Nuclear Energy Facts

By: Rob Adams - Staff Writer
Published: Apr 26, 2021

Nuclear Energy Facts. These are some facts of nuclear non-renewable energy sources and how they create power. It all starts by splitting atomic nuclei or by forcing the nuclei of atoms together.

The power source comes from mass-to-energy conversions that occur in the splitting of atoms. Albert Einstein’s famous mathematical formula E = mc2 explains this. The equation says: E [energy] equals m [mass] times c2 [c stands for the speed or velocity of light]. This means that it is mass multiplied by the square of the velocity of light.

Energy is produced by a controlled nuclear chain reaction and creates heat-which is used to boil water, produce steam, and drive a steam turbine. Most people do not know this. In fact, the idea behind producing steam is from the late 1800s.

The power comes from the fission of uranium, plutonium or thorium or the fusion of hydrogen into helium. Today it is almost all uranium. The basic energy fact is that the fission of an atom of uranium produces 10 million times the energy produced by the combustion of an atom of carbon from coal.

The plants need less fuel than ones that burn fossil fuels. One ton of uranium produces more energy than several million tons of coal or several million barrels of oil. This is why most they’re called efficient.

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