Friday 16 December 2011

Online Survey Analysis



This online survey had been answered by 34 viewer, which we are very thankful to them. The analysis will be as below:
  1. The majority chose fairly known. This is because the nuclear energy is just started getting well known nowadays. It not becomes very famous yet but also not infamous. So, people are getting to know more about the energy in the future.
  2. Majority chose support. This is because people are getting to know the benefit of nuclear energy.
  3. About 89% chose yes. Even nuclear energy is well known for unsafe and risky but there are no doubt that nuclear energy is more efficient than another energy.
  4. About 21% chose strongly agree and 29% chose agree. This maybe because there were some incidents about nuclear energy power plant that had happen. About 26% chose neither.
  5. About 74% chose yes. This maybe because the strategic of geographical of Malaysia. There are not much of nature disaster
  6. 53% chose definitely yes. This  maybe because whenever countries that have nuclear power plant, they will having connection with nuclear weapon. This is because nuclear weapon is a very powerful which have a huge amount of destruction.
  7. About 77% chose safety. Maybe because the image of nuclear energy will always connected to safety. The risk and dangerous of the nuclear energy is not something that can be look slightly.
  8. There are 52% had chose reduce co2 emission. This group of people maybe know that one of the main benefit of nuclear energy is reduce co2 emission.
The conclusion is, the education on nuclear energy is still not enough for us. Sometimes, the information on nuclear is only gained from friends, family, and even in websites. We can conclude that all the answers are based on viewer's knowledge on nuclear energy.

Australian Technology Aims to Make Storing Radioactive Waste Safer

       
         Queensland University of Technoogy (QUT) researches have developed new technology capable of removing radioactive material from contaminated water and aiding clean-up efforts following nuclear disasters. The innovation could also solve the problem of how to clean up millions of tonnes of water contaminated by dangerous radioactive material and safely store the concentrated waste. 

         Professor Huai-Yong Zhu from QUT Chemistry said the world-first intelligent absorbent, which uses titanate nanofibre and nanotube technology, differed from current clean-up methods, such as layered clays and zeolites, because it could efficiently lock in deadly radioactive material from contaminated water. The used absorbents can then be safely disposed without the risk of leakage, even if the material became wet."One gram of the nanofibres can effectively purify at least one tonne of polluted water," Professor Zhu said."This saves large amounts of dangerous water needing to be stored somewhere and also prevents the risk of contaminated products leaking into the soil."

      The technology, which was developed in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and Pennsylvania State University in America, works by running the contaminated water through the fine nanotubes and fibres, which trap the radioactive Cesium (Cs+) ions through a structural change."Every year we hear of at least one nuclear accident. Not only is there a risk of contamination where human error is concerned, but there is also a risk from natural disasters such as what we saw in Japan this year," he said.

         Professor Zhu and his research team believed the technology would also benefit industries as diverse as mining and medicine.By adding silver oxide nanocrystals to the outer surface, the nanostructures are able to capture and immobilise radioactive iodine (I-) ions used in treatments for thyroid cancer, in probes and markers for medical diagnosis, as well as found in leaks of nuclear accidents."It is our view that just taking the radioactive material in the adsorbents isn't good enough. We should make it safe before disposing it," he said. "The same goes for Australian sites where we mine nuclear products. We need a solution before we have a problem, rather than looking for fixes when it could be too late."

          With a growing need to find alternatives to meet global energy needs, Professor Zhu said now was the time to put safeguards in place."In France, 75 per cent of electricity is produced by nuclear power and in Belgium, which has a population of 10 million people there are six nuclear power stations," he said. "Even if we decide that nuclear energy is not the way we want to go, we will still need to clean-up what's been produced so far and store it safely," he said."Australia is one of the largest producers of titania that are the raw materials used for fabricating the absorbents of titanate nanofibres and nanotubes. Now with the knowledge to produce the adsorbents, we have the technology to do the cleaning up for the world."

News source : ScienceDaily (Nov. 2, 2011) http://www.sciencedaily.com/

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Cool Advertisement Supporting Nuclear Energy

This cool short advertisement was made by previous UNITEN student to support the used of nuclear energy. This video showed that there were still many people thought that nuclear energy was dangerous and unsafe to be applied in this country. But indeed, with the knowledge and explanation on what is the nuclear energy are and how safe the nuclear energy, it is not possible that one day Malaysia will have its own nuclear power plant in the future. Enjoy! :)




p/s: Credit to The Indestructable Group and mr seanrazak for this video. http://youtu.be/-8-T2TDUjSw


Support MNPC (Malaysia Nuclear Power Corporation) - Montage Video

This video support MNPC for the first nuclear power plant to be build in Malaysia. This nuclear power plant is not as hazardous as being thought by many people. Lets have a closer look in this video. enjoy. :)



p/s : share this with your friends : http://youtu.be/bpwy8yogqiE

Tuesday 13 December 2011

The Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is once again considered among the debates for the world survival as a safest and prominent alternative. Now it has been found as environmental beneficial solution because it emits far fewer greenhouse gases during its production than as compared to coal or other traditional power generation resources.It is also considered as manageable source of energy. The main problem why it is considered as hazardous because radiation is not fully controlled during process of energy emission and shield people and environment from it.We analyze both the pros and cons to understand is it beneficial for our survival and fulfilling the needs of energy consumptions for us.

Pros:
1. Little Pollution
 As demand for electricity increasing, the pollution produced from fossil fuel-burning plants and production is heading towards dangerous levels. Coal, gas and oil burning power plants are already responsible for half of America’s air pollution and worldly polluted environment. Burning coal produces carbon dioxide, which depletes the protection of the ozone and high level threat for oxygen.
The soft coal, which many power plants burn, contains sulfur When the gaseous byproducts are absorbed in clouds, precipitation becomes sulfuric acid.. Coal also contains radioactive material. A coal-fired power plant emits more radiation into the air than a nuclear power plant.
The world’s reserves of fossil fuels are running out and in next fifty years they will be in limited access, also plants producing energy from fossils have been producing large amount of pollution, more they will run the more will be polluted environment. There are  large resources of uranium and breeder reactors through use of which pollution can be minimized.

2.  A Reliable source
The nuclear power plants need small volume of fuel and so this way fossils deposit will be end soon, also it will create good relationships among the countries just not depending on fuel producing countries. Uranium can be used for millions of years and it doesn’t produces residuals most hazardous for human beings.

3. Safety
Nuclear power is one the safest methods of producing energy. Each year nearly about 10,000 to 50,000 Americans die from respiratory diseases due to the burning of coal, and 300 are killed in mining and transportation accidents in these coal resources productions. The reactor core is contained within a 9-inch thick steel pressure vessel. The dome inside steel pressure vessel is designed to withstand extremes such as earthquakes or a direct hit by a crashing airliner. Some other pros including;
  • Low operating Cost.
  • A known developed technology ready for market.
  • Large power-generating capacity able to meet industrial and city needs of energy.
Cons:
  1. High construction cost due to complex radiation procedures.
  2. High risks of accidents and unknown risks.
  3. Uranium resources are expensive than mine or coal and also not unlimited.
  4. Its Waste lasts 200 – 500 thousand years.
  5. Hazardous effects of radiations on human beings.
From the list of pros and cons above, it shows that the most critical and important part to be concern is the safety for using nuclear energy. Government and authorities should explain and educate citizens about the safety precaution that had been measured before continuing this project.