Plutonium Essay Research Paper Plutonium Our Country

Plutonium Essay, Research Paper

Plutonium, Our Country’s Only Feasible SolutionAbstract:Should we begin to manufacture one of the most destructive and infamoussubstances on the face on the Earth once again. The engineers say yes, butthe public says no. The United States stopped making this element with theban on manufacturing nuclear weapons. But with the continuing problem withour ever diminishing energy sources, some want us to begin using morenuclear energy and less energy from natural resources. This paper is goingto discuss what plutonium is, the advantages and disadvantages of its use,and why we should think about restarting our production of this usefulelement. After the United States dropped “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” on Japan endingWorld War II, the public has had some type of understanding about thepower of plutonium and its devastating properties, but that is all anyoneheard. After WWII, Americans started to think about what the atomic bomb could doto the U.S. and its people. When anyone mentioned plutonium or the word”nuclear” the idea of Hiroshima or Nagasaki being destroyed was the firstthing people thought about. No one could even ponder the idea that itcould be used for other more constructive things like sources of energy orto kept a person’s heart beating. Then we started to build more reactorsand produce more of the substance but mostly for our nuclear weaponsprograms.Along with reactors, sometimes comes a meltdown which can produce harmfuleffects if it isn’t controlled quickly enough. After such instances as theHanford, Washington reactor meltdown and the accident in the U.S.S.R. atthe Chernobyl site, no one wanted to hear about the use of plutonium. TheUnited States government banned nuclear testing and also ended theproduction of plutonium.(Ref. 5) Now we are in a dilemma.We are in need of future sources of energy to power our nation. We arerunning out of coal and oil to run our power plants.(Ref. 7) We also needit to further our space exploration program. People need to understand theadvantages to using plutonium and that the disadvantages are not ascatastrophic as they seem. With the turn of the century on its way, thereemergence of plutonium production will need to be a reality for us tocontinue our way of life. In 1941, a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, discoveredsomething that would change our planet forever. The man’s name, Glenn T.Seaborg, and what did he discover., the element plutonium.(ref. 10)Plutonium, or Pu #94 on the periodic table, is one of the most unstableelements on the earth. It is formed when Uranium 235, another highlyunstable element, absorbs a neutron. Plutonium is a silvery-white metalthat has a very high density of 19.816 g/cm3.(ref. 10 ) It has beenrarely found in the earth’s crust but the majority of the substance has tobe produced in the cores of nuclear reactors. Plutonium can be found fifteen different forms, or isotopes and their massnumber can range from 232-246.(ref. 13) Radionuclide batteries used inpacemakers use Pu-238, while Pu-239 is used in reactors and for Nuclearweapons.(ref. 13) This paper will focus on the isotopes Pu-238 and Pu-239. Plutonium can be very advantageous for the United States. It can be usedfor several purposes. The three major advantages to using this element arefor an energy source, power for nuclear propulsion in space explorationand thermo-electric generators in cardiac pacemakers. The first use for plutonium, nuclear power, is obviously the mostbeneficial use. Plutonium 239 can be used to power nuclear reactors. Theaverage nuclear reactor contains about 325 kilograms of plutonium withinits uranium fuel.(ref. 7) This complements the uranium fission process.With the continually decreasing supply of coal and oil to power ournation, we need a substitute to complement our energy needs and right nowthe best replacement is that of nuclear energy.(ref. 7) At the momentthere are one hundred and ten nuclear power plants in the United Statesand they produce one-fifth of the nations electricity. Nuclear energy hasbeen proven to be the cheapest, safest, cleanest and probably the mostefficient source of energy.(ref. 7)Nuclear power plants do not use as much fuel as the plants burning coalandoil. One ton of uranium produces more energy than several million tons ofcoal and plutonium can produce much more energy than uranium.(ref. 12)Also the burning of coal and oil pollute our air and the last thing weneed is more pollution to worsen the greenhouse effect. Nuclear power plants cannot contaminate the environment because they donot release any type of pollution.(ref. 2) Plutonium can also be recycledby using a enrichment process. This will produce even more energy. Coaland oil can not be recycled. Whatis left by their uses is what has been contaminating our atmosphere sincethe 1800’s. You might ask how exactly is plutonium converted into an energy source.Well it is obviously quite complicated to explain. Basically, power comesfrom the fission process of an atom of the element and produces over tenmillion times the energy produced by an atom of carbon from coal. Onekilogram of plutonium consumed for three years in a reactor can produceheat to give ten million kilowatt-hours of electricity. This amount isenough to power over one-thousand Australian households.(ref. 7) Presented with this information, it is only common sense that we shouldnot depend upon fossil fuels to take us into the 21st century.