• Question: Why is nuclear energy so fascinating to us humans that we use it

    Asked by to Anna, Elaine, Fiona, Kevin, Darren on 17 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Zhiming Darren Tan

      Zhiming Darren Tan answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      The science of nuclear energy is fascinating, involving stuff like E=mc^2.

      But we use nuclear energy simply because it is very effective in producing useful energy for us. Nuclear fission (breaking up big atoms) is established technology. Nuclear fission (putting small atoms together, like in the sun) is still very experimental, but can provide tremendous energy if we manage to control the process well.

    • Photo: Kevin O'Dell

      Kevin O'Dell answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      I’m not sure we use it because it’s fascinating (though it may be fascinating) it’s more because a significant number of people think it’s an efficient source of energy.

      In the UK we have some really important decisions to make about energy sources in the very near future. Nuclear energy is going to be part of that debate. We need to decide how we’re going to avoid power cuts, and that is going to need more efficient use of existing energy (good) and finding new sources of energy (good and bad). Don’t get sucked into the idea that different energy sources (coal, oil, nuclear, tide, wind etc) are either good or bad, as all have a mixture of pros and cons, and some sources are less reliable than others.

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