EGEE – Exam 2 – Energy and Environmental Engineering – study material

EGEE – Exam 2 – Energy and Environmental Engineering – study
material


Intermittency - ANS ✔✔The wind doesn't always blow


unpredictability - ANS ✔✔we don't know exactly when the wind will blow or
how strong it will be


storage - ANS ✔✔wind power cannot be economically stored (yet)


location - ANS ✔✔where the wind blows isn't always where electricity is
needed


alpha - ANS ✔✔two protons and two neutrons - a helium nucleus


beta - ANS ✔✔an electron


gamma - ANS ✔✔a very high energy bundle of electromagnetic energy


alpha - ANS ✔✔reduces the atomic number by two and the atomic weight by
four - the original atom is now a different element


beta - ANS ✔✔increases the atomic number by one and does not change the
atomic weight - the original atom is now a different element

, gamma - ANS ✔✔does not change the atomic number or weight - the original
atom is now in a more stable state but is otherwise unchanged.


core - ANS ✔✔location of the radioactive material


fuel - ANS ✔✔Typically Uranium 235 but could be other radioactive elements


moderator - ANS ✔✔graphite, water, or another material that slows neutrons
without absorbing too many


control system - ANS ✔✔mechanism for absorbing neutrons to slow the nuclear
chain reaction or allow it to speed up


containment - ANS ✔✔structures to prevent radioactivity from escaping into
the environment


generator system - ANS ✔✔mechanism to convert heat in the reactor to steam
and then to motion of a turbine and then to electricity


cooling system - ANS ✔✔mechanism to convert left-over, low-pressure steam
back into water, ready to be re-circulated through the reactor


location
storage
unpredictability