2/22/19 1 Chapter 6, Energy from Alternate Sources: Nuclear
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2/22/19 Chapter 6, Energy from Alternate Sources: nuclear chemistry and solar power End of the chapter questions 3.5,9,12,13,16,17,20,22,23,27,31,40 Friday, March 25, 2011, 10AM CDT Breach in reactor suspected at Japanese nuke plant TOKYO – A suspected breach in the reactor at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant could mean more serious radioactive contamination, Japanese officials revealed Friday, as the prime minister called the country's ongoing fight to stabilize the plant "very grave and serious." 1 2/22/19 The Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, reactor # 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, 60 mi north of Kiev, blew up during a routine daily operation. Nearly nine tons of radioactive material - 100 times as much as the Hiroshima bomb - were hurled into the sky. Winds over the following days, mostly blowing north and west, carried fallout into Belarus, Russia, Poland and the Baltic region. The cause was traced to graphite control rods, which caught on fire. Chernobyl-What Happened: April 26, 1986 • While performing a safety test on Reactor #4, technicians allowed a power surge that reached 120 times the rated capacity of the reactor. • The surge (in fact not a nuclear explosion), ripped open the core, including cooling water pipes. The reaction of hot water with the graphite control rods produced hydrogen gas, which combusted violently. • The 4,000 ton concrete covering over the reactor was blown away. Fires broke out in many places in the site. • Fifty different radioactive isotopes were released, with half-lives spanning from two hours to 24,000 years. • These isotopes were shot 1.5 miles into the sky and were carried west by the prevailing winds. 2 2/22/19 Chernobyl: Social and Environmental Consequences Over 1,000 injuries and thirty-one deaths of firefighters and others who reported to scene of accident. 150,000 people evacuated from their Ukraine homes. Radioactive cloud released over a large part of Europe. Health threatening levels of radioactive materials were found in at least twenty nations, and as far away as 2,000 km from Chernobyl. Estimated 250 million people were exposed to unhealthy amounts of radiation. Estimates of future cancers from the accident range anywhere from 7,500 to 1 million. Radioactive particles in the environment and in the food chain. Large amount of uncertainty. Chernobyl: Political Consequences Distrust of government Soviet Union cover up: Sweden and Poland were the first nations to bring attention to the accident. Other nations attempted to downplay the health effects of the accident in their own nations. Distrust of technology Public opposition to building additional nuclear power plants increased significantly worldwide. 3 2/22/19 Discovery of radioactivity In 1896, Antoine-Henri Becquerel unwittingly discovered radioactivity by wrapping together photographic film with some uranium minerals and leaving them in the dark over a weekend. Two years later, Marie Curie, as a doctoral student, began to study thorium minerals that also emitted radiation. She found that the intensity of the radiation (1) was directly proportional to the concentration of the element in the mineral, and, (2) did not depend on pressure or temperature, unlike any other chemical reaction that was known until then. For these discoveries she received the 1st Nobel prize in physics in 1903. Marie Curie and husband Pierre Curie set out to purify the radioactive elements in a uranium ore. Two fractions were obtained, one was precipitated with bismuth compounds and the other precipitated with KOH, NaOH, NaHCO3, or K2CO3. Fraction 1 contained polonium (M. Curie was born in Poland but could not train as a scientist there). Fraction 2 contained radium, which was purified from several tons (!) of ore. 0.1g of RaCl was melted and pure radium was obtained by electrolysis. For these studies she received the nobel prize in chemistry in 1911. The Thompson and Rutherford cathode tube ray experiment, 1897 Beta particles have a negative charge. They are high speed electrons. 0 − symbol: −1β, or β, or β Gamma particles have no €charge and 105 as much energy as visible light. These are high-energy photons. Symbol: 0 Alpha particles have a positive 0γ 4 charge. Symbols: 2He, α Gamma radiation was studied by P. Villard. In 1902 Rutherford suggested that different elements form as a result of radioactivity.€ For this he was called an alchemist€ and some other names, although it turns out he was right. Many nuclei are unstable, and unstable nuclei exhibits radioactive decay. Radioactive decay can result in the formation of a different element. 