Our field trip to... (Pt. 3) - NUKE!!!

Last Thursday, we were talking about sea turtles and the beach, now, let's go somewhere else...

While we're thinking of ideas about the next part of our trip, let's talk nuclear. Nuclear Power is the use of nuclear fission, to provide heat and electricity. The advantages is that it doesn't require coal, a non-renewable resource and it doesn't require that much uranium to be powered (1 pellet = 9 drums of oil = 3 tons of coal). Also, well-operated nuclear power plants don't release pollutants into the environment. But... There are setbacks. Nuclear explosions produce radiation and this harms the cells of the body which can make people sick or even kill them. Illness can strike people years after their exposure to nuclear radiation. Even worse, there is something known as a meltdown. In such an accident, the fission reaction goes out of control, leading to a nuclear explosion and the emission of great amounts of radiation. Examples are the Three Mile Island disaster and the Chernobyl disaster. Nuclear reactors also have waste disposal problems. Reactors produce nuclear waste products which emit dangerous radiation and because they could kill people who touch them, they cannot be thrown away like ordinary garbage. Currently, many nuclear wastes are stored in special cooling pools at the nuclear reactors. Also a very major setback is that the reactors usually last for 40-50 years.

Why did we discuss this? Because next, we went to the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant!
During the visit, we expected to learn the importance of nuclear energy and how we can use it to give us enough electricity. We also expected to learn the history and why they did not continue the project, how the energy was made into electricity and what could have happened if the project was to be fixed and polished so that we could have lower electricity bills.
We learned how they turned thermal steam into electricity, why it was never powered (they discovered over 400 faults) and that it is the one and only nuclear power plant in the Philippines. They mentioned that their fuel, a uranium pellet, is equal to 9 drums of oil or 3 tons of coal.
What we found most interesting was the tour of the power plant. It was exciting and most definitely cool. Although it was quite hot inside it was fun and interesting to see how the power plant functions.

Well, that is it for now (it's the shortest we made ,not including the first), Hope you enjoyed, Thanks for reading, and PEACE!

External Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power
http://library.thinkquest.org/3471/nuclear_energy.html

Note: we have no pictures because no one had enough battery to take any. Sorry. Also our opinions were merged because of lack of time and coordination.