summary

Nuclear power is all around us. It can be found in stars, power plants, weapons, and laboratories. It helps power the very sunlight we need to live, but it can also destroy us when misused.
    In stars, different kinds of nuclear reactions occur based on the core temperatures of different stars. These reactions occur because of the bizarre conditions that exist at high temperatures and pressure, when electrons are pulled away from the nuclei of atoms and nuclei crash into one another. These reactions can be grouped into four categories: hydrogen burning, the carbon cycle, and two kinds of helium burning. All of these reactions are fusion reactions; stars do not use the fission reactions that power so many weapons. (For more info, see www.geocities.com/dragesartena/nuclearstars.html.)
    As I have said, nuclear reactions can also be dangerous. At four A.M. on March 28, 1979, a nuclear power system on Three Mile Island malfunctioned. A pump circulating water in the secondary system ceased working, and water soon quit flowing. This meant that heat could not be carried away from the primary system. Water pressure started to increase. A chain reaction ensued, ending with a near nuclear meltdown. The environment still suffers in this area. (For more info, see www.geocities.com/gap4u2001/3mile.html.)
    Much effort has been put into the study of nuclear power. One of the biggest (and earliest) studies on the uses of nuclear power was The Manhattan Project. This project was ordered by the government to occur in Los Alamos in the year 1942. It was led by General Leslie R. Groves and supervised also by Robert Oppenheimer. The project aimed to design a bomb using Plutonium-240. Through it, the country learned a great deal about the use of nuclear power as a weapon. (For more info, see www.geocities.com/dragesartena/manhattan.html.)
    The Manhattan Project, and other studies, were indeed successful, because nuclear power is now a very real threat in the world. The most famous incedents were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Many were killed instantly; others suffered from lethal Cancer caused by radiation. Because of his event, as well as places like Three Mile Island, nuclear radiation is one of the most terrifying threats in our world today. There is no "antidote" to nuclear fallout. (For more info, see www.geocities.com/gap4u2001/weapons.html.)
    Nuclear reactions are divided into fission and fusion reactions. In fission reactions, a neutron hits the nucleus of a uranium atom and is absorbed. However, this causes the atom to become unstable and makes it break in two. Besides releasing new neutrons, this creates energy, the kind that fuels weapons. This reaction also sets other reactions in motion, or, in other terms, causes a chain reaction. This is called the Domino effect. In a fusion reaction, hydrogen nuclei crash into each other to produce energy, helium, and a neutron. Fusion reactions fuel stars. (For more info, see www.geocities.com/gap4u2001/power .html.)
    So should we use nuclear power for forces of destruction? Is it right to use the flip side of the very force that created life, to destroy life? If we do use nuclear power, whether for good or evil, can the earth withstand its effects? These are difficult questions, and we can only guess their answers. Only time can reveal the truth.