Application of nuclear energy: problems and prospects

The widespread use of nuclear energy began thanks to scientific and technological progress, not only in the military field, but also for peaceful purposes. Today we can not do without it in industry, energy and medicine.

At the same time, the use of nuclear energy has not only advantages, but also drawbacks. First of all, this is the danger of radiation, both for man and for the environment.

The use of nuclear energy develops in two directions: use in power engineering and use of radioactive isotopes.

Initially, nuclear energy was supposed to be used only for military purposes, and all developments went in this direction.

The use of nuclear energy in the military sphere

A large number of highly active materials are used for the production of nuclear weapons. According to experts, nuclear warheads contain several tons of plutonium.

Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction, because it produces destruction in vast areas.

By the radius of action and power of the charge, nuclear weapons are divided into:

• Tactical.
• Operational and tactical.
• Strategic.

Nuclear munitions are divided into atomic and hydrogen. Nuclear weapons are based on unguided chain reactions of fission of heavy nuclei and reactions of thermonuclear fusion. For the chain reaction, uranium or plutonium is used.

Keeping such a large number of hazardous materials is a great threat to humanity. And the use of nuclear energy for military purposes can lead to serious consequences.

For the first time, nuclear weapons were used in 1945 to attack the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The consequences of this attack were catastrophic. As you know, this was the first and last application of nuclear energy in the war.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The IAEA was established in 1957 to develop cooperation between countries in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. From the very beginning, the agency is implementing the program "Nuclear Safety and Environmental Protection".

But the most important function is to control the activities of countries in the nuclear sphere. The organization controls that the development and use of nuclear energy occur only for peaceful purposes.

The purpose of this program is to ensure the safe use of nuclear energy, protecting human beings and the environment from the effects of radiation. The agency also studied the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

The Agency also supports the study, development and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and mediates the exchange of services and materials between members of the agency.

Together with the UN, the IAEA defines and establishes standards in the field of safety and health.

Nuclear power

In the second half of the forties of the twentieth century, Soviet scientists began to develop the first projects of peaceful use of the atom. The main direction of these developments was the electric power industry.

And in 1954 the first nuclear power plant in the world was built in the USSR. After this, programs for the rapid growth of nuclear power began to develop in the United States, Britain, Germany and France. But most of them were not met. As it turned out, the nuclear power plant could not compete with stations that work on coal, gas and fuel oil.

But after the onset of the global energy crisis and the rise in price of oil, the demand for nuclear power grew. In the 70s of the last century, experts believed that the power of all nuclear power plants could replace half of the power plants.

In the mid-80's, the growth of nuclear power was slowed down again, the srains began to review plans for the construction of new nuclear power plants. This was promoted both by the policy of energy saving and the reduction in the price of oil, as well as by the Chernobyl disaster, which had negative consequences not only for Ukraine.

After that, some countries stopped building and operating nuclear power plants altogether.

Atomic energy for space missions

More than three dozen nuclear reactors flew into space, they were used to generate energy.

The first nuclear reactor in space was used by Americans in 1965. Uranium-235 was used as fuel. He worked for 43 days.

In the Soviet Union, the "Camomile" reactor was launched at the Institute of Atomic Energy. It was supposed to be used on space vehicles together with plasma engines. But after all the tests he was never launched into space.

The next nuclear installation "Beech" was applied to the satellite of radar reconnaissance. The first device was launched in 1970 from the Baikonur cosmodrome.

Today Roskosmos and Rosatom offer to design a spacecraft that will be equipped with a nuclear missile engine and will be able to reach the Moon and Mars. But so far this is all at the proposal stage.

Application of nuclear energy in industry

Atomic energy is used to increase the sensitivity of chemical analysis and the production of ammonia, hydrogen and other chemical reagents that are used to produce fertilizers.

Nuclear energy, the use of which in the chemical industry allows obtaining new chemical elements, helps to recreate the processes that occur in the earth's crust.

The desalination of saline water also uses nuclear energy. Application in ferrous metallurgy allows to restore iron from iron ore. In color - used for the production of aluminum.

Use of nuclear energy in agriculture

The use of nuclear energy in agriculture solves the problems of breeding and helps in the fight against pests.

Nuclear energy is used to create mutations in seeds. This is done to obtain new varieties that bring more yield and are resistant to crop diseases. Thus, more than half of the wheat grown in Italy for pasta production was derived by mutations.

Also, using radioisotopes determine the best ways of introducing fertilizers. For example, with their help it was determined that when growing rice, it is possible to reduce the application of nitrogen fertilizers. This not only saved money, but also saved the ecology.

The somewhat strange use of nuclear energy is the irradiation of insect larvae. This is done in order to render them harmless to the environment. In this case, the insects that emerged from the irradiated larvae do not have offspring, but otherwise are quite normal.

Nuclear medicine

Medicine uses radioactive isotopes to establish an accurate diagnosis. Medical isotopes have a small half-life and do not present a particular danger to both the surrounding and the patient.

Another use of nuclear energy in medicine was discovered very recently. This is positron emission tomography. With it, you can detect cancer in the early stages.

Application of nuclear energy in transport

In the early 50-ies of the last century, attempts were made to create a nuclear-powered tank. Developments began in the US, but the project was never implemented. Basically, due to the fact that these tanks were not able to solve the problem of shielding the crew.

A well-known company Ford worked on a car that would work on nuclear energy. But the production of such a machine did not go beyond the model.

The thing is that the nuclear installation took up a lot of space, and the car turned out very oversized. Compact reactors did not appear, so the ambitious project was canceled.

Probably the most famous transport that operates on nuclear energy is various vessels of both military and civilian use:

• Nuclear icebreakers.
• Transport vessels.
• Carriers.
• Submarines.
• Cruisers.
• Nuclear submarines.

Pros and cons of using nuclear energy

Today, the share of nuclear power in world energy production is about 17 percent. Although mankind uses organic fuel, but its reserves are not infinite.

Therefore, as an alternative, nuclear fuel is used. But the process of obtaining and using it is associated with a great risk to life and the environment.

Of course, nuclear reactors are constantly being improved, all possible security measures are being taken, but sometimes this is not enough. An example is the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and Fukushima.

On the one hand, a properly operating reactor does not emit any radiation into the environment, whereas a large number of harmful substances enter the atmosphere from thermal power plants.

The greatest danger is represented by spent fuel, its processing and storage. Because to date, a completely safe way of utilizing nuclear waste has not been invented.