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Resource
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A substnace in the environment that is useful to people, is economically and technologically feasible to access, and is socially acceptable to use
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Animate power
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Power supplied by people or animals
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Inanimate power
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Power supplied by machines
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Biomass fuel
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Fuel that derives from plant material and animal waste
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Fossil fuel
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Energy source formed from the residue of plants and animals buried millions of years ago
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Renewable energy
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A resource that has a theoretically unlimited supply and is not depleted when used by humans
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Nonrenewable resource
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A source of energy that is a finite supply capable of being exhausted
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Proven reserve
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The amount of a resource remaining in discovered deposits
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Potential reserve
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The amount of energy in deposits not yet identified but thought to exist
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Fission
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The splitting of an atomic nucleus to release energy
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Radioactive waste
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Particles from a nuclear reaction that emit radiation; contact with such particles may be harmful or lethal to people; therefore, the particles must be safely stored for thousands of years
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Breeder reactor
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A nuclear reactor plant that creates its own fuel from plutonium
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Ferrous
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Metals, including iron ore, that are utilized in the production of iron and steel
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Nonferrous
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Metals utilized to make products other than iron and steel
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Pollution
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Addition of more waste than a resource can accomodate
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