Nuclear Energy What Everyone Needs to Know®

by Ferguson, Charles D.

• ISBN13: 9780199759460
• ISBN10: 0199759464
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-05-17
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Originally perceived as a cheap and plentiful source of power, the commercial use of nuclear energy has been controversial for decades. Worries about the dangers that nuclear plants and their radioactive waste posed to nearby communities grew over time, and plant construction in the United States virtually died after the early 1980s. The 1986 disaster at Chernobyl only reinforced nuclear power's negative image. Recent years have seen a marked change, however. The alarming acceleration of global warming due to the burning of fossil fuels and concern about dependence on foreign fuel has led policymakers, climate scientists, and energy experts to look once again at nuclear power as a source of energy. In this accessible overview, Charles D. Ferguson provides an authoritative account of the key facts about nuclear energy. What is the origin of nuclear energy? What countries use commercial nuclear power, and how much electricity do they obtain from it? How can future nuclear power plants be made safer? What can countries do to protect their nuclear facilities from military attacks? How hazardous is radioactive waste? Is nuclear energy a renewable energy source? Ferguson addresses these questions and more in a book that is essential for anyone looking to learn more about this important issue.

Author Biography

Charles D. Ferguson is President of the Federation of American Scientists and an Adjunct Professor in Georgetown University's Security Studies Program. Trained as a phusicist and nuclear engineer, he has worked on nuclear policy issues at the U.S.Department of States and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xiii
Acknowledgment	p. xv
Fundamentals	p. 3
What is energy, and what is power?	p. 3
Is most energy that people use derived from nuclear energy?	p. 5
What is the origin of nuclear energy?	p. 7
What is "radioactivity"?	p. 12
Why is ionizing radiation a health concern?	p. 13
What is radioactive half-life, and how can knowing it help increase a country's security?	p. 15
How much more energetic is nuclear energy compared to chemical energy?	p. 16
Why has it been so difficult to commercialize nuclear fusion?	p. 17
How was nuclear fission discovered?	p. 19
What role, if any, did Albert Einstein play in the discovery of nuclear energy?	p. 21
What is a fission chain reaction?	p. 22
What is uranium, where did it come from, and how was it discovered?	p. 23
What is plutonium, how was it discovered, and how hazardous is it?	p. 26
Why can't nuclear reactors explode like a nuclear bomb?	p. 28
What is the nuclear fuel cycle?	p. 28
Why are certain activities in the nuclear fuel cycle called "dual use"?	p. 32
What are the various uranium-enrichment methods?	p. 33
What are the nuclear-proliferation concerns for uranium enrichment?	p. 36
What is the thorium fuel cycle?	p. 38
How does a nuclear reactor generate electricity?	p. 40
How many people's electricity demands can be supported with one large nuclear reactor?	p. 41
What are the different types of nuclear reactors used for electricity generation?	p. 41
Why were only a few types of reactor designs chosen for the present fleer of reactors?	p. 47
What are the Generation IV reactors, and why are they considered potentially revolutionary?	p. 48
What can nuclear reactors do besides generate electricity?	p. 51
Energy Security and Costs of Building Power Plants	p. 53
What is energy security?	p. 53
Is energy independence feasible?	p. 55
Have countries ever been shut out of the nuclear-fuel market?	p. 57
Are European countries too dependent on Russian energy supplies?	p. 58
What role has nuclear energy played in reducing certain countries' dependence on fossil fuels?	p. 60
How could nuclear energy further reduce dependence on fossil fuels?	p. 62
What countries use commercail nuclear power, and how much electricity do they obtain from it?	p. 63
How many more countries are likely to acquire commercial nuclear power plants?	p. 64
How do the costs of nuclear plants compare to other types of power plants?	p. 68
How can nuclear power plants be made more cost-compelltive?	p. 70
Why is it difficult for the supply chain to keep up with forecasts of demand for new nuclear plants?	p. 74
How many skilled people are required to build and operate nuclear plants?	p. 76
Can construction of nuclear power plants keep pace with the increasing demands for electricity?	p. 77
Will the world run out of uranium and, if so, when?	p. 78
Why have some countries pursued reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel for commercial purposes?	p. 80
Why did the United States decide to not pursue reprocessing, and will it revive this practice?	p. 83
Climate Change	p. 86
What is the greenhouse effect?	p. 86
What is the difference between global warming and climate change?	p. 88
What are the observed and forecasted effects of climate change?	p. 89
What can people do to reverse excess global warming?	p. 91
Why don't nuclear plants amir greenhouse gases?	p. 93
Why does the nuclear fuel cycle emit some greenhouse gases?	p. 94
How helpful have nuclear power plants been in preventing more greenhouse gases from being emitted from coal and natural gas plants?	p. 95
