finish all the worksheet please do not copy any info from online only use your own words
Nuclear Energy Worksheet
Name
Be sure to save this file regularly to your hard drive as you answer the questions.
Nuclear Reactions
1. Describe a) the differences between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion and b) the
advantages/disadvantages of each.
Nuclear Radiation
2.
Tritium has a half‐life of 12.3 years. If a box
full of tritium is left for 12.3 years, it will then
contain what fraction of tritium?
If that fraction of tritium in the question
above is left for another 12.3 years, what
fraction of tritium will be in the box?
What will the other, non‐tritium fraction
consist of?
1
3. Describe how ionizing radiation creates ions, what those ions are, and why ions can be hazardous.
Sources of Radiation
4. For the four sources of radiation, select the correct definition from the list.
Cosmic Rays
a. Uranium and thorium
Cosmogenic Radiation
b. Caused by cosmic rays
Primordial Radioactive Isotopes
c. High energy protons
Decay Products
d. Decay of primordials
5. Why is the radon (a uranium decay‐product) of such environmental concern?
Nuclear Hazards
6. Which of the three decay particles is the most difficult to stop and why?
2
7. Imagine you are talking to a friend who knows almost nothing about radioactivity; explain to your
friend in your own words how ionizing radiation can damage the human body.
8. Calculate the annual radiation exposure for Student X. X lives west of Denver, CO (elevation 4,900 ft)
in a brick house, flies to New York and back once per year (a distance of 1,631 miles, one way). X smokes
one and a half packs of cigarettes per day, gets one chest X‐ray and a set of dental X‐rays per year, uses
a computer monitor and watches TV. X also has a very significant other, camps with a gas lantern, and
wears a luminous LCD watch. Use the table below to calculate X’s dose (in mrem). Then calculate your
own radiation exposure. All values are given in mrem that exposure causes over one year.
Source
mrem/yr
Cosmic Radiation:
Elevation (in ft)
0 – 1000 ft: 23
1001 – 2000 ft: 31
2001 – 3000 ft: 35
3001 – 4000 ft: 41
4001 – 5000 ft: 47
Terrestrial ‐ soils
Atlantic Coast: 23
Gulf of Mexico: 23
Midwest: 46
Colorado Plateau: 90
Pacific Coast: 46
X’s annual
mrem
My
annual
mrem
3
House material
Stone: 7
Brick: 7
Concrete: 7
Wood: 2
Flights (miles)
0 – 1000 mi: 0.5
1001 – 2000 mi: 1.5
2001 – 3000 mi: 2.5
3001 – 4000 mi: 3.5
4001 – 5000 mi: 4.5
Smoke Cigarettes
0.5 pack/day: 500
1 pack/day: 1000
1.5 packs/day: 1500
2 packs/day: 2000
Radiation in Own Body
(ex., carbon‐14)
35
Activities
Use gas lantern camping: 0.003
Have smoke detector: 0.008
Share bed with someone (that person is also
radioactive): 1
Wear plutonium pacemaker: 100
Chest X‐ray: 16
Set of dental X‐rays: 2
Wear luminous LCD watch: 0.06
Live within 50 miles of a nuclear power plant:
0.009
Live within 50 miles of a coal‐fired power plant:
0.03
(Add each column to get the) TOTAL
9. How does Student X’s exposure compare to the dose standard?
Acceptable
How does your exposure compare to the dose standard? Acceptable
Unacceptable
Unacceptable
4
Nuclear Energy Production
10. Why might there be no generation of electricity in the U.S. by nuclear power plants 50 years in the
future?
Nuclear Waste Disposal
11. Mini‐Essay on High Level Nuclear Waste Disposal: Spent nuclear fuel has been in “interim” storage at
some facilities for about 50 years, often in locations close to highly‐populated areas. Yucca Mountain
was studied for at least 25 years and now is no longer actively being considered as a repository. The
decision not to recycle spent fuel is likely to be re‐examine. There is a new push to develop nuclear
energy as an alternative to fossil fuels, even though there is no solution to the problem of nuclear waste
disposal. Based on your understanding of the hazards of nuclear radiation (as well as your
understanding of the hazards of fossil fuel), write an essay of about 350 words (on the this and
continuing on to the next page) stating what you think this country’s policy should be with respect to
nuclear energy, spent fuel recycling, and nuclear waste disposal. Remember to give specific scientific
details to support your arguments about hazards, safety, feasibility, etc.
