What is a limited resource in the use of nuclear fission for energy?

What is a limited resource in the use of nuclear fission for energy?

Solar power is an example of a renewable resource because as we turn solar energy into usable electricity, we do not decrease the power of the sun. Nuclear energy, on the other hand, is a non-renewable energy source. This is because the fuel used in nuclear reactors, uranium, is a finite resource.

How common is plutonium?

Plutonium is an extremely rare element in the Earth’s crust. It is so rare that for many years it was thought that it did not occur naturally. The main source of plutonium is from the use of uranium-238 in nuclear reactors. Large quantities are produced each year by this process.

What do you know about uranium?

Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium has the highest atomic weight (19 kg m) of all naturally occurring elements.

Can plutonium be used as a fuel in nuclear reactors?

Value and cost of plutonium. The plutonium is put into oxide form, mixed with depleted uranium oxide (mainly uranium-238 with about 0.2 percent uranium-235) to make a mixed oxide fuel (“MOX fuel”). Thus, it would appear that even without breeder reactors, plutonium can be useful as a nuclear reactor fuel.

What is plutonium and how is it obtained?

Plutonium is obtained by burning nuclear fuel is burned in conventional nuclear reactors. The irradiated fuel from nuclear reactors is mainly made up of uranium (with a percentage of approximately 96\%) and plutonium (with a percentage somewhat less than 1\%). The spent fuel can be managed in two different ways in the long term:

What are the current sources of nuclear energy?

Recycled uranium and plutonium is another source, and currently saves 1700-2000 tU per year of primary supply, depending on whether just the plutonium or also the uranium is considered. This is expected to rise to 2000-3000 tU/yr by 2020.

What is the difference between uranium and plutonium in a bomb?

But the type of uranium and plutonium for bombs is different from that in a nuclear power plant. Bomb-grade uranium is highly enriched (>90\% U-235, instead of about 3.5-5.0\% in a power plant); bomb-grade plutonium is fairly pure (>90\%) Pu-239 and is made in special reactors.