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Hello, I am Ayşe, I have been working as an EP product engineer in the Borusan Cat family for about a year. I have been interested in nuclear energy since the beginning of my undergraduate education and after graduation, I followed this interest and received my master's degree at ITU Energy Institute - Nuclear Research Department, so I would like to talk about nuclear energy in this article, in case some people are curious like me.
I will start by giving some definitions and details for those who are unfamiliar with these topics.
The atom consists of minus charged electron, a plus charged proton, and uncharged neutron particles. While neutrons and protons are found together in the nucleus, electrons are located in orbits around the nucleus. The energy generated in nuclear power plants is based on the fission reaction with the neutron particle.
Nuclear energy is released by reactions at the subatomic particle level. Although nuclear energy is used in many fields such as medicine, archaeology, analysis, agriculture, and biology, in this article I would like to talk about clean energy (without greenhouse gases) and nuclear power plants, where we can produce energy more efficiently than we can produce from wind or solar energy.
Although nuclear energy is etched in our minds with the Chornobyl accident and the TV series of recent years, it is now on the agenda as a solution after last year's energy crisis.
The construction of Turkey's first nuclear power plant in Mersin, where the first load of radioactive fuel (uranium) was unloaded at a ceremony in recent months, continues.
A nuclear power plant converts nuclear energy into another type of energy (electricity). Nuclear reactors use the element uranium as fuel. Nuclear reactors utilize the energy released from the fission reaction.
The only active nuclear reactor in Turkey is located at the ITU Energy Institute.
(In nuclear reactors, a chain reaction of nuclei is initiated and maintained in a continuous and controlled manner. The working principles of nuclear reactors can be classified and diversified in different ways, such as the water used, pressures, etc.)
The fission reaction takes place in the heart of the nuclear reactor. In simple terms, the fission reaction is when a heavy nucleus reacts with a neutron particle and turns into two different nuclei. (Technically: A heavy nucleus with a large atomic number is bombarded with a neutron particle and during this bombardment, the nucleus reacts with the neutron and turns into two lighter nuclei.)
As a result of the fission reaction, other neutrons are produced in addition to the 2 separate nuclei and the reaction continues in a chain with the newly produced neutrons and other atoms. As a result of the reaction, gamma rays are emitted into the environment. To give you a visualization, uranium is contained in pellets* in a nuclear reactor. 1 pellet is the size of an average eraser and more energy is produced from a single pellet than from 6 tons of coal.
How is the fission reaction controlled? The fission reaction continues in a chain with newly formed neutrons, but it must be controlled, otherwise the feared explosion could occur if the reaction cannot be stopped. To control fission, the reactor is equipped with control rods, usually made of neutron-absorbing materials such as boron and cadmium. When these rods enter the reaction environment, they absorb neutrons and stop the chain reaction.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Power Plants
The two most important advantages of nuclear power plants:
-A reactor can operate actively for many years (fuel is changed every 18-24 months on average).
-Greenhouse gas emissions are zero and clean energy is produced. Therefore, white water vapour comes out of the power plant, not black smoke like in factories.
Disadvantages;
-Power plant installation costs are quite high.
-The technological infrastructure requirement is quite high.
Finally, I strongly recommend you to watch the movie Oppenheimer, which is very popular these days. If you ask my opinion, I think it is below expectations because they raised them too much. Nevertheless, even though it is 3 hours long, it is definitely not boring. I think I was also expecting the effects of the bomb on Hiroshima to be mentioned to add more depth. We learn about the bomb dropping in a very vague way and it is passed very quickly. You need some prior knowledge to follow the movie. I wanted to see a little more science in the movie. For example, they find the bomb suddenly. I can say that I completed the process in between with my knowledge. I find the detail of first the image and then the sound during the test phase very successful. The thing that confused me the most was that the movie starts with the trial process at the beginning, you only understand what Oppenheimer is accused of at the end. Maybe it was planned this way, but this editing makes it a bit difficult to follow. If you ask my general opinion, of course, it was good, the fact that it involves nuclear energy is enough for me to love it! I guess I couldn't get enough, but on the other hand, it was already 3 hours, I don't know how much more detail they could have given.
In addition, I recommend the series "The Days" about the Fukushima nuclear reactor accident and the movie K-19 Widowmaker for those who like both the subject matter and the movie.
If you are interested in this topic, I leave below some online resources for your review.
Bölüm 04. Radyoaktif Atık Yönetimi - TENMAK
28 Madde ile Nükleer Enerji Hakkında Bilinmesi Gerekenler (onedio.com)
Nuclear reactor - Three Mile Island and Chernobyl | Britannica
Ayse Karakaya
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Ayşe has been working as an EP product engineer in the Borusan Cat family for about 1 year. She describes herself as a positive, smiling, and cheerful person and prefers to be happy rather than unhappy. She states her hobbies as traveling, reading books, and following science. She tries to improve herself by constantly learning new things. Describing nuclear energy, a subject she studied with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding and greater proficiency, she labels it as yet another one of her significant passions. She is especially a fan of the romantic-comedy genre, but she also likes to read science, biography and action. Her favorite book is Maud Ankaoua-Today is the First Day of the Life I Have Left.