Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Origins

Everything has a beginning, and nuclear energy is no exception. The first reactor to use nuclear energy was built in 1942. The discovery of fission, that lead to nuclear energy, was discovered a few years earlier. A man named Enrico Fermi first discovered fission. In 1934, Fermi proved that neutrons could split atoms. This was breaking news. The particles made by these splits were lighter than the original atom. Later the scientist added up the particles, and still it weighed less than the original product. This proved that Einstein's theory was right, that some of the mass changed to energy. This theory was none other than e=mc². The uses of this energy would be great. From cities, to ships, to bombs, nuclear energy powers them all.

The fireball from a nuclear explosion

Key Terms:

Ballistic: pertaining to or caused by projectiles

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Two cities in Japan that were bombed with nukes in repercussion of the bombing of Pearl Harbor

Ground Zero: The site directly below, directly above, or at the point of detonation of a nuclear weapon.

Thermal Radiation: electromagnetic radiation emitted by all matter above a temperature of absolute zero

Nuke: A nuclear weapon

Air Shock: A wave of pressure expanding from the place where a bomb hit

EMP (electromagnetic pulse): a burst of electromagnetic energy produced by a nuclear explosion in the atmosphere

Isotope: An element that has a different number of neutrons in its nucleus, but the same number of protons and electrons (atomic number)

Megawatt: A unit of power equal to one-million watts