The widespread use of nuclear energy began thanks to scientific and technological progress not only in the military field, but also for peaceful purposes. Today it is impossible to do without it in industry, energy and medicine.

However, the use of nuclear energy has not only advantages, but also disadvantages. First of all, this is the danger of radiation, both for humans and for the environment.

The use of nuclear energy is developing in two directions: use in energy and the use of radioactive isotopes.

Initially, atomic energy was intended to be used only for military purposes, and all developments went in this direction.

Use of nuclear energy in the military sphere

A large amount of highly active materials are used to produce nuclear weapons. Experts estimate that nuclear warheads contain several tons of plutonium.

Nuclear weapons are considered because they cause destruction over vast territories.

Based on their range and charge power, nuclear weapons are divided into:

• Tactical.
• Operational-tactical.
• Strategic.

Nuclear weapons are divided into atomic and hydrogen. Nuclear weapons are based on uncontrolled chain reactions of fission of heavy nuclei and reactions. For a chain reaction, uranium or plutonium is used.

Storing such large quantities of hazardous materials is a great threat to humanity. And the use of nuclear energy for military purposes can lead to dire consequences.

Nuclear weapons were first used in 1945 to attack the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The consequences of this attack were catastrophic. As is known, this was the first and last use of nuclear energy in war.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The IAEA was created in 1957 with the aim of developing cooperation between countries in the field of using atomic energy for peaceful purposes. From the very beginning, the agency has been implementing the Nuclear Safety and Environmental Protection program.

But the most important function is control over the activities of countries in the nuclear field. The organization ensures that the development and use of nuclear energy occurs only for peaceful purposes.

The purpose of this program is to ensure the safe use of nuclear energy, protecting people and the environment from the effects of radiation. The agency also studied the consequences of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

The agency also supports the study, development and application of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and acts as an intermediary in the exchange of services and materials between agency members.

Together with the UN, the IAEA defines and sets standards in the field of safety and health.

Nuclear energy

In the second half of the forties of the twentieth century, Soviet scientists began to develop the first projects for the peaceful use of the atom. The main direction of these developments was the electric power industry.

And in 1954, a station was built in the USSR. After this, programs for the rapid growth of nuclear energy began to be developed in the USA, Great Britain, Germany and France. But most of them were not implemented. As it turned out, the nuclear power plant could not compete with stations that run on coal, gas and fuel oil.

But after the start of the global energy crisis and the rise in oil prices, the demand for nuclear energy increased. In the 70s of the last century, experts believed that the power of all nuclear power plants could replace half of the power plants.

In the mid-1980s, the growth of nuclear power slowed again, and countries began to reconsider plans for the construction of new nuclear power plants. This was facilitated by both energy saving policies and lower oil prices, as well as the disaster at the Chernobyl station, which had negative consequences not only for Ukraine.

Afterwards, some countries stopped building and operating nuclear power plants altogether.

Nuclear energy for space flights

More than three dozen nuclear reactors flew into space and were used to generate energy.

The Americans first used a nuclear reactor in space in 1965. Uranium-235 was used as fuel. He worked for 43 days.

In the Soviet Union, the Romashka reactor was launched at the Institute of Atomic Energy. It was supposed to be used on spacecraft together with But after all the tests, it was never launched into space.

The next Buk nuclear installation was used on a radar reconnaissance satellite. The first device was launched in 1970 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.

Today, Roscosmos and Rosatom propose to construct a spacecraft that will be equipped with a nuclear rocket engine and will be able to reach the Moon and Mars. But for now this is all at the proposal stage.

Application of nuclear energy in industry

Nuclear energy is used to increase the sensitivity of chemical analysis and the production of ammonia, hydrogen and other chemicals used to make fertilizers.

Nuclear energy, the use of which in the chemical industry makes it possible to obtain new chemical elements, helps to recreate the processes that occur in the earth's crust.

Nuclear energy is also used to desalinate salt water. Application in ferrous metallurgy allows the recovery of iron from iron ore. In color - used for the production of aluminum.

Use of nuclear energy in agriculture

The use of nuclear energy in agriculture solves breeding problems and helps in pest control.

Nuclear energy is used to cause mutations in seeds. This is done to obtain new varieties that produce more yield and are resistant to crop diseases. Thus, more than half of the wheat grown in Italy for making pasta was bred through mutations.

