Introduction
to
Nuclear
Engineering
Cheap and abundant power is essential to the modern world in coming years. The rapid increase in industry and living standard of the people advance the pressure on conventional sources of power (coal,oil and gas). It is now obvious that these sources will soon be unable to meet the demands of increasingly power hungry world
Against
this
background,
the
atom
at
first
regarded
as
a
symbol
of
destruction,
offers
an
important
source
of
prosperity.
Man
has
now
learned
to
draw
the
colossal
power
locked
in
the
heart
of
the
atom
and
use
it
for
the
benefit
of
humanity.
Today
the
atom
is
considered
at
an
almost
limitless
choice
of
power,
which
has
opened
new
horizons
to
the
mankind.
One
of
the
outstanding
fact
about
nuclear
power
is
the
large
amount
of
energy
that
can
be
released
from
a
small
mass
of
active
material.
Complete
fission
of
one
kg
of
uranium
contains
the
energy
equivalent
of
3100
tons
of
coal
or
1700
ton
of
oil.
The
total
amount
of
uranium
and
thorium
in
the
earth's
crust
to
a
depth
of
5
kilometers
is
estimated
approximately
1,000,000,000,000
tonnes.
It
is
further
estimated
that
the
economically
extractable
ores
are
nearly
25
million
tons
of
uranium
and
one
million
tons
of
thorium.
The
colossal
power
hidden
in
uranium
and
thorium
represents
significant
contribution
to
the
world
power
resources.
The
nuclear
power
is
not
only
available
in
abundance
but
it
is
cheaper
than
the
power
generated
by
conventional
sources,
It
bas
been
estimated
that
in
Britain
the
nuclear
energy
was
30%
cheaper
in
1970
than
the
energy
derived
from
fossil
fuels
while
by
1980,
it
is
estimated
that
it
wil1
be
cheaper
by
50%
than
conventional
resources.
The
factors
which
are
in
favour
of
nuclear
energy
are,
it
is
practically
independent
of
geographical
factors,
no
combustion
of
products
and
it
is
clean
source
of
power
which
does
not
contribute
to
air
pollution.
Further,
it
does
not
require
fuel
transportation
networks
and
large
storage
facilities.
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