edge of our very own campus here, at Pennsylvania State University.

(Pixabay)

Con(tamination)s of Nuclear Power

In the last post, we looked at nuclear power from a positive light and looked at all the benefits of it.  In this post, however, we will look at the downsides of nuclear power and why it is not the best source of energy in the future and today.  So, let's begin.

(Pixabay)

The main disadvantage of nuclear energy is nuclear meltdowns.  This is a very understandable concern, because nobody likes it when things meltdown, especially nuclear plants...and ice cream.  This concern is heightened due to the Chernobyl disaster which has still left the area unlivable to this day.  According to Conserve Energy Future, even small radiation leaks can be detrimental to people's health.  Radiation can cause sickness such as nausea, fatigue, and even death.  Symptoms like this can even effect the scientists that research nuclear power, such as Marie Curie one of the most famous scientists studying radioactivity who sadly died from radiation poisoning.  Radiation leaks, although rare, can be very dangerous to people who work in nuclear plants as well as people who live near them.  Sadly, radiation is not the only dangerous thing that can come out of nuclear plants.



Another dangerous thing that comes out of nuclear reactors is nuclear waste.  Nuclear waste is very dangerous because it is another way that radiation can be released into the world.  This radiation released from nuclear waste does not turn you into a superhero, or a ninja if you're a turtle, but can cause radiation poisoning which, as we already know is very dangerous.  It is important that this nuclear waste is disposed of in a safe way so that this dangerous radiation does not occur.  However, according to Conserve Energy Future, this is a big problem with nuclear waste.  That is because it is very expensive and hard to store nuclear waste right so that it is no longer dangerous.  It also doesn't help that it can take hundreds of years for the nuclear waste to stop being dangerous.  On the flip side, one use for this nuclear waste, is to make nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons, although a good use for nuclear waste, are not necessarily a good thing.  Nuclear weapons are extremely dangerous and can cause extreme amounts of damage.  According to Nuclearenergy.net, the only time that nuclear weapons were used militarily was during World War II.  This showed the power of nuclear weapons and the destruction that they can cause.  From that time forward people came to fear using nuclear weapons.  This fear came to a front during the Cold War when the threat of a nuclear war was at its highest.  With the continued use of nuclear power, there is always going to be the fear that someone will try to harness the power for destructive rather than constructive purposes.

(Pixabay)

A final disadvantage to nuclear power is that the fuel needed to create it is nonrenewable as well as scarce in some regions.  Uranium is the main fuel for nuclear plants, but many countries around the world have no local access to this element, and have to get it sent in from other places says Conserve Energy Future.  This scarcity shows that the world is already low on uranium, so it is only a matter of time before it runs out.  This leads into the fact that uranium is a nonrenewable resource, and it will one day run out.  There are already other renewable sources of power, such as solar power, and wind power, that are just as successful in creating energy as nuclear power, but also can cost much less to put together and run.

As you can see, the debate of nuclear power is very heated.  Although there are many disadvantages to nuclear power such as, nuclear waste, radiation, weapons, and it being nonrenewable, we can not forget that there are still some benefits to its use.  If you would like to be reminded of these benefits, you can look back at our last post on the benefits of nuclear power.  Now that we have an understanding of the good and bad sides of nuclear power, we can look at some current events happening in the nuclear power world.  Even, though the road to deciding whether to use nuclear power is hard to follow at times, but it is up to individuals to decide what they think is the right path.

(Pixabay)

Pro(ton)s of Nuclear Power

Now that we have gone through the business of looking at the history and chemistry behind nuclear power, we can start looking at the debate over its use.  This week, we will look at nuclear power in a positive light, and go through the benefits of using nuclear power for energy.

(Pixabay)

One of the biggest ways that nuclear power is beneficial is that it is very efficient according to Conserve Energy Future.  This efficiency is due to the chemistry of nuclear reactions (yes, chemistry again).  If you remember back to the last post, fission, is a nuclear reaction where an atom splits into two smaller atoms.  When this atom split, it releases a neutron that goes shooting off, and hits another radioactive atom.  This continues as more and more atoms split apart, and neurons shoot off hitting other atoms and repeating the process.  This is referred to as a chain reaction, and because of this, nuclear reactions can keep going on without more energy being needed to start them.  This means that a great amount of power can be created with just a little bit of energy to start.

Conserve Energy Future went on to say that nuclear power is beneficial because it does not have any carbon emissions.  This is important because carbon emissions have been associated with the rise in global warming of the world.  This makes nuclear power a much more environmentally friendly fuel source, compared to coal and other fossil fuels.  Why is this?  Well it has to do with a certain science that we all know and love (and some of us hate) called chemistry.  This time it's pretty simple.  Carbon emissions result from the burning of fossil fuels, because the fossil fuels are organic materials, and the definition of an organic material is that it contains carbon.  On the other side, the fuel for nuclear energy, usually uranium, is an inorganic element, and therefore has no carbon (and because they are two different elements).  Since nuclear power has no carbon emissions, it is much more environmentally friendly and does not contribute to the problem of global warming.