Radioisotopes are also used to determine the best methods of applying fertilizers. For example, with their help it was determined that when growing rice it is possible to reduce the application of nitrogen fertilizers. This not only saved money, but also preserved the environment.

A slightly strange use of nuclear energy is the irradiation of insect larvae. This is done in order to remove them in an environmentally friendly manner. In this case, the insects emerging from the irradiated larvae do not have offspring, but in other respects are quite normal.

Nuclear medicine

Medicine uses radioactive isotopes to make an accurate diagnosis. Medical isotopes have a short half-life and do not pose a particular danger to both others and the patient.

Another application of nuclear energy in medicine has been discovered quite recently. This is positron emission tomography. It can help detect cancer in its early stages.

Application of nuclear energy in transport

In the early 50s of the last century, attempts were made to create a nuclear-powered tank. Development began in the USA, but the project was never brought to life. Mainly due to the fact that in these tanks they could not solve the problem of shielding the crew.

The famous Ford company was working on a car that would run on nuclear energy. But the production of such a machine did not go beyond the mock-up.

The thing is that the nuclear installation took up a lot of space, and the car turned out to be very large. Compact reactors never appeared, so the ambitious project was scrapped.

Probably the most famous transport that runs on nuclear energy is various ships for both military and civilian purposes:

• Transport vessels.
• Aircraft carriers.
• Submarines.
• Cruisers.
• Nuclear submarines.

Pros and cons of using nuclear energy

Today the share of global energy production is approximately 17 percent. Although humanity uses it, its reserves are not endless.

Therefore, it is used as an alternative, but the process of obtaining and using it is associated with a great risk to life and the environment.

Of course, nuclear reactors are constantly being improved, all possible safety measures are being taken, but sometimes this is not enough. An example is the accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima.

On the one hand, a properly operating reactor does not emit any radiation into the environment, while thermal power plants release a large amount of harmful substances into the atmosphere.

The greatest danger comes from spent fuel, its reprocessing and storage. Because to date, a completely safe method for disposing of nuclear waste has not been invented.

Nuclear energy was discovered during the creation of the atomic bomb. After scientists conducted a large number of experiments, they discovered that nuclear energy is a clean and efficient way to produce energy. The first nuclear reactor was created on December 2, 1942 at the University of Chicago by Enrico Fermat.

The discovery of a new source of energy was a significant event. By using small amounts of plutonium and uranium, two radioactive elements, large amounts of energy can be produced. Nuclear energy can be produced in two ways: fission process or fusion. Fission involves the transformation of heavy atoms into lighter ones. In a nuclear fission reaction, two smaller nuclei of approximately equal mass are produced from one large nucleus. Fusion is a method that combines lighter atoms into heavier ones.

The extraction of natural resources cannot continue indefinitely, and that is clear. A lot of hydrocarbon resources are wasted to get a small amount of energy. On the other hand, relatively little plutonium and uranium are needed to produce high-power nuclear energy. Compared to energy production that uses coal and gas, nuclear energy produces less air pollution. And when coal is burned, toxic fumes are released that can cause illness in people in regions where thermal power plants operate. As the cost of electricity tends to increase, humanity has been forced to look for an alternative source of energy, which has been found in nuclear reactors.

One of the main disadvantages of the reactor is the burial of nuclear waste, which is harmful to the environment. All attempts to dispose of nuclear waste have been unsuccessful. One such attempt was to hide them deep underground, but a nuclear waste leak poisoned the groundwater. Another attempt is to place nuclear waste in the ocean depths. This was rejected by the public as a violation of international agreement due to the potential for harm to the ocean.

The most significant flaw in this controversial issue is the threat of disasters. The two most serious situations involving nuclear energy were the Chernobyl disaster and the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first time people discovered the dangers of nuclear energy was when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The explosion destroyed 4.7 square miles of the city. About 70,000 people were killed and approximately 700,000 more were injured. Many died later from nuclear radiation and radiation sickness. The most serious nuclear disaster was the Chernobyl disaster, which occurred on April 26, 1986. The exact number of deaths as a result of this disaster is very difficult to determine due to the secrecy of the causes of the Chernobyl accident. Whether using the atom for peace or for war, man must combat the dangers of nuclear radiation. This radiation can cause burns, illness and death. It can harm humans by causing mutations.

