NUCLEAR POWER

NUCLEAR POWER The use of atomic/nuclear energy for generating energy is a relatively new development. Nuclear energy is produced by using radioactive fuels, such as uranium, thorium, plutonium or by fusion, using heavy isotopes of hydrogen. It is an efficient but expensive and potentially hazardous source of power generation.

World Distribution of Nuclear Power The first nuclear power station was built in Britain in 1956 at Calder HalL Britain was rapidly overtaken in this field by the USA. Nuclear power provides 11 per cent of the USA's electricity supplies. Majority of the nuclear reactors in the US are concentrated in three areas: (a) the region between Mas­sachusetts and northern Virginia, accounting for about one­fourth of the country's total capacity; (b) the Chicago region; and (c) an area extending from Carolina westward across northern Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee state borders.

Other major European and American producers of nuclear energy are: France, Russia, Germany, UK, Sweden, Finland cU1d Canada. In Asia, Japan, China, India and Pakistan are major nuclear-energy producing nations. Argenhnil is the major nuclear-energy producing South American country.

However, despite rapid growth of nuclear energy generation in the world, the share of the nuclear energy in the total power consumption in most of the countries is relatively low.