Burning 20 tons of coal provides about joules, which
is approximately the annual energy requirement of an average person
in the United States. If this amount of energy was provided by the
electricity generated by the fission of uranium-235 in a nuclear
reactor, instead, what mass of natural uranium would be required?
About 0.7% of natural uranium is uranium-235 (almost all the rest
is uranium-238, which does not fission like U-235 does). Assume
that the fission of each U-235 atom provides 200 MeV of energy, and
that the nuclear power plant has an efficiency of 40% in
transforming the energy from the fission reactions into
electricity. In your calculation, assume that the atomic mass of
natural uranium is 238 grams per mole.
_______ kg
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