Scientists believe that as a result of the Chernobyl disaster, a genetic mutation occurred in parents who were exposed to radiation. The mutation was found in sperm and eggs, which contain the genetic information of future generations. It has been established that in contaminated areas of the Soviet Union, radiation has changed the genetic structure of future generations. In addition, in Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian Federation, the number of children diagnosed with thyroid cancer has increased significantly since 1986.

The use of radiation for peaceful purposes has many positive signs, but at the same time, there are more negative ones. Neither the government nor scientists can guarantee the complete safety of nuclear installations, and therefore there is an immediate danger to the world.

Public concern about the use of nuclear energy has increased significantly in the last decade. It can be argued that nuclear energy is clean and can be generated without using large amounts of natural resources. It should also be noted that radiation is harmful to the environment and dangerous to all living beings. Scientists and humanity must weigh the positive and negative aspects of nuclear radiation, and then decide which energy source is the future, and which will benefit not only people, but also the environment.

Developed energy is the foundation for the future progress of civilization. If at the dawn of the global and domestic energy industry the emphasis was on obtaining maximum electricity for industry, today the issue of the impact of power plants on the environment and people has come to the fore. Modern energy causes significant harm to the environment, and countries have to make a difficult choice between thermal, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants.

Thermal power plants - “hello” from the past

At the beginning of the 20th century, our country relied specifically on thermal power plants. At that time, they had enough advantages, but little thought was given to the impact of this type of energy production on the environment. Thermal power plants operate on cheap fuel, which Russia is rich in, and their construction is not so expensive compared to the construction of hydroelectric power plants or nuclear power plants. Thermal power plants do not require large areas and can be built in any area. The consequences of technological accidents at thermal plants are not as destructive as at other power plants.

The share of thermal power plants in the domestic energy system is the largest: in 2011, thermal power plants in Russia generated 67.8% (that’s 691 billion kWh) of all energy in the country. Meanwhile, thermal power plants cause the most significant damage to the environment compared to other power plants.

Every year, thermal power plants emit huge amounts of waste into the atmosphere. According to the state report “On the state and protection of the environment of the Russian Federation in 2010”, the largest sources of emissions of pollutants into the air were state district power plants - large thermal power plants. In 2010 alone, 4 state district power plants owned by OJSC Enel OGK-5 - Reftinskaya, Sredneuralskaya, Nevinnomyssk and Konakovskaya state district power plants - emitted 410,360 tons of pollutants into the atmosphere.

When burning fossil fuels, combustion products are formed containing nitrogen oxide, sulfuric and sulfur dioxide, particles of unburned pulverized fuel, fly ash and gaseous products of incomplete combustion. When fuel oil is burned, vanadium compounds, coke, sodium salts, and soot particles are formed, and emissions from coal-fired thermal power plants contain oxides of aluminum and silicon. And all thermal power plants, regardless of the fuel used, emit enormous amounts of carbon dioxide, which causes global warming.

Gas significantly increases the cost of electricity, but burning it does not produce ash. True, sulfur oxide and nitrogen oxides also enter the atmosphere, as when burning fuel oil. And thermal power plants in our country, unlike foreign ones, are not equipped with effective flue gas purification systems. In recent years, serious work has been carried out in this direction: boilers and ash collection plants, electric precipitators are being reconstructed, and automated systems for environmental monitoring of emissions are being introduced.

The issue of shortage of high-quality fuel for thermal power plants is quite acute. Many stations are forced to operate on low-quality fuel, the combustion of which releases a large amount of harmful substances into the atmosphere along with smoke.

The main problem of coal thermal power plants is ash dumps. They not only occupy large areas, but are also hotspots for the accumulation of heavy metals and have increased radioactivity.

Moreover, thermal power plants discharge warm water into reservoirs and thereby pollute them. As a result, the oxygen balance is disrupted and overgrown with algae, which poses a threat to the ichthyofauna. Water bodies and industrial wastewater from thermal power plants, which contain petroleum products, pollute water bodies. Moreover, at thermal power plants operating on liquid fuel, discharges of industrial water are higher.

Despite the relative cheapness of fossil fuels, they are still an irreplaceable natural resource. The world's main energy resources are coal (40%), oil (27%) and gas (21%) and according to some estimates, at current rates of consumption, global reserves will last for 270, 50 and 70 years, respectively.

