Nuclear Energy
Energy is the key factor that supports economic growth, people’s welfare and development. Electric energy can be produced by various means: using fossil fuel, nuclear fuel, water power, wind power, geothermal power, solar, etc. In Power Plants electricity is produced using a heat source that heats water up to the point that is turned into steam. The steam is then used in steam turbines that rotate in order to produce electrical energy. In Classic Power Plants fossil fuel is used to produce heat. A Nuclear Power Plant is similar to a Classic Power Plant but for heating, but the burn of fossil fuels is replaced with nuclear reactions. In the same time the CO2 pollution is drastically lowered.
At present, the majority of Nuclear Power Plants use nuclear fission to produce electricity. Fission is a reaction in which a nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts. Because of the fact that enormous energy is present in the bonds that hold together the nucleus, when splitting apart, this energy is released in the form of heat.
Nuclear power is the one that fights climate change, that powers your house, your school, your hospital and your electric car. With 450 Nuclear Reactors worldwide, generating about 11% of electricity demand worldwide and, with 58 reactors under construction and more than 150 planned, Nuclear Power is the most reliable and available power source in the world.
This site provides a short description of nuclear reactors, including some animations. Language: English.
Web page with a video related to nuclear energy (Chapter 5). An account is needed (30-days free, 59.99 $/month) Language: English.
Resources for teachers, classified by the level for which they are designed and by categories, including nuclear energy. It is about PDF documents and some of them include game or debate proposals. Language: English.
Educational videos (5-10 minutes) and games for kids. Among these videos there are some explaining how energy from nuclear fission and fusion is obtained. Language: English.
Web page with PDF documents and videos about nuclear energy from the California Academy of Science. It also includes activity plans to be followed by teachers. Language: English (some videos also in Spanish).
Educational video about nuclear energy for pupils from 6-13. Language: English.
Brief description about nuclear energy. Language: English.
Short and clear article about nuclear energy with a video. This web page also includes a section (http://nuclearconnect.org/know-nuclear/talking-nuclear/top-10-myths-about-nuclear-energy) collecting mythbusters around nuclear energy. Language: English.
5-minutes video explaning Nuclear Energy and how does it work? Language: English (with option of subtitles in several languages).
Video that comments on 3 Reasons why nuclear energy is awesome! The other side of the coin is another video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEYbgyL5n1g) in which the cons of nuclear energy are detailed. Language: English (with option of subtitles).
Opinion video of about 20 minutes entitled “Why I changed my mind about nuclear power”. Language: English (with subtitles option for Spanish, Portuguese or French).
National Geographic video explaining what nuclear energy is. Language: English (with subtitles option).
Video explaining how nuclear power plants work, focused on the PWR system. Language: English.
Video of about 5 minutes from the IAEA about Nuclear Power in the 21st Century. Language: English.
Video from AREVA about the operation of a PWR reactor. Language: English.
Video of about 4 minutes entitled “The Future Of Clean Nuclear Energy Is Coming”. Language: English.
Video about how to control a nuclear power plant with a duration of slightly more than 5 minutes. Language: English.
Very short video to explain the advantages of nuclear energy. Language: English.