Ch. 16 / 17

Have passive safety features that make explosions or the release of radioactive emissions impossible.

Large oil reserve in Alaska

A combustible organic material that is heavy and sticky with a high sulfur content.

Generates more nuclear fuel than is consumed by changing uranium-238 into plutonium-239. Uranium reserves would last thousands of years.

Site of a nuclear power accident in 1986 that spread radioactive clouds throughout Europe. Has caused cancer, billions in property damage, environmental refugees, and mental problems.

Solid fossil fuel that is the remains of plants subjected to heat and pressure.

Found above coal beds, can create a lot of water with salt in it, but produces less carbon dioxide and burns cleanly.

Can be used to remove Carbon dioxide from emissions, but is expensive and Carbon dioxide is not regulated as an air pollutant in the US.

Turned coal into methanol or synthetic gasoline.

Has concrete walls that surround the reactor core. Keeps radioactive materials from escaping into the environment, and protects the core from external threats.

Can decompose water to create hydrogen, and are most of the ALWRs.

A solid combustible mixture of hydrocarbons that is a supply of heavy oil.

Produce most of the world’s nuclear-generated energy.

When propane and butane are liquefied, stored in pressurized tanks, rest is dried and pumped for distribution.

Methane trapped in lattice structure of water molecules, found in permafrost and ocean bottom. Very expensive to extract, and can increase global warming, but is found in abundance.

Neutron absorbing material that slows down the neutron emitting process while keeping the chain reaction going.

Mixture of gases, mostly methane, heavier hydrocarbons, and toxic hydrogen sulfide.

Ratio of useful energy produced to the total energy used to produce it.

Neutrons split the nuclei of atoms like uranium-235 and plutonium-239 and release energy mostly as high-temperature heat as a result of the chain reaction.

Two isotopes of light elements like hydrogen are forced together at high temps until they fuse to form a heavier nucleus, which releases energy. Research is now focused on D-T reaction, or deuterium and tritium.

Tasked with protecting public health and safety if nuclear energy.

Mixture of clay, sand, water, and bitumen. Found mostly in Alberta, Canada.

Moved in and out of the reactor core to absorb neutrons, thereby regulating the rate of fission and amount of power produced.

Thick gooey liquid consisting of hundreds of combustible hydrocarbons with small amounts if sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Usually found alongside natural gas.