Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century : The World Nuclear University Primer

by Hore-Lacy

• ISBN13: 9780123736222
• ISBN10: 0123736226
• Edition: 8th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-08
• Publisher: Elsevier Science

Summary

The onset of the 21st century has coincided with mounting scientific evidence of the severe environmental impact of global energy consumption. In response, governments and environmentalists on every continent have begun to re-evaluate the benefits of nuclear power as a clean, non-emitting energy resource. Today nuclear power plants operate in some 30 countries, and nuclear energy has become a safe and reliable source of one-sixth of the worlds electricity. This base has the potential to be expanded widely as part of a worldwide clean-energy revolution. Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century is an authoritative resource for educators, students, policy-makers and interested lay-people. This balanced and accessible text provides: * An inroad into nuclear science for the non-specialist * A valuable account of many aspects of nuclear technology, including industry applications * Answers to public concerns about safety, proliferation, and waste management * Up-to-date data and references This edition comes with a Foreword by Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, which attests to todays worldwide re-evaluation of nuclear power. The World Nuclear University (WNU) is a global partnership of industry, inter-governmental, and academic institutions committed to enhancing education in nuclear science and technology. WNU partners include the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the OECD, and the World Nuclear Association (WNA). With a secretariat staffed by government-sponsored secondees, the London-based WNU Coordinating Centre fosters a diversity of collaborative projects to strengthen nuclear education and rebuild future leadership in nuclear science and technology. Global in perspective and rich in data Draws on the intellectual resources of the World Nuclear Association Includes Physics of uranium; uranium enrichment; waste management Provides technical perspective with an understanding of environmental issues

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 4
Introduction	p. 7
Energy use
Sources of energy	p. 12
Sustainability of energy	p. 12
Energy demand	p. 13
Energy supply	p. 13
Changes in energy demand and supply	p. 14
Future energy demand and supply	p. 16
Electricity today and tomorrow
Electricity demand	p. 22
Electricity supply	p. 23
Fuels for electricity generation today	p. 25
Provision for future base-load electricity	p. 26
Renewable energy sources	p. 30
Coal and uranium compared	p. 32
Energy inputs to nuclear electricity	p. 33
Economic factors	p. 34
Nuclear power
Mass to energy in the reactor core	p. 38
Nuclear power reactors	p. 39
Uranium availability	p. 43
Nuclear weapons as a source of fuel	p. 45
Thorium as a nuclear fuel	p. 46
Accelerator-driven systems	p. 47
Physics of a nuclear reactor	p. 48
The "front end" of the nuclear fuel cycle
Mining and milling of uranium ore	p. 56
The nuclear fuel cycle	p. 58
Box: Uranium enrichment
Advanced reactors	p. 64
High temperature gas-cooled reactors	p. 68
Fast neutron reactors	p. 69
Very small nuclear power plants	p. 73
Thorium cycle	p. 74
The "back end" of the nuclear fuel cycle
Nuclear "wastes"	p. 76
Reprocessing used fuel	p. 79
High-level wastes from reprocessing	p. 81
Box: Transporting radioactive materials
Storage and disposal of used fuel as "waste"	p. 85
Disposal of solidified wastes	p. 86
Decommissioning reactors	p. 90
Other nuclear energy applications
Hydrogen for transport	p. 94
Desalination	p. 98
Marine propulsion	p. 100
Space	p. 103
Research reactors for radioisotopes	p. 106
Environment, health and safety issues
Greenhouse gas emissions	p. 112
Other environmental effects	p. 113
Health and environmental effects	p. 115
Radiation	p. 117
Reactor safety	p. 120
Avoiding weapons proliferation
International cooperation	p. 128
International nuclear safeguards	p. 130
Fissile materials	p. 132
Recycling military uranium and plutonium for electricity	p. 136
Australian and Canadian nuclear safeguards policies	p. 137
History of nuclear energy
Exploring the nature of the atom	p. 140
Harnessing nuclear fission	p. 141
Nuclear physics in Russia	p. 142
Conceiving the atomic bomb	p. 143
Developing the concepts	p. 144
The Manhattan Project	p. 145
The Soviet bomb	p. 146
Revival of the "nuclear boiler"	p. 148
Nuclear energy goes commercial	p. 149
The nuclear power brown-out	p. 150
Nuclear renaissance	p. 151
Appendices
Ionizing radiation and how it is measured	p. 152
Some radioactive decay series	p. 155
Environmental and ethical aspects of radioactive waste management	p. 156
Some useful references	p. 160
Glossary	p. 161
Index	p. 167
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