Ben Peel

Mr. Whitted
Journal 5

Nuclear Chemistry and its effects on the world

Nuclear chemistry is a branch of science that has revolutionized humanity and has both
shocked and scared the world. Nuclear chemistry is the subfield of chemistry dealing with
radioactivity, nuclear processes, nuclear properties and any other change in the nucleus of
elements. Over the past two hundred years nuclear chemistry has accelerated from a virtually
unheard of, to well-known and very famous. Nuclear chemistry has many aspects to it; each has
caused many major advances in technology.
Weapons: The most well-known and most controversial aspect of nuclear technology is
its use in weapons technology. Nuclear weapons are weapons that use nuclear reactions to create
large explosions. Nuclear weapons are currently the most powerful weapons in the world. There
are about 17,000 nuclear warheads today, all of which are not actively used in war, but mostly as
a threat to provoke cooperation. Since nuclear weapons are so destructive they have created a
great fear among citizens over there use in a nuclear war. To prevent any use of these weapons,
the United Nations has created several laws and regulations to control and retire many if not all
of these weapons.
Power: Another well-known aspect of nuclear technology is nuclear power. Nuclear
power is the controlled process of harvesting the energy produced by nuclear reactions. There are
two types of methods used for nuclear power; nuclear fission and fusion. Nuclear fission is the
splitting of the nuclei of atoms so that energy is released, and is then harvested. Nuclear fission is
the only feasible method of nuclear power as it is the only marketable method. Nuclear fusion on
the hand, is the joining together of the nuclei of atoms. Nuclear fusion is only used on an
experimental scale as it is not yet technologically or economically feasible. Nuclear power is
used by many countries on a wide scale today for producing electricity. Unfortunately, many
countries intend to retire nuclear power within the next 40 years.
Medicine: One aspect of nuclear chemistry that is not as well-known, but just as
innovative is its application to medical technology. Radiation is used today to treat multiple types
of cancer and disease. One famous use of nuclear medicine is the invention of the X-ray,
allowing very clear images of bones and limbs. Also the use of radiation to scan the body for
tumors or damages to cells is one application of nuclear medicine used for diagnostics.

Sources:
www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-profiles/.../USA-Nuclear-Power