Hydroelectric power station - a “tamed” element

They began to tame the water element at the end of the 19th century, and the large-scale construction of hydroelectric power stations throughout the country coincided with the development of industry and the development of new territories. The construction of hydroelectric power stations not only solved the issue of providing electricity to new industries, but also improved the conditions for navigation and land reclamation.

The maneuverability of hydroelectric power plants helps optimize the operation of the energy system, allowing thermal power plants to operate in optimal mode with minimal fuel consumption and minimal emissions for each kilowatt-hour of electricity produced.

One of the main advantages of hydropower is that it causes less damage to the environment compared to other power plants. Hydroelectric power plants do not use fuel, which means that the electricity they generate is much cheaper, its cost does not depend on fluctuations in oil or coal prices, and energy production is not accompanied by air and water pollution. Electricity generation at hydroelectric power stations provides annual savings of 50 million tons of standard fuel. The savings potential is 250 million tons.

Water is a renewable source of electricity and, unlike fossil fuels, it can be used countless times. Hydropower is the most developed type of renewable energy source; it is capable of providing energy to entire regions. Another plus, since hydroelectric power plants do not burn fuel, there are no additional costs for waste disposal and disposal.

At the same time, hydroelectric power stations also have a number of disadvantages from an environmental point of view. When constructing hydroelectric power stations on lowland rivers, large areas of arable land have to be flooded. The creation of reservoirs significantly changes the ecosystem, which affects not only the ichthyofauna, but also the animal world. True, as some ecologists note, with the implementation of a set of environmental measures, restoration of the ecosystem is possible in a few decades.

Nuclear power plant - the energy of the future?

Nuclear energy was discovered relatively recently, and the world's first nuclear power plant began operation in 1954 in Obninsk. Today the nuclear industry is developing at an active pace, but the Fukushima tragedy has forced many countries to reconsider their views on the future of nuclear power plants.

In the domestic energy system, nuclear power plants account for a small part of the energy produced. In 2011, the country's nuclear power plants produced 172.9 billion kWh, which is only 16.9%. Nevertheless, the state corporation Rosatom has serious plans to develop the nuclear industry in Russia and beyond.

Nuclear power plants, despite the high cost of construction, are economically profitable: the electricity they produce is relatively cheap. And from an environmental point of view, nuclear power plants have a number of advantages.

Nuclear power plants do not emit ash and other hazardous substances into the atmosphere resulting from fuel combustion. The main share of emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere comes from start-up boiler houses, boiler houses of dispensaries and periodically switched on reserve diesel generator stations. According to the state report, in 2010, all nuclear power plants in the country emitted only 1,559 tons of pollutants into the atmosphere (for comparison, the above 4 state district power plants emitted 410,360 tons). The share of nuclear power plants in the total volume of emissions of pollutants into the atmospheric air by all enterprises in the country for many years has been less than 0.012%.

There are significantly more reserves of nuclear fuel - uranium - than other types of fuel. Russia has 8.9% of the world's proven uranium reserves, being in fourth place in the overall list.

But, despite the obvious advantages, countries such as Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Japan and a number of others have abandoned nuclear energy. In Germany, the share of nuclear power plants in the energy system is 32%, but by 2022 the last station in the country will be switched off. The main reason is the safety of nuclear power plants for the environment and the population. A peaceful atom in an instant can become responsible for the death and serious illness of millions of people and animals, and cause irreparable damage to the environment. The catastrophic consequences of accidents at nuclear power plants immediately cancel out all these advantages.

Moreover, during the operation of nuclear reactors, radioactive waste is generated, which must be stored for hundreds of thousands of years until it becomes more or less safe for the environment. And the world has not yet found a solution to make their storage safe. Part of the nuclear waste is sent for processing (regeneration) with partial extraction of uranium and plutonium for subsequent use (but as a result of processing, new waste is generated, the volume exceeding the original amount of waste by thousands of times), or for burial in the ground. The process of uranium mining and its conversion into nuclear fuel is also flawed from an environmental point of view.

It is worth noting that even at properly operating nuclear power plants, some radioactive material enters the air and water. And even though these are small doses, it is difficult to predict what impact they will have on the environment in the long term.

