Today, in Making Waves (Physics), we looked more on Energy by doing research about one type of energy given - Nuclear, Biomass, Mechanical. In this research, we had to write a definition of the type of energy, how it is made, what countries use this energy, and what it is used for. I chose Mechanical energy as my type of energy for the research.
Definition: Nuclear energy comes from splitting atoms in a reactor to heat from steam.
How is it made?
As said in the definition, nuclear energy is released when the nucleus of an atom is split. It generates heat to produce steam, which is used by a turbine generator to generate electricity. Because nuclear power plants do not burn fuel, they do not produce greenhouse gas emissions.
What countries use this energy?
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| Source: IAEA PRIS Database |
There are around 30 countries which use nuclear energy - USA, France, China, Russia, Canada, Germany, UK, Belgium, India and more. 12 countries in 2018 produced at least ¼ of their electricity from nuclear. France gets around 3/4 of its electricity from nuclear energy. Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine get more than half from nuclear, where else, Belgium, Sweden, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Finland and the Czech Republic get a third or more. South Korea usually gets more than 30% of its electricity from nuclear. USA, UK, Spain, Romania and Russia gets about a fifth of electricity from nuclear. Japan is used to relying on nuclear power for more than one-quarter of its electricity and is expected to return to somewhere near that level.
