Question

In nuclear power plant, nuclear fusion reacions are used to produce electric energy. In one such mega project; the capacity of the plant is 10000 MW. Assuming the entire energy of the mass lost to be converted into electrical energy, calculate the amount of mass converted to energy per day in the plant.

Answer 1

We have, power P = 10000 MW

= 10¹⁰ W

Energy generated per second = 10¹⁰ W

1 day = 24 × 60 × 60 s

∴ Total energy produced per day = 24 × 60 × 60 × 10¹⁰ J

E = 36 × 24 × 10¹² J

Let m be the mass converted into energy each day.

We have, mc² = E