Progress does not stand still and it is difficult to say exactly what the energy sector of the future will be like. But we must understand that energy, just like any other human activity, has a certain negative impact on the environment. And, unfortunately, it is impossible to avoid it completely. But it is quite possible to make every effort to minimize the damage caused to nature. For example, choose those technologies (even expensive ones) that are most environmentally friendly. Thus, hydropower, which is the only one on such a scale that uses a renewable energy source - water - despite a number of disadvantages from an environmental point of view, still causes minimal damage to the environment compared to other electric power facilities.

The work was completed by 11th grade students V. Seliverstov, N. Rudenko.

The need for nuclear energy.

• We have learned to obtain electrical energy from non-renewable resources - oil and gas, and from renewable ones - water, wind, sun. But the energy of the sun or wind is not enough to ensure the active life of our civilization. But hydroelectric power plants and thermal power plants are not as clean and economical as required by the modern rhythm of life

Physical foundations of nuclear energy.

The nuclei of some heavy elements - for example, some isotopes of plutonium and uranium - decay under certain conditions, releasing enormous amounts of energy and turning into the nuclei of other isotopes. This process is called nuclear fission. Each nucleus, when splitting, “along the chain” involves its neighbors in the splitting, which is why the process is called a chain reaction. Its progress is continuously monitored using special technologies, so it is also controlled. All this happens in the reactor, accompanied by the release of enormous energy. This energy heats the water, which turns powerful turbines that generate electricity.

Operating principle of nuclear power plants

World nuclear energy.

• The world's leading producers of nuclear energy are almost all the most technically advanced countries: the USA, Japan, Great Britain, France and, of course, Russia. There are currently about 450 nuclear reactors operating around the world.

• Abandoned nuclear power plants: Germany, Sweden, Austria, Italy.

Russian nuclear power plants.

• Balakovskaya

• Beloyarskaya

• Volgodonskaya

• Kalininskaya

• Kola

• Kursk

• Leningradskaya

• Novovoronezhskaya

• Smolenskaya

Russian nuclear energy.

The history of nuclear energy in Russia began on August 20, 1945, when the “Special Committee for Managing Work with Uranium” was created, and 9 years later the first nuclear power plant, Obninsk, was built. For the first time in the world, atomic energy was tamed and put to the service of peaceful purposes. Having worked flawlessly for 50 years, the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant became a legend, and after exhausting its service life, it was switched off.

• Currently in Russia there are 31 nuclear power units operating at 10 nuclear power plants, which power a quarter of all light bulbs in the country.

Balakovskaya Atomic.

Balakovskaya Atomic.

Balakovo NPP is the largest electricity producer in Russia. It produces more than 30 billion kW annually. hour of electricity (more than any other nuclear, thermal and hydroelectric power plant in the country). The Balakovo NPP provides a quarter of the electricity production in the Volga Federal District and a fifth of the output of all nuclear power plants in the country. Its electricity is reliably provided to consumers in the Volga region (76% of the electricity it supplies), the Center (13%), the Urals (8%) and Siberia (3%). Electricity from the Balakovo NPP is the cheapest among all nuclear power plants and thermal power plants in Russia. The installed capacity utilization factor (IUR) at the Balakovo NPP is more than 80 percent.

technical characteristics.

• Reactor type VVER-1000 (V-320)

• Turbine unit type K-1000-60/1500-2 with a rated power of 1000 MW and a rotation speed of 1500 rpm;

• Generators type TVV-1000-4 with a power of 1000 MW and a voltage of 24 kV.

• Annual electricity generation is over 30-32 billion kW (2009 - 31.299 billion kWh.

• The installed capacity utilization factor is 89.3%.

History of Balakovo Nuclear Power Plant.

• October 28, 1977 – laying of the first stone.

• December 12, 1985 – launch of the 1st power unit.

• December 24, 1985 – first current.

• October 10, 1987 – 2nd power unit.

• December 28, 1988 – power unit 3.

• May 12, 1993 – power unit 4.

Advantages of nuclear power plants:

• Small volume of fuel used and the possibility of its reuse after processing.

• High unit power: 1000-1600 MW per power unit;

• Relatively low cost of energy, especially thermal;

• Possibility of placement in regions located far from large water-energy resources, large deposits, in places where opportunities for the use of solar or wind power are limited;

• Although during the operation of a nuclear power plant a certain amount of ionized gas is released into the atmosphere, a conventional thermal power plant, along with smoke, releases an even larger amount of radiation emissions due to the natural content of radioactive elements in coal.

