User:Ctbolt/RAAF5
Nuclear power is a method for generating energy by harnessing the radioactivity of atoms. Nuclear fission occurs when any fissile material, such as uranium-235, an isotope of uranium, is concentrated. This causes a nuclear chain reaction, which releases large amounts of heat, boiling water and producing steam, which can drive a steam turbine.
Although nuclear power generates many megawatts of energy, the waste produced and risks often make it a controversial choice. As a result, different nations have very different attitudes towards nuclear power; some, such as France, generate most of their electricity by nuclear power, while others, such as Italy, have decommissioned, or are planning to decommission, all of their nuclear power stations.
In addition to the nations listed below, several other nations, such as Australia, have research reactors, but no plans to diverge into commercial nuclear power; only the commercial reactors registered with the International Atomic Energy Agency are listed below. Nations are listed first by number of reactors, then by peak power output in megawatts. Regions in italics are added for comparison.
| align="center" colspan="2" | Australian Army | Royal Australian Navy | Royal Australian Air Force
- List of active United States military aircraft
- List of military aircraft of the United States
- List of aircraft of the Canadian Air Force
- List of aircraft of the RNZAF and RNZN
Notes
[edit]- a One of the conditions of Lithuania's entry into the European Union was that the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, Lithuania's only nuclear plant, be closed on safety grounds. As a result, Lithuania has proposed a replacement to be built on the same site.[2]
- b North Korea has four incomplete reactors, two frozen in 1994 under the U.S.-North Korea Agreed Framework, and two under construction by KEDO until suspended in 2003. An experimental 5MWe reactor is operating at the Yongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.
References
[edit]- ^ World Reactors and Uranium Requirements, World Nuclear Association, URL accessed 12 June 2006
- ^ Baltic States Plan Nuclear Expansion, Giedrius Blagnys, Inter Press Service, May 26 2006