Question

State two safety measures to be taken while establishing a nuclear power plant.
a. Use uranium rod and inside environment is not shielded
b. Use uranium rod and inside environment should be shielded
c. Use copper rod and inside environment is not shielded
d. None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: When a high speed neutron is bombarded upon a heavy radioactive nucleus like Uranium then its nucleus breaks into two parts and produces two completely new materials with a huge amount of energy. In nuclear reactors this reaction happens to get energy. Also remember that the particles and ray emitted from any radioactive substance is hazardous for the health of any living beings.

Complete answer:
Nuclear Reaction:
In a nuclear reactor, uranium is typically used as a substance. Fission reaction for Uranium-235 is:
$_0^1n + _{92}^{235}U \to _{56}^{141}Ba + _{36}^{92}Kr + 3_0^1n$
Where,
$_0^1n$ denotes a neutron,
$_{92}^{235}U$ denotes a uranium molecule,
$_{56}^{141}Ba$ denotes a Barium molecule,
$_{36}^{92}Kr$ denotes a Krypton molecule.

Explanation:
As you see in the previous reaction, when a Uranium-235 nucleus is hit by a highly energetic neutron the nucleus breaks into a barium and krypton molecule and emits another 3 new highly energetic neutrons with a lot of energy. Now this new neutron further hits another nucleus to produce more neutrons and more energy and this continues like a chain. So, it’s known as the Chain reaction. Total energy produced from 1 gram of Uranium is close to 82 billion Joules which is enough to keep a home running for one year. This much energy produced instantaneously causes a huge explosion. So to control the rate of the reaction typically a uranium rod is inserted slowly inside the reactor. Also, this reaction releases many radioactive particles like \[\alpha ,\beta \] along with $\gamma $ rays. These are extremely harmful for living tissues and can cause cancer and other diseases like central nervous system dysfunction. So, shielding the inside environment is necessary.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B).

Note: Not only inside the reactor, but any compound of uranium must be shielded all the time from the human body. As it spontaneously emits the radioactive particles like \[\alpha ,\beta \] along with $\gamma $ rays all the time that are harmful for our health. Exposure to very high levels of radiation causes long-term health diseases like cancer or cardiovascular disease.