5
6
Fossil Fuels Worksheet
Your Name
Be sure to save this file to your hard drive regularly as you answer the questions.
Formation of Coal
1. The energy in fossil fuels (coal or petroleum) has been stored in organic compounds. We release that
energy when we burn fossil fuels. In your own words, explain these two processes of storage and
release of energy.
2. Coal deposits begin as plant residue. Describe the steps that convert this plant residue into the
various grades of coal, all the way up to anthracite.
1
Formation of Petroleum
3. Why don’t we have as clear an idea of how petroleum formed as we do for how coal formed?
4. We pump thick, viscous crude oil out of the geologic formations where it has accumulated. What is
done to that crude oil so that we have the very fluid, low viscosity gasoline to run automobiles?
Energy Production in the US
5. Looking at the US EIA Primary Energy Overview table, how great was the increase between 1950 and
2018. Fill in the values in quadrillion BTUs (British thermal units, a measure of energy), and divide the
2018 value by the 1950 value to see how many times production has increased.
1950 Total
2018 Total
Times increased from
1950 to 2018
Production of Fossil
Fuels
Production of
Renewable Energy
6. In the same table, what year did Nuclear Energy first contribute to energy production?
Divide the 2018 total Nuclear Energy Production by the 2018 Total Energy Production and multiply by
100 to calculate the percent that nuclear energy contributes to energy production.
%
2
7. Looking at the last column of the EIA table on Total Energy Consumption, which year had the greatest
energy consumption?
8. Which year had the greatest
and lowest
Net Imports of energy?
9. From the summary of main Takeaways from the US EIA Energy Outlook, when will the US become a
net exporter of energy?
10. Which two factors account for this change from net importer to net exporter of energy?
11. Which of the fossil fuels have the highest growth in production?
12. How has electric power generation shifted in the source of fuel used? Why?
3
13. Based on your readings in the Executive Summary section (pages 1 to 2) of the US EPA document on
Hydraulic Fracturing, write a short essay summarizing the major threats to water supplies. Discuss
whether you think this means this technique should be eliminated or if it can be safely regulated.
Acid Rain
14. You are a regulator in a U.S. regulatory agency tasked with reducing acid rain in the eastern U.S. in
response to a (hypothetical) treaty with Canada. Explain the steps that you will take to reduce the
formation of acid rain in that part of the country.
4
Global Climate Change
15. I’ve provided you with two readings on Global Climate Change. At a minimum, you should read a)
the highlighted boxes at the beginning of each section in the IPCC Climate Change Report Summary and
b) the entire short EPA pamphlet on likely effects of climate change in California. Based on your
readings from these scientific organizations, a) what climate change can you expect to experience in
your lifetime and b) how will these changes affect the lives of you and your family? Write a mini‐essay of
at least 300 words. Be sure to include very specific examples about what those changes will be.
5
Alternative Energy Worksheet
Be sure to save this file regularly.
Your Name
Hybrid Cars
1. Discuss the various engineering approaches that make a hybrid car more energy efficient. Also
include a discussion of any disadvantages of hybrid cars.
Hydrogen Fuel
2. Examine the four ways that hydrogen gas for fuel cells is currently produced. On the next page,
discuss the advantages of disadvantages of hydrogen as a fuel source from an environmental
perspective (i.e., reducing or increasing negative impacts to the environment).
1
Methane Hydrates
3. From reading the DOE pamphlet, in what two environments do methane hydrates form and what are
the processes by which they are formed in each environment?
2
4. From the Polar Meltdown Pamphlet, why is there a concern about methane hydrates with respect to
Global Warming?
Biofuels
5. Describe the production and uses of the two primary forms of biofuels.
3
6. Discuss the advantages of biofuels, some of the possible negative environmental consequences of
their use, and how those negative consequences might be mitigated.
Energy Conservation
7. List eight actions you could take for Home Energy Saving. State how likely you are to take these
actions (ex., already doing, likely to do, unlikely).
Energy‐saving Action
Likelihood
4
5