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Nuclear Power Generation
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Last Updated: September 2007
Next Update: September 2008 First United States Commercial Nuclear Power Plant. Since before the turn of the twentieth century, the process of generating electricity has involved the burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas). For over four decades, however, a non-fossil fuel, uranium, also has been used to produce electricity. The first U.S. nuclear power plant went into commercial operation in 1957 at Shippingport, Pennsylvania. Since then, the use of nuclear-generated electricity has grown substantially in the United States. U.S. nuclear power industry output increased slightly in 2006. U.S. nuclear power industry generation in 2006 was 787.2 billion kilowatt hours, an increase of 0.7 percent over the previous year. Capacity experienced only a marginal increase in 2006. In 2006, there were 104 U.S. commercial nuclear generating units that are fully licensed to operate. (Note: One reactor, however, Brown’s Ferry unit 1 has been shut down since 1985. Therefore, some sources cite only 103 units.) The estimated annual net capacity factor was 89.9 percent during 2006 compared to 89.3 percent in 2005 and 66 percent in 1990.
How is electricity from nuclear fuel generated? Uranium ore must be chemically processed, enriched, and formed into pellets before it can be used as a fuel. Uranium fuel pellets are loaded into hollow tubes called fuel rods. Hundreds of fuel rods form fuel assemblies that, along with control rods, are placed into a nuclear reactor core and then submerged in water. Energy in a nuclear reactor is derived from a process called nuclear fission, in which a neutron strikes the nucleus of a uranium atom and is absorbed. The absorption of the neutron makes the nucleus unstable, causing it to split into two atoms of lighter elements and release heat and new neutrons. The heat is used to turn water into steam which then rotates blades in a turbine connected to an electrical generator to produce electricity. Because more free neutrons are released from a uranium fission event than are required to initiate the event, the reaction can become self sustaining--a chain reaction--under controlled conditions, thus producing a tremendous amount of energy. Where is uranium found? Uranium occurs in nature in combination with small amounts of other elements. Economically recoverable uranium deposits have been discovered principally in the western United States, Australia, Canada, Africa, and South America. A ton of uranium ore mined in the United States yields about 7 pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8). International nuclear power. In 2006, the United States had 100.1 million kilowatts of nuclear capacity, more than any other nation in the world. France ranks second, third is Japan, and fourth is Germany. International growth in commercial nuclear power has slowed, but several countries have ambitious nuclear construction programs. While no nuclear reactors have been ordered in the United States since 1978, China, India, Russia, and South Korea and other countries have brought new reactors into service during the latter part of the twentieth century. Concerns about issues such as high-level waste disposal, decommissioning expenses when reactors are retired, and the use of nuclear reactors to relieve possible global warming associated with fossil fuel-based generation will influence the future level of growth of nuclear power worldwide. More information on this subject may be found in the EIA publications: Monthly Energy Review, Annual Energy Review, Annual Energy Outlook, Short-Term Energy Outlook, and the following URL on the EIA web site: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_generation/gensum.html |
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