Nuclear Power (College Board AP® Environmental Science): Exam Questions

It emits fewer greenhouse gases during operation

It produces no radioactive waste

It is more abundant than coal

It is cheaper to build nuclear plants than coal plants

Carbon dioxide emissions

Methane leaks

Long-term radioactive waste storage

Habitat destruction from mining

Deepwater Horizon

Chernobyl

Exxon Valdez

Three Mile Island

It directly converts uranium into electricity

It burns uranium in a combustion chamber

It relies on solar panels to harness radiation from uranium

It uses heat from fission to generate steam, which drives a turbine

Uranium can be recycled

It produces toxic waste

It relies on a finite supply of fissile materials

It emits carbon dioxide

It carries risks of accidents and radioactive contamination

It relies on daily sunlight

It emits more particulate matter than wind or solar

It produces carbon monoxide during operation

Nuclear energy produces no greenhouse gas emissions, but uranium reserves are too small to sustain long-term energy production  

Nuclear power plants generate large amounts of energy with minimal fuel, but the radioactive waste they produce is difficult and expensive to manage  

Nuclear reactors require little maintenance and pose no risk of accidents, but they are expensive to build  

Nuclear energy is widely considered the safest energy source, but it requires more land area than wind or solar farms  

It involves splitting a large atomic nucleus into smaller nuclei  

It releases a large amount of energy  

It requires extremely high temperatures and pressures to occur  

It is used in nuclear power plants to generate electricity  

To increase the speed of the nuclear reaction

To absorb neutrons and regulate the rate of the nuclear reaction

To cool down the reactor core by circulating water

To produce energy by splitting atomic nuclei