4 2/22/19 Terms and notation of nuclear components Protons + neutrons = nucleons. Nuclide = a specific composition of nucleons. For example, the C-13 nuclide has 6 protons and 7 neutrons. The C-12 nuclide has 6 protons and 6 neutrons. The following nuclide notation is followed: A Z X where X is the symbol of the element of which this nuclide is the nucleus; A is the mass number, which is the number of neutrons and protons; Z is the charge of the particle. For nuclides, Z is the number of protons. For nuclides, N = number€ of neutrons = A - Z 0 −1e = ? 1 1p = ? 1 0n = ? € Two types of radioactive decay 1. Alpha decay results in emission of a helium nuclide. 2. Beta decay results in the ejection of a high speed electron from the nucleus. A neutron is converted into a proton and an electron; the electron is immediately expelled away. 5 2/22/19 Estimating the magnitude of the forces required to hold the nucleus together The mass of the nucleus is always slightly less than the sum of its unassociated components. This gives us a way of calculating the force that holds the nucleus together. For example, the mass of a proton is 1.007825 g/mol, the mass of a neutron is 1.008665 g/mol, but the mass of the deuterium nuclide (of a hydrogen isotope with one neutron) is only 2.01410 g/mol. According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, E = mc2. If the “missing” mass has been converted into energy, this will give 2.15 x 1011 J/mol. This has been measured to be the magnitude of the force that holds the deuterium atom together or the “binding energy” of a mole of protons and a mole of neutrons. How much energy is trapped in the nucleus of a helium atom if the total mass of the atom is 4.02823 g/mol? There is a significant amount of energy “trapped” or “stored” in the nucleus! Nuclear fission of 235U In the 1930s Enrico Fermi did experiments where he and co-workers bombarded uranium (Z=92) with neutrons. Strassman and Hahn proposed that barium was one of the products, but no one could explain these findings very well. In 1939, Lise Meitner proposed that the resulting barium was caused by the splitting of the uranium nuclei. The intermediate is 236U, which is highly unstable. The amount of energy that is given off by this reaction is quite high. A mole of uranium-235 (about 0.5 lb) releases 2.1 x 1013 J. In comparison, the combustion of ~0.5 lb of coal burnt releases 2 x 104 J - about 109 times less energy! 2.1x 1013 J ≈ 7700 ton of TNT, enough to vaporize all the water in 9 olympic size swimming pools 6 2/22/19 Chain reaction of 235U 2.1 x 1013 J is produced by the explosion of 7700 tons of TNT or the burning of 770 ton of coal, enough energy to push 160,000 cars 6 miles high. When a sample exceeds its critical mass, the neutrons released by the first event will collide with additional nuclei, and additional fission reactions will result. At sub-critical mass amounts, most neutrons will leave the sample without causing further fission reactions. Uncontrolled nuclear fission If an uncontrolled nuclear fission is allowed to proceed, an extremely powerful explosive can be built. In August 1939 Albert Einstein wrote President F.D. Roosevelt and warned him about the danger posed by the possibility of Nazi Germany having such a weapon. President Roosevelt presently initiated the Manhattan project, at the end of which at least 2 nuclear weapons were built and detonated above Japan in August 1945. These weapons unleashed horrible destruction, and Japan surrendered shortly thereafter. For an account of the Manhattan project see R. Rhodes, The making of the atomic bomb, 1986. Fizeau test shot, yield 11 ktons, Nevada test site, 1957. 7 2/22/19 Controlled nuclear fusion - nuclear energy reactors Heat is generated to produce steam, and a turbine is spun to produce electricity. The fuel rods contain 235U that has been enriched from 0.7% to 3-4% abundance. The control rods are sandwiched between the fuel rods. The control rods are made of cadmium or boron (hafnium in nuclear subs). These are movable neutron “absorbers” that control the rate of the fission reaction. A reflector made of beryllium alloy is used to speed the reaction. A coolant carries the heat to the turbine. D2O can be used because it absorbs very few neutrons. Radioactive decay is a first order 10.00 9.00 reaction 8.00 7.00 A first order reaction can be described by 6.00 5.00 −kt [A] 4.00 [A] = [A]0e 3.00 This equation describes an exponential 2.00 1.00 decay, where [A] is the concentration of the 0.00 radioactive€ material at time t, [A]0 is the 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 starting concentration of the material, and k time (min) is the kinetic rate constant.