nuclear energy

1. The energy released by the nucleus of an atom as the result of nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, or
radioactive decay. The amount of energy released by the nuclear fission of a given mass of uranium is
about 2,500,000 times greater than that released by the combustion of an equal mass of carbon. And the
amount of energy released by the nuclear fusion of a given mass of deuterium is about 400 times greater
that that released by the nuclear fission of an equal mass of uranium. Also called atomic energy.
2. electricity generated by a nuclear reactor.
Importance of Nuclear Energy:
Nuclear energy has been one of the most controversial topics since its first research testing in the early
20th century. This awesome power has been used for life-saving procedures and horrific destruction of
human life alike. Nuclear energy is the energy that binds subatomic particles together against magnetic
forces. When unleashed, nuclear energy presents one of the strongest energy forms man has ever
known

History
The first recorded nuclear energy event was in 1896 by French physicist Henri Becquerel. He observed
that photographic plates stored near a sample of uranium turned dark like X-ray film despite being in
darkness. This event ultimately led to the discovery of nuclear forces within atoms and their eventual
harnessing within atomic bombs and nuclear energy reactors.

Types
Nuclear energy is defined by how it is propagated. Namely, there are three production methods for
nuclear energy: radioactive decay, fusion and fission. All three of these nuclear energy-producing
processes release particles, gamma rays, neutrinos or all three. Radioactive decay occurs naturally by
way of heavy, unstable atoms breaking down over time. Fission and fusion produce nuclear energy by
either splitting or fusing atoms, respectively.


Timeline of nuclear energy in india
1946: The Indian government forms the Atomic Energy Research Committee chaired by Dr. H.
Bhabha to promote education in nuclear physics in Indian colleges and universities.26
1948: Prime Minister Nehru introduces the Atomic Energy Act before India's Constituent
Assembly to create an Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the legal framework for its
operation.27
1952: Prime Minister Nehru unveils a four-year plan to begin developing India's nuclear
infrastructure.28
1954: The Indian government creates the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), which takes
over the execution of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) policies.29
1955: Britain provides India with six kilograms of enriched uranium fuel rods, detailed
engineering drawings, and other technical data for the construction of a "swimming pool" type
research reactor.30 Members of the US Joint Committee on Atomic Energy visit India to promote
the expansion of peaceful applications of atomic energy.31 The Atomic Energy Commission of
the United States agrees to sell ten tons of heavy water to India for use in the nuclear research
reactor under construction at Trombay.32
1956: Canada agrees to supply India with half the initial uranium fuel required for the CIRUS
research reactor,33 and the United States agrees to sell 18.9 tons of heavy water for the reactor.34
October 6, 1961: India signs an agreement to cooperate in the peaceful uses of atomic energy
with the Soviet Union.35
September 21, 1962: The Indian government enacts the Atomic Energy Act of 1962, which
allows for enhanced secrecy and mandates central governmental control over atomic energy.36
August 8, 1963: The Agreement for Cooperation Between the Government of the United States
and the Government of India Concerning the Civil Uses of Atomic Energy is signed. The United
States will supply two 200MW reactors. In exchange, India agrees to only use enriched uranium
fuel provided by the United States and to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
to verify that the fuel at this facility is not diverted from peaceful use.
Nuclear Power in India
India has a flourishing and largely indigenous nuclear power program and expects to have 14,600
MWe nuclear capacity on line by 2020. It aims to supply 25% of electricity from nuclear power by 2050.
India has a vision of becoming a world leader in nuclear technology due to its expertise in fast reactors
and thorium fuel cycle.
India has five electricity grids Northern, Eastern, North-Eastern, Southern and Western. All of them
are interconnected to some extent, except the Southern grid. All are run by the state-owned Power Grid
Corporation of India Ltd (PGCI), which operates more than 95,000 circuit km of transmission lines. In July
2012 the Northern grid failed with 35,669 MWe load in the early morning, and the following day it plus
parts of two other grids failed again so that over 600 million people in 22 states were without power for up
to a day.
Indian nuclear power industry development
Nuclear power for civil use is well established in India. Its civil nuclear strategy has been directed towards
complete independence in the nuclear fuel cycle, necessary because it is excluded from the 1970 Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) due to it acquiring nuclear weapons capability after 1970. (Those five
countries doing so before 1970 were accorded the status of Nuclear Weapons States under the NPT.)
The Atomic Energy Establishment was set up at Trombay, near Mumbai, in 1957 and renamed as
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) ten years later. Plans for building the first Pressurised Heavy
Water Reactor (PHWR) were finalised in 1964, and this prototype Rajasthan 1, which had Canada's
Douglas Point reactor as a reference unit, was built as a collaborative venture between Atomic Energy of
Canada Ltd (AECL) and NPCIL. It started up in 1972 and was duplicated Subsequent indigenous PHWR
development has been based on these units, though several stages of evolution can be identified:
PHWRs with dousing and single containment at Rajasthan 1-2, PHWRs with suppression pool and partial
double containment at Madras, and later standardized PHWRs from Narora onwards having double
containment, suppression pool, and calandria filled with heavy water.

Power station State Type Operator Units Total capacity (MW)
Kaiga Karnataka PHWR NPCIL 220 x 3 660
Kalpakkam Tamil Nadu PHWR NPCIL 220 x 2 440
Kakrapar Gujarat PHWR NPCIL 220 x 2 440
Rawatbhata Rajasthan PHWR NPCIL 100 x 1
200 x 1
220 x 4
1180
Tarapur Maharashtra BWR (PHWR) NPCIL 160 x 2
540 x 2
1400
Narora Uttar Pradesh PHWR NPCIL 220 x 2 440
Total 19 4560

Some of the nuclear power plant projects which are under construction can be listed below:

Power station State Type Operator Units Total capacity (MW)
Kudankulam Tamil Nadu VVER-1000 NPCIL 1000 x 2 2000
Kaiga Karnataka PHWR NPCIL 220 x 1 220
Kalpakkam Tamil Nadu PFBR NPCIL 500 x 1 500
Total 4 2720


Some of the nuclear power projects which are planned up for the future are as follows:

Power station Operator State Type Units Total capacity (MW)
Rawatbhata NPCIL Rajasthan PHWR 640 x 2 1280
Kakrapar NPCIL Gujarat PHWR 640 x 2 1280
Jaitapur NPCIL Maharashtra EPR 1600 x 4 6400
Kudankulam NPCIL Tamil Nadu VVER 1200 x 2 2400
Kaiga NPCIL Karnataka PWR 1000 x 1, 1500 x 1 2500
NPCIL AHWR 300 300
NPCIL PHWR 640 x 4 2560
NTPC PWR 1000 x 2 2000
Total 10 20600

Discovery of nuclear energy
There are many inventors & chemist who contributed in invention of Nuclear Energy. However Curie
family is considered as pioneer in invention and development of Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy is good because it is cheap and extremely powerful. We would be able to
conserve a lot of non-renewable resources if we could convert to nuclear energy. It is bad
because it produces a lot of radioactive waste and accidents can happen.