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Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy was discovered by a French scientist named Henri Becquerel in 1896 when he inadvertently stored a piece of uranium next to x-ray photographic plates. He noticed that the plates were darkened because the uranium must be emitting some kind of energy. Pierre and Marie Curie further studied radiation and radioactive materials which eventually led to the development of using nuclear energy as a power plant.
There are two ways to create nuclear energy. Fission splits atoms and is currently the only way nuclear power plants operate. Fusion is the combining of atoms which produces the most power and is the process fueling every star and creating every heavy element in the universe. Progress has been made harnessing fusion power but so far they have required just as much energy to produce as they have given off. Radioactive decay can also be used to create power.
Nuclear energy for utility purposes such as electricity for a city is produced through fission which boils water. The steam is used to drive turbines that produce electricity. Currently about 15% of the worlds electricity comes from nuclear power. The last nuclear power plant to go online opened in 1996 and many people believed that nuclear power was over, but there are already plans to begin retrofitting and increasing the size of existing plants as well as adding many more.