Disadvantages of nuclear power plants:

• Irradiated fuel is dangerous: it requires complex, expensive, time-consuming processing and storage measures;

• Variable power operation is not desirable for thermal neutron reactors;

• From a statistical point of view, major accidents are very unlikely, but the consequences of such an incident are extremely severe, which makes the insurance usually used for economic protection against accidents difficult to apply;

• Large capital investments, both specific, per 1 MW of installed capacity for units with a capacity of less than 700-800 MW, and general, necessary for the construction of the station, its infrastructure, as well as for the subsequent disposal of used units;

• Since for nuclear power plants it is necessary to provide especially careful liquidation procedures (due to the radioactivity of irradiated structures) and especially long-term observation of waste - a time period noticeably longer than the period of operation of the nuclear power plant itself - this makes the economic effect of the nuclear power plant ambiguous and its correct calculation difficult.

The use of nuclear energy in the modern world turns out to be so important that if we woke up tomorrow and the energy from the nuclear reaction had disappeared, the world as we know it would probably cease to exist. Peace forms the basis of industrial production and life in countries such as France and Japan, Germany and Great Britain, the USA and Russia. And if the last two countries are still able to replace nuclear energy sources with thermal stations, then for France or Japan this is simply impossible.

The use of nuclear energy creates many problems. Basically, all these problems are related to the fact that using the binding energy of the atomic nucleus (which we call nuclear energy) for one’s benefit, a person receives a significant evil in the form of highly radioactive waste that cannot simply be thrown away. Waste from nuclear energy sources must be processed, transported, buried, and stored for a long time in safe conditions.

Pros and cons, benefits and harms of using nuclear energy

Let's consider the pros and cons of using atomic-nuclear energy, their benefits, harm and significance in the life of Mankind. It is obvious that nuclear energy today is needed only by industrialized countries. That is, peaceful nuclear energy is mainly used in facilities such as factories, processing plants, etc. It is energy-intensive industries that are remote from sources of cheap electricity (such as hydroelectric power plants) that use nuclear power plants to ensure and develop their internal processes.

Agrarian regions and cities do not have much need for nuclear energy. It is quite possible to replace it with thermal and other stations. It turns out that the mastery, acquisition, development, production and use of nuclear energy is for the most part aimed at meeting our needs for industrial products. Let's see what kind of industries they are: automotive industry, military production, metallurgy, chemical industry, oil and gas complex, etc.

Does a modern person want to drive a new car? Want to dress in fashionable synthetics, eat synthetics and pack everything in synthetics? Want colorful products in different shapes and sizes? Wants all new phones, TVs, computers? Do you want to buy a lot and often change the equipment around you? Do you want to eat delicious chemical food from colored packages? Do you want to live in peace? Want to hear sweet speeches from the TV screen? Does he want there to be a lot of tanks, as well as missiles and cruisers, as well as shells and guns?

And he gets it all. It doesn't matter that in the end the discrepancy between word and deed leads to war. It doesn't matter that recycling it also requires energy. For now the man is calm. He eats, drinks, goes to work, sells and buys.

And all this requires energy. And this also requires a lot of oil, gas, metal, etc. And all these industrial processes require nuclear energy. Therefore, no matter what anyone says, until the first industrial thermonuclear fusion reactor is put into production, nuclear energy will only develop.

We can safely list everything that we are used to as the advantages of nuclear energy. The downside is the sad prospect of imminent death due to the collapse of resource depletion, problems of nuclear waste, population growth and degradation of arable land. In other words, nuclear energy allowed man to begin to take control of nature even more, raping it beyond measure to such an extent that in a few decades he overcame the threshold of reproduction of basic resources, launching the process of collapse of consumption between 2000 and 2010. This process objectively no longer depends on the person.

Everyone will have to eat less, live less and enjoy the natural environment less. Here lies another plus or minus of nuclear energy, which is that countries that have mastered the atom will be able to more effectively redistribute the scarce resources of those who have not mastered the atom. Moreover, only the development of the thermonuclear fusion program will allow humanity to simply survive. Now let’s explain in detail what kind of “beast” this is - atomic (nuclear) energy and what it is eaten with.