(Unsplash)

Another advantage of nuclear power is that the fuel needed to create it does not cost very much.  Conserve Energy Future lists several reasons for nuclear power's low cost.  These reasons include; the cost of uranium, the cost of maintaining a nuclear power plant, and the amount of energy released from each atom.  First, the cost of uranium is low according to Conserve Energy Future.  Second, according to Conserve Energy Future, nuclear power plants are very expensive to build, but once built, they do not take very much money to keep functioning.  The third reason for the low cost of nuclear power is because a lot of energy is created from a very small amount of uranium.  A great amount of energy is released each time an atom splits.  Therefore, a small amount of uranium can make a lot more energy than a small amount of coal, oil, or any other fossil fuel.  All of these reasons add up to the low cost of nuclear power.

(Pixabay)

Another advantage of nuclear power, and the one that is most well known, is that it is a very powerful fuel source.  The reason that nuclear energy is so powerful is because ,as I have said before, when the bond holding the atom together splits, it releases a tremendous amount of energy.  Since a great amount of energy can is created, it can create a great deal of electricity to power the world.  Also, since atoms are so small, and each one releases a great amount of energy, 1 kg of uranium would be able to make much more energy than 1 kg of coal or other fossil fuels.

Nuclear power is a powerful fuel source of energy and has many different benefits.  Greatest among these benefits are efficiency, low carbon emissions, and low costs.  This is thanks to the chemistry behind nuclear power plants, such as the great amount of energy created from splitting atoms, the ability to create chain reactions, and because the fuel is inorganic.  With so many benefits to nuclear power it may seem surprising that so many people are against its use.  However, even with all of these benefits, there are still disadvantages to the use of nuclear power.  Next week, we will look at these disadvantages to nuclear power to see the argument from the other side.

A Half-Life History

Throughout history, we have always searched for ways of improving people's lives.  This evolution can be seen through how we have powered our lives.  Even into today, the argument continues as to what is the best way that we can power our cities in the future.  Will we continue to use fossil fuels or will be change to more renewable resources like solar power or wind power?  One of the ways that we can power our world, is through nuclear power.  However, the use of this source of power is a hotly debated topic through our country and the world.  This blog will look at the issue of nuclear energy.  We will be presented points from both proponents and opponents as well as cases throughout history in the hopes of better understanding nuclear.

(Pixabay)

Now that we are through the business part of the post, let's look at the history of nuclear energy.  To understand the history of nuclear energy, we must dive into a little bit of high school chemistry (If chemistry wasn't your thing, and you blocked all memory of chemistry from your mind, you might want to skip this paragraph).  In chemistry, there are two types of nuclear reactions.  There is a fission reaction, where an atom is split into two smaller atoms, and there is fusion, where two smaller atoms combine to create a larger atom.  Of the two reactions, fusion is considered much safer and more powerful, but too much energy is required to perform the reaction.  For this reason, we only have fission reactors at this time (On a side note, do you know of any natural fusion reactors? Hint:  They're in the sky).

The Nuclear Energy Institute says that nuclear plants make energy as follows.  The energy from fission reactors are indirectly used in nuclear power plants.  The nuclear reactors are immersed in water.  Inside the reactors are radioactive atoms, the most common being uranium.  These radioactive atoms are unstable due to having to many neutrons in their nuclei.  A uranium atom splits and a neutron goes shooting off, and hits another atom to make it split and shoot off another neutron.  This chain reaction of uranium atoms being split and shooting off neutrons continues on to the other atoms.  As the uranium atoms are split, energy is released, which warms the water surrounding the nuclear reactor.  The warming of the water then creates stream as the water comes closer to boiling.  The steam coming off of the water then rises and spins turbines.  The spinning of turbine produces electricity.  This electricity can then be sent off to power everything from the lights in your home, to the toaster to toast your toast.  Now that we understand the way nuclear plants work, we can look at the history of how they came to be.

(Pixabay)

The history of nuclear power goes back over a century as told by What is Nuclear? (If history isn't your thing either, I apologize for the next section as well).  The site went on to say that the scientists then discovered fission by shooting uranium with neutrons.  After this discovery, scientists continued to develop their understanding of nuclear power and eventually created bombs using nuclear power.  These bombs were then used to end World War II.  After this, the first nuclear reactor used to generate electricity was created in 1951.  Before nuclear reactors were used to create widespread power, the were put into submarines (The first submarine with a nuclear reactor was called the USS Nautilus, but it was not captained by a man named Nemo).  Later on, the first commercial nuclear reactor was built in Shippingport, Pennsylvania.  Since then, the number of nuclear power plants across the country has grown tremendously.

(Pixabay)

Now that we have gone through the history of nuclear energy, as well as the how nuclear reactions occur and how nuclear power plants work, we have a basic understanding of nuclear energy and how we came to our current issue (I'm sorry if chemistry and history are both things that are not very interesting to you, but they were necessary to understand this debate).  Over the next several weeks, we will look at the benefits and consequences of nuclear energy.  Next week we will look at the benefits of nuclear energy.