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| Emmisson of a helium 4 nucleus |
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| radiation that we experience from artificial and natural sources. |
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| a neutron decays into a positive proton, a negative electron, and an elusive, nearly massless neutrino. |
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| energy released when a nucleus forms |
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| water boils in the reactor vessel to make steam that drives a turbine connected to an electric generator. |
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| optimize plutonium production, actually making more plutonium than the uranium 235 it consumes. |
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| neutron absorbing which decreases the reaction rate. |
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| required to sustain a chain reaction. Depends on geometrical shape of the material and on the concentration of fissile isotopes. |
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| peaks at iron with 26 protons |
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| nucleus consists of 1 proton and 1 neutron. |
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| Most achievable reaction for controlled fusion. Deuterium joins tritium to make helium. A neutron and energy are also released. |
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| increasing the percentage of uranium 235 to make up for the small mass difference between the two isotopes. |
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| much smaller group of nuclei undergo fission with neutrons of arbitrarily low energy |
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| occurs when a nucleus emits a high energy photon called a gamma ray. |
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| Contains deuterium. Deuterium absorbs fewer neutrons, so the reactor fuel can be unenriched natural uranium. |
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| Atoms are completely stripped of their electrons forming plasma which is an ionized gas. 50 Million kelvins. |
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| High densities and confinement times so short that the fusing particles own inertia which ensures they stick around long enough. |
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| water is the moderator. The same water also serves as the coolant. |
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| Plutonium extracted in reprocessing is mixed with uranium. This is then burned in reactors. |
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| Substance that slows down neutrons. Slows the neutrons, helping sustain the chain reaction. |
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| Average number of neutrons from each fission event that cause additional fission. The goal is to keep the multiplication factor at 1. |
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| A nucleus captures a neutron and becomes a new isotope. |
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| Nuclear reactions provide about 10 million times the energy of chemical reactions. |
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| the sequence from uranium mining through processing , then fissioning in the reactor, and finally removal and disposal of nuclear waste. |
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| is constituted of emitted particles that come from radioactive decay. |
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| protons and neutrons collectively |
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| contains the nuclear fuel, the moderator/coolant , and fuel rods. |
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| water is kept under such high pressure that it can't boil. Superhot water flows through a steam generator where it contacts pipes containing lower pressure water that's free to boil. |
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| One nuclear reactor operating for one year. |
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| When you take spent fuel and recover plutonium and unburned uranium. It's expensive and technically difficult. |
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| Where super hot water comes to contact with pipes containing lower pressure water that's free to boil. |
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| elements that are heavier that the heaviest naturally occurring elements. Created by bombarding uranium with neutrons. |
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| Period between high tide and low tide during which water flows away from the shore. |
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| The powerful surge of an incoming tide. |
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| Occurs in conjunction with the rise and fall of the tide. The vertical motion of the tides near the shore causes the water to move horizontally, creating currents. |
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| Device that floats on the surface of the water and is moored to the seabed by either a taught mooring system. Extracts wave motion and converts it to electricity. |
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| Involving two fluids. More complex and expensive than steam based geothermal plants. The hot water and the working fluid. |
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| Circulate a heat exchange fluid through a loop of buried pipes. |
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| extract energy from the ground at depths of a meter or more, where the temperature stays nearly constant year round. |
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| water saturated zone is effectively cut off from the surface, usually by layers of sedimentary rock. The result is a reservoir of hot water at high pressure. |
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| The temperature in Earth's crust increases by 25 degrees C for every kilometer of depth. |
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| use electrical energy to transfer larger amounts of energy from the ground to heat buildings |
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| extract energy from the ground at depths of a meter or more, where the temperature stays nearly constant year round. |
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| Transfer energy to a working fluid with a lower boiling point than water. |
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| Systems in which water or steam can circulate freely. |
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| Extract heat from water in wells or ponds, chilling the water in the process, then returning it to its source. |
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| Fractures and pores in the rock are saturated with steam at high temps and pressure. Steam that can be used directly to drive a turbine generator. |
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| use steam directly from geothermal reservoirs to turn turbines |
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| high pressured hot water from deep inside the earth, as it rises pressure drops, some water boils and steam turns the turbine. |
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| enhanced geothermal system |
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| extract heat from creating fractures in hot rock and then feeding water down to it and getting hot water back in return. |