How many additional nuclear plants would be needed to make a further major reduction in greenhouse gas emissions?	p. 95
Have nuclear power plants ever been built as fast as would be needed to make another major reduction in greenhouse gas emissions	p. 97
Will global warming actually reduce the ability to use nuclear power plants to their full capacity?	p. 98
Should nuclear power be considered a "clean" energy source for climate-change agreements among nations?	p. 98
What are the differing views among environmentalists on nuclear power?	p. 100
Proliferation	p. 103
What is nuclear proliferation?	p. 103
Which countries have developed nuclear weapons, and how did they do it?	p. 104
How many nuclear weapons do the nuclear-armed countries have?	p. 108
How much weapons-usable fissile material is available worldwide, and where is it located?	p. 110
Has a country ever completely dismantled or given up its nuclear arsenal?	p. 113
What is the nonproliferation regima?	p. 114
What is the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty?	p. 114
What is the International Atomic Energy Agency, and what role does it play in preventing proliferation?	p. 118
What are nuclear safeguards, and how have they evolved?	p. 119
Are nuclear safeguards effective?	p. 123
What is the Nuclear Suppliers Group?	p. 125
Has commercial nuclear power ever been used to make nuclear weapons?	p. 128
What can be done to prevent proliferation?	p. 129
Can the nuclear fuel cycle be made more proliferation resistant?	p. 131
Can terrorists make nuclear weapons?	p. 132
What can be done to prevent nuclear terrorisom?	p. 135
Safety	p. 137
What is nuclear safety?	p. 137
How safe is safe enough, and what is safety culture?	p. 137
What is the defense-in-depth safety concept?	p. 138
What are the major types of nuclear accidents?	p. 140
How is nuclear safety measured?	p. 141
How safe are today's nuclear power plants?	p. 142
Should a country choose one plant design instead of multiple designs, and what are the implications of such a choice?	p. 144
What is the China syndrome?	p. 146
How did the Three Mile Island accident happen and what were the consequences?	p. 147
How did the Chemobyl accident happen and whar were the consequences?	p. 149
What happened to Soviet-designed reactors after the Chernobyl accident	p. 153
How did the nuclear industry form self-policing organizations?	p. 156
Can the nuclear Industry survive if another major accident occurs?	p. 157
How long can nuclear power plants operate?	p. 158
How can future nuclear power plants be made safer?	p. 159
Can nuclear power expand too fasr to keep plants safe?	p. 161
How can nuclear facilities be made resistant to natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis?	p. 163
How did the Fukushima Daiichi accident happen?	p. 163
Were there design flaws in the Fukushima Daiichi reactors and were there safety concerns prior to the accident?	p. 167
What are the concerns about nuclear safety culture in Japan?	p. 169
What are the likely Implications for the nuclear industry as a result of the Fukushima Daiichi accident?	p. 170
Why did the Fukushima Daiichi accident raise renewed concerns about the use of plutonium in nuclear fuel?	p. 171
Physical Security	p. 173
What is nuclear security?	p. 173
What is a design-basis threat assessment?	p. 174
How are safety and security different?	p. 175
Why would someone attack a nuclear power plant or related nuclear facility?	p. 176
Who would attack nuclear facilities?	p. 176
What are the potential modes of attack or sabotage, and what has been done to protect against them?	p. 181
What more can be done to sterngthen the security of existing and future facilities?	p. 185
What military attacks have there been on nuclear reactors?	p. 186
What can countries do to protect their nuclear facilities from military attacks?	p. 188
Radioactive Waste Management	p. 189
What are the types of radioactive waste, and how are they generated?	p. 189
What is the typical composition of spent nuclear fuel?	p. 190
How long does the radioactivity in spent fuel last?	p. 191
How hazardous is radioactive waste?	p. 192
How much spent nuclear fuel has been produced?	p. 193
What are the storage options for dealing with radioactive waste?	p. 193
What is the volume of radioactive waste, and how does this compare to the industrial toxic waste?	p. 194
How vulnerable are spent fuel pools?	p. 195
Does reprocessing reduce the amount of nuclear waste?	p. 196
How do nuclear plants and coal plants compare in terms of radioactivity emitted?	p. 197
What country is closest to opening a permanent nuclear waste repository?	p. 198
How hazardous is the transportation of radioactive waste?	p. 198
Why was Yucca Mountain chosen as the permanent repository in the United States, and what will be its fate?	p. 200
Will delays in opening a permanent repository for radioactive waste derail continued or expanded use of nuclear power in the United States?	p. 201
Sustainable Energy	p. 203
What is meant by a "sustainable energy system"?	p. 203
What is a "renewable energy source"?	p. 204
Is nuclear energy a renewable energy source?	p. 205
Can nuclear energy contribute to developing sustainable energy systems?	p. 205
Can renewable energies compete with nuclear and other base-load electrical power sources?	p. 206
Suggestions for Further Reading	p. 213
Index	p. 213
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