Mass, matter and atomic (nuclear) energy

We often hear the statement that “mass and energy are the same thing,” or such judgments that the expression E = mс2 explains the explosion of an atomic (nuclear) bomb. Now that you have a first understanding of nuclear energy and its applications, it would be truly unwise to confuse you with statements such as “mass equals energy.” In any case, this way of interpreting the great discovery is not the best. Apparently, this is just the wit of young reformists, “Galileans of the new time.” In fact, the prediction of the theory, which has been verified by many experiments, only says that energy has mass.

We will now explain the modern point of view and give a short overview of the history of its development.
When the energy of any material body increases, its mass increases, and we attribute this additional mass to the increase in energy. For example, when radiation is absorbed, the absorber becomes hotter and its mass increases. However, the increase is so small that it remains beyond the accuracy of measurements in ordinary experiments. On the contrary, if a substance emits radiation, then it loses a drop of its mass, which is carried away by the radiation. A broader question arises: is not the entire mass of matter determined by energy, i.e., is there not a huge reserve of energy contained in all matter? Many years ago, radioactive transformations responded positively to this. When a radioactive atom decays, a huge amount of energy is released (mostly in the form of kinetic energy), and a small part of the atom's mass disappears. The measurements clearly show this. Thus, energy carries away mass with it, thereby reducing the mass of matter.

Consequently, part of the mass of matter is interchangeable with the mass of radiation, kinetic energy, etc. That is why we say: “energy and matter are partially capable of mutual transformations.” Moreover, we can now create particles of matter that have mass and are capable of being completely converted into radiation, which also has mass. The energy of this radiation can transform into other forms, transferring its mass to them. Conversely, radiation can turn into particles of matter. So instead of “energy has mass,” we can say “particles of matter and radiation are interconvertible, and therefore capable of interconversion with other forms of energy.” This is the creation and destruction of matter. Such destructive events cannot occur in the realm of ordinary physics, chemistry and technology, they must be sought either in the microscopic but active processes studied by nuclear physics, or in the high-temperature crucible of atomic bombs, in the Sun and stars. However, it would be unreasonable to say that "energy is mass." We say: “energy, like matter, has mass.”

Mass of ordinary matter

We say that the mass of ordinary matter contains within itself a huge supply of internal energy, equal to the product of mass by (the speed of light)2. But this energy is contained in the mass and cannot be released without the disappearance of at least part of it. How did such an amazing idea come about and why was it not discovered earlier? It had been proposed before - experiment and theory in different forms - but until the twentieth century the change in energy was not observed, because in ordinary experiments it corresponds to an incredibly small change in mass. However, we are now confident that a flying bullet, due to its kinetic energy, has additional mass. Even at a speed of 5000 m/sec, a bullet that weighed exactly 1 g at rest will have a total mass of 1.00000000001 g. White-hot platinum weighing 1 kg will only add 0.000000000004 kg and practically no weighing will be able to register these changes. It is only when enormous reserves of energy are released from the atomic nucleus, or when atomic "projectiles" are accelerated to speeds close to the speed of light, that the mass of energy becomes noticeable.

On the other hand, even a subtle difference in mass marks the possibility of releasing a huge amount of energy. Thus, hydrogen and helium atoms have relative masses of 1.008 and 4.004. If four hydrogen nuclei could combine into one helium nucleus, the mass of 4.032 would change to 4.004. The difference is small, only 0.028, or 0.7%. But it would mean a gigantic release of energy (mainly in the form of radiation). 4.032 kg of hydrogen would produce 0.028 kg of radiation, which would have an energy of about 600000000000 Cal.

Compare this to the 140,000 Cals released when the same amount of hydrogen combines with oxygen in a chemical explosion.
Ordinary kinetic energy makes a significant contribution to the mass of very fast protons produced in cyclotrons, and this creates difficulties when working with such machines.

Why do we still believe that E=mc2

Now we perceive this as a direct consequence of the theory of relativity, but the first suspicions arose towards the end of the 19th century, in connection with the properties of radiation. It seemed likely then that the radiation had mass. And since radiation carries, as if on wings, at a speed with energy, or rather, it itself is energy, an example of mass has appeared that belongs to something “immaterial”. The experimental laws of electromagnetism predicted that electromagnetic waves should have "mass." But before the creation of the theory of relativity, only unbridled imagination could extend the ratio m=E/c2 to other forms of energy.

