How Do Coal and Nuclear Power Plants Compare in Efficiency and Waste Production?

[phys-unit]

Homework Statement

A typical coal-fired electric power plant has an efficiency of 39.5%, while a nuclear power plant is 33.5% efficient.
(a) How many joules of thermal energy are required by each plant to generate one joule of electrical energy? How much heat does each plant exhaust as waste?

Homework Equations

None that I know :(

The Attempt at a Solution

unsure how to go about this problem, any help is appreciated.

 

[Redbelly98]

Homework Equations

None that I know :(

How do you think the following are related:

• Energy consumed
• Energy generated
• Efficiency

In other words, how is efficiency defined?