nuclear power

nuclear power is controversial and there is an ongoing debate about the use of nuclear energy due to accidents that could occur causing great harm to all living beings and also the environment
many of you who are not familiar with nuclear energy and radiation must be wondering what the fuss is all about
nuclear power is produced by controlled (i.e,non explosive) nuclear reactions

                                       

types of nuclear radiations

               nuclear radiation occurs in three ways alpa beta and gamma alpha is the least penetrating,while gamma is the most penetrating radiation can be adsorbed by substances in its path for example alpa radiation travels only a few centimeters in air beta radiation travels tens of centimeters in air while gamma radiation travels many meters
all types of radiation become less intense the further the distance from the radioactive material as the particles or rays become more spread out the thicker the substance he more the radiation is adsorbed

                                      

what are the benifits of nuclear power

nuclear radiation can be both extremely beneficial and dangerous depending on how one uses it the uses of radiation include smoke detectors paper thickness gauges treating cancer and sterilizing medical equipment x-ray machines and nuclear power plants also use nuclear radiation 

 many commercial and utility plants in various countries such as the USA ,japan and France currently use nuclear power especially to generate electricity (nuclear fission reactions are used to heat water to produce steam, which is then used to generate electricity)about six percent of the world,s electricity is generated by nuclear power

nuclear power is not only used to obtain electricity but also used for various other purposes some of which are dangerous such as nuclear weapons

however the many serious nuclear and radiation accidents that have occurred such as the three mile island accident (1979)  the charnobyl disaster (1986) and the fukushima nuclear accidents which happened following the earth quake and tsunami recently have made many think twice about using nuclear  power