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| measures the rate at which solar energy impinges on each sun facing square meter. 1364 w/m2 |
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| incoming solar energy per square meter of Earth's surface. Ranges. |
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| the building design itself maximizes the solar energy input. There are no pumps and fans to move the energy about. |
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| slow to heat and cool, helps to promote an even temperature over both time and space. |
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| Sunlight strikes a massive vertical wall that serves as both absorber and thermal mass. The air confined between the wall and glass warms and rises creating a convective current to carry warm air over the area. |
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| use pumps and fans to move solar heated fluids from solar collectors to an energy storage medium. |
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| Contains a black absorber plate and a glass cover. a heat transfer fluid flows through the collector where it warms on contact with the absorber. |
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| the loss equals the solar gain and there is no net energy collected with the flat plate collector. As the absorber plate gets hotter, the losses increase and the collection efficiency goes down. |
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| solar thermal power system |
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| The combination of concentrator, heat engine, and generator. |
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| Has the property that parallel rays reflect to a common point called the focus. The parabolic dish brings sunlight very nearly to a point. |
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| flat, sun tracking mirror |
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| Solar thermal power plants use sun tracking mirrors to focus sunlight on an absorber at the top of a central tower. Steam is generated either directly at the tower or indirectly via a heat transfer fluid. |
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| use sunlight to heat air under a vast glass roof surrounding a central chimney like tower. heated air rushing up the chimney would drive turbine-generators. |
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| individual cells are connected in series and mounted together. Also known as solar panels. |
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| A semiconductor with excess free electrons. Its dominant charge carriers are negative electrons. |
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| dominant charge carriers are positive holes. |
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| silicon is a semiconductor. material whose electrical properties place it between insulators, such as glass and conductors such as metal. |
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| Joining pieces of P and N type silicon causes electrons from the n side to diffuse across the junction into the the p type material. |
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| the use of solar radiation to break water into hydrogen and oxygen producing clean burning hydrogen fuel |
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| Describes the ongoing process of evaporation, precipitation, and return flow. |
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| Total area that contributes water to a stream. Consists of a main channel, network of tributaries, and bounded by divided. |
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| the energy associated with flowing water |
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| Method of keeping water in reserve for peak period power demands by pumping water that has already flowed through the turbines back up a storage pool above the power plant at a time when customer demand for energy is low. |
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| Carries water to the turbines. |
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| Ultimately generated by solar energy. Response to air density/pressure differences. Pressure differences arise from temperature differences, which in turn arise from amount of sunlight. |
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| Push storms to east. Curving winds between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. |
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| max power that can be extracted from the kinetic energy of wind to mechanical energy using a wind turbine. |
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| is all plant and animal matter living and recently living. renewable energy resource. |
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| helps absorb the light energy necessary for the conversion to take place. |
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| The actual rate at which plants store energy. |
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| microbes that form methane. They do not use oxygen to breathe. |
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| a variety of plants can be grown to produce liquid fuel. Entire crop chopped up, ground, mixed with water, cooked, fermented into alcohol. |
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| biofuel of ethyl alcohol, the same chemical that is found in alcohol beverages. |
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| mixed with the biofuel of ethanol and gasoline. |
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| Ethanol results from the biological fermentation of plant sugars, or of other plant substances that can be converted to sugars. |
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| The carbon in the atmosphere is removed by plants and natural decay would have returned it to atmosphere. The rate at which new plants remove carbon from the atmosphere as burning the biomass would put into the atmosphere. |
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| Using differing temperatures with waters of different depths and using the temp differences to gather energy. |
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| Global circulation due to change in salinity and temperature.Wind at the surface decreases temperature. it also causes evaporation which increased salinity which then increases density. |
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| transports an enormous amount of heat. |
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| energy source that is generated from a true energy source and then delivered for some end use. |
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| electrical current is passed through water, splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen gas. |
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Definition
| at a certain temperature, atoms are stripped of their electrons forming an ionized gas. |
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| fusion reactor that heats fusion fuel until its plasmified and heated to 100s of millions of degrees. |
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| holds diffuse hot plasma in magnetic bottles- configuration of magnetic fields that keep charged particles away from the physical walls. |
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