As summer power shortages become more severe, the importance of electricity is being recognized. Nuclear power, an important source of electricity in South Korea, uses nuclear fission to generate electricity, but it is also highly controversial and fraught with safety concerns. It’s important to understand how nuclear power works and the misconceptions surrounding it.
Power shortages, which have been in the news in the summer, are a common problem in Korea. Many people are unable to escape the heat because public institutions are unable to turn on air conditioners, and we also have to worry about power outages due to excess power capacity. These situations make us realize the importance of electricity. Electricity isn’t just something that makes our lives easier, it’s an essential foundation of modern society. Everything from the use of smart devices to industrial production to the healthcare system relies on electricity. Power shortages are more than just a daily inconvenience, but a serious problem that can have a major impact on the country’s economy and safety.
The main sources of electricity in South Korea are thermal and nuclear power, followed by hydropower. However, hydropower is less relied upon, accounting for less than 10% of the country’s electricity generation. Nuclear power is the second most important source of electricity generation in South Korea, accounting for 30% of the total. Nuclear power is an important technology that enables a stable electricity supply, but it is also one of the most controversial forms of power generation. Despite this, not many people understand how nuclear power works. In this article, I’ll give you a brief overview of how nuclear power works.
First of all, power generation is the process of converting different types of energy into electrical energy. Depending on how the fuel and energy needed to generate electricity is obtained, it’s called thermal, hydroelectric, or nuclear power. It’s easy to think of these different methods of power generation as generating electricity in different ways, but surprisingly, almost all of them involve spinning turbines to generate electricity. This has been the core method of power generation since the first alternating current power plants, so the principle of nuclear power generation is basically about how to use nuclear energy to spin a turbine.
The primary energy generated by nuclear power is thermal energy from nuclear fission. The basic unit of matter, the atom, is composed of a nucleus and electrons, and the nucleus of an atom is also composed of two particles: protons and neutrons. The number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus varies depending on the type of atom. Uranium, which is used as fuel for nuclear power generation, is a very heavy atom, with a total of 235 or 238 protons and neutrons. The nucleus of uranium holds many particles, over 200, which means that it stores a lot of energy in its nucleus, which is very unstable. When you bombard uranium with neutrons at high speeds, the nucleus of the uranium atom breaks apart into smaller atoms, releasing tons of energy. This is nuclear fission. As the nucleus breaks, the neutrons that are ejected collide with another nucleus, and the process repeats itself, creating a chain of fission that produces a steady stream of heat.
The most important thing in nuclear power generation is to control the speed and extent of this chain reaction. If these reactions are not controlled, they can be potentially dangerous, releasing explosive energy. To do this, the space between the fuel rods is filled with either light water (ordinary water) or heavy water (water made from hydrogen with a neutron attached to oxygen), which is used as a decelerant to keep the speed of the neutrons at the core of the reaction at the right level. When the reaction becomes too active and the temperature rises above a certain level, a control rod is placed between the fuel rods to prevent neutrons from traveling to the other fuel rods, thus controlling fission. The process produces not only heat energy, but also byproducts such as radioactivity, which is another big issue in nuclear power, and it’s important to dispose of them safely.
However, the heat energy generated by nuclear fission cannot directly turn the turbine. Water acts as a medium to convert this heat energy into kinetic energy that turns the turbine. The heat produced by nuclear fission heats the water and turns it into steam. There are two ways to heat water. The first is the boiling water reactor, which heats the water that spins the turbine by directly exposing it to the fuel rods, and the second is the pressurized water reactor, which heats the water that spins the turbine indirectly in a heat exchanger. This method is more reliable than the boiling water reactor, so most nuclear power plants in Korea adopt this method. As a large amount of water is turned into steam, the air pressure rises, and the high-pressure water vapor is shot through a pipe into the turbine to turn the turbine. The process is much the same as that used in other methods of power generation that use thermal energy, such as thermal power. However, the fundamentally different ways of generating heat – nuclear fission and combustion – clearly distinguish nuclear power from thermal power.
In recent years, concerns about the safety of nuclear power have grown, especially after major accidents like the one at Fukushima, leading to widespread fear and anxiety about nuclear power. However, despite these risks, nuclear power is considered one of the most effective sources of energy globally. As we understand more about nuclear power, recognize its risks, and make appropriate management and technical improvements, it can remain an important source of energy in the future. This understanding and management will play an important role in reducing the fear of nuclear power and maximizing the benefits of this technology.
