College Physics 10th Edition by Raymond Serway,Chris Vuille

Exercise 50

According to one estimate, there are 4.4 × 10 6 metric tons of world uranium reserves extractable at $130/kg or less. About 0.7% of naturally occurring uranium is the fissionable isotope 235 U. (a) Calculate the mass of 235 U in this reserve in grams. (b) Find the number of moles of 235 U and convert to a number of atoms. (c) Assuming 208 MeV is obtained from each reaction and all this energy is captured, calculate the total energy that can be extracted from the reserve in joules. (d) Assuming world power consumption to be constant at 1.5 × 10 13 J/s, how many years could the uranium reserves provide for all the world's energy needs using conventional reactors that don't generate nuclear fuel (e) What conclusions can be drawn