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Which of these statements about nuclear energy is false? Nuclear energy through fission can release 1 million times more energy per atom than fossil fuels.
Which of these statements about nuclear energy is false?
- Nuclear energy through fission can release 1 million times more energy per atom than fossil fuels. Nuclear plants have large power generating capacity but a high operating cost, making it challenging for base load generation.
- Today, nuclear power plants account for 11 percent of global electricity generation with about 80 percent of that installed capacity being in OECD countries.
- Fusion power offers the prospect of an almost inexhaustible source of Energy. However, creating the conditions for nuclear fusion presents a potentially insurmountable scientific and engineering challenge.
- Nuclear energy is the energy held in the nucleus of an atom. It can be obtained by two types of reactions, fission and fusion.
- Fission produces energy through the splitting of atoms which releases heat energy that can be harnessed to produce electricity. The fuel most commonly used for nuclear fission is uranium. However other elements such as plutonium and thorium can also be used. All of today's operating nuclear plants use nuclear fission to generate electricity.
- Nuclear fusion is the same process that powers our Sun. Fusion is a nuclear reaction in which atomic nuclei collide at a high speed and join to form a new type of atomic nucleus. During this process, matter is not conserved because some of the matter of the fusing nuclei is converted to photons which produces energy.
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