What are the differences between a nuclear power station and a fossil fuel power station?
A fossil fuel power station burns coal, natural gas, oil or some other fossil fuel to generate electricity. A nuclear power station uses nuclear fission (splitting the atom) to generate heat which it converts to electricity. The simplest answer is that the two different stations use a different fuel source.
The main difference is the fuel used to generate the heat required to produce electrical generation. The basic principle is the same, however the design of the plants and how they actually are able to produce and modulate that heat source is completely different in nature. Also, the by-products (apart from heat) are different. In a fossil fuelled power plant, air is required for the combustion of the fuel, where that is not a requirement for nuclear fission. Nuclear has some advantages over conventional fossil fuel powered stations, mainly the fact that the heat required can be modulated more rapidly to accommodate demand (or lack of). Also because nuclear fission only has one ‘waste’ by-product (plutonium 239) which in my opinion still has use, is easy to contain safely through modern glass pelleting techniques. Fossil fuel power stations (especially coal) have the advantage of being powered by local supplies and create an in-dependency on foreign sources. There is a lot of ‘hype’ abo