All types of electromagnetic radiation (radio waves, infrared, visible and ultraviolet light, etc.) share some common features: they all propagate in vacuum at the same speed and all transfer energy and momentum. We imagine light and other radiation in the form of waves propagating at a high but certain speed c = 3*108 m/sec. When light strikes an absorbing surface, heat is generated, indicating that the stream of light carries energy. This energy must propagate along with the flow at the same speed of light. In fact, the speed of light is measured exactly this way: by the time it takes a portion of light energy to travel a long distance.

When light hits the surface of some metals, it knocks out electrons that fly out just as if they had been hit by a compact ball. , apparently, is distributed in concentrated portions, which we call “quanta”. This is the quantum nature of the radiation, despite the fact that these portions are apparently created by waves. Each piece of light with the same wavelength has the same energy, a certain “quantum” of energy. Such portions rush at the speed of light (in fact, they are light), transferring energy and momentum (momentum). All this makes it possible to attribute a certain mass to the radiation - a certain mass is assigned to each portion.

When light is reflected from a mirror, no heat is released, because the reflected beam carries away all the energy, but the mirror is subject to pressure similar to the pressure of elastic balls or molecules. If, instead of a mirror, the light hits a black absorbing surface, the pressure becomes half as much. This indicates that the beam carries the amount of motion rotated by the mirror. Therefore, light behaves as if it had mass. But is there any other way to know that something has mass? Does mass exist in its own right, such as length, green color, or water? Or is it an artificial concept defined by behavior like Modesty? Mass, in fact, is known to us in three manifestations:

• A. A vague statement characterizing the amount of “substance” (Mass from this point of view is inherent in matter - an entity that we can see, touch, push).
• B. Certain statements linking it with other physical quantities.
• B. Mass is conserved.

It remains to determine the mass in terms of momentum and energy. Then any moving thing with momentum and energy must have "mass". Its mass should be (momentum)/(velocity).

Theory of relativity

The desire to link together a series of experimental paradoxes concerning absolute space and time gave rise to the theory of relativity. Two kinds of experiments with light gave conflicting results, and experiments with electricity further aggravated this conflict. Then Einstein proposed changing the simple geometric rules for adding vectors. This change is the essence of his “special theory of relativity.”

For low speeds (from the slowest snail to the fastest of rockets), the new theory agrees with the old one.
At high speeds, comparable to the speed of light, our measurement of lengths or time is modified by the movement of the body relative to the observer, in particular, the mass of the body becomes greater the faster it moves.

Then the theory of relativity declared that this increase in mass was completely general. At normal speeds there is no change, and only at a speed of 100,000,000 km/h does the mass increase by 1%. However, for electrons and protons emitted from radioactive atoms or modern accelerators, it reaches 10, 100, 1000%…. Experiments with such high-energy particles provide excellent confirmation of the relationship between mass and velocity.

At the other edge there is radiation that has no rest mass. It is not a substance and cannot be kept at rest; it simply has mass and moves with speed c, so its energy is equal to mc2. We talk about quanta as photons when we want to note the behavior of light as a stream of particles. Each photon has a certain mass m, a certain energy E=mс2 and momentum (momentum).

Nuclear transformations

In some experiments with nuclei, the masses of atoms after violent explosions do not add up to the same total mass. The released energy carries with it some part of the mass; the missing piece of atomic material appears to have disappeared. However, if we assign the mass E/c2 to the measured energy, we find that the mass is conserved.

Annihilation of matter

We are accustomed to thinking of mass as an inevitable property of matter, so the transition of mass from matter to radiation - from a lamp to an escaping ray of light - looks almost like the destruction of matter. One more step - and we will be surprised to discover what is actually happening: positive and negative electrons, particles of matter, joining together, are completely converted into radiation. The mass of their matter turns into an equal mass of radiation. This is a case of disappearance of matter in the most literal sense. Like in focus, in a flash of light.

Measurements show that (energy, radiation during annihilation)/ c2 is equal to the total mass of both electrons - positive and negative. An antiproton combines with a proton and annihilates, usually releasing lighter particles with high kinetic energy.

Creation of matter

Now that we have learned to manage high-energy radiation (ultra-short-wave X-rays), we can prepare particles of matter from the radiation. If a target is bombarded with such rays, they sometimes produce a pair of particles, for example positive and negative electrons. And if we again use the formula m=E/c2 for both radiation and kinetic energy, then the mass will be conserved.

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