Nuclear Power:

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Nuclear Power Too cheap to meter Ready
Kilowatt
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Nuclear Fuel Cycle
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Uranium production in the U.S.
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Nuclear Fuel Cycle
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What is nuclear fission?
U-235 1 neutron U-236 U-236 splits into 2
neutrons byproducts ENERGY
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Light Water Reactors Boiling Water Reactor
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Light Water Reactors Pressurized Water Reactor
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Heavy Water Reactor
Nuclear fission reactors used in Canada use heavy
water as the moderator in their reactors. Since
the deuterium in heavy water is slightly more
effective in slowing down the neutrons from the
fission reactions, the uranium fuel needs no
enrichment and can be used as mined. The Canadian
style reactors are commonly called CANDU
reactors.
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• Moderator graphite blocks
• Problems
• Instability
• of graphite
• Lack of
• containment
• at Chernobyl

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World Nuclear Reactors
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• NUCLEAR POWER TIMELINE
• 1946 Atomic Energy Act passed creating AEC
• 1957 Price Anderson Act passed
• 1960-80 Many US nuclear plants constructed
• 1970s increasing anti-nuclear activism
• Three Mile Island accident
• China syndrome
• 1986 Chernobyl

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• NUCLEAR POWER TIMELINE
• Since TMI decline of nuclear power in U.S.
  cancellation of plants, etc. Business in rest of
  the world is mixed, at best.
• Politics Seabrook / MUSE
• prudency reviews / TMI, Ginna
• Evacuation plans and licensing
• Decommissioning
• new designs
• Licensing Process
• US
• Elsewhere

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• NUCLEAR POWER TIMELINE
• Since Chernobyl, caution about nuclear power has
  grown, but the change is not as abrupt as
  elsewhere. Why?
• Germany
• UK
• Japan/France

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Externalities and the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
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Radioactive Wastes

• Low-Level Waste (LLW) - includes radioactively
  contaminated protective clothing, tools, filters,
  rags, medical tubes, and many other items
• High-Level Waste (HLW)- "irradiated" or used
  nuclear reactor fuel some fuel processing wastes
• Uranium Mill Tailings - the residues remaining
  after the processing of natural ore to extract
  uranium and thorium

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• Waste Disposal
• Low-level wastes LLRWPA/compacts
• High level wastes
• NWPA Indiana case
• Yucca Mountain

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High level Nuclear Waste (Dry Cask) Storage
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High level Nuclear Waste (Wet) Storage (fuel rods)
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Nuclear Waste (Wet) Storage
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Conceptual diagram of the Yucca Mountain facility
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Opposition to Yucca Mountain Disposal Site
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What is the future of nuclear power? What
factors point toward its resurgence? What factors
point toward its continued dormancy? What about
nuclear power in the developing world?
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Fast Breeder Reactors Under appropriate operating
conditions, the neutrons given off by fission
reactions can "breed" more fuel from otherwise
non-fissionable isotopes. The most common
breeding reaction is that of plutonium-239 from
non-fissionable uranium-238. The term "fast
breeder" refers to the types of configurations
which can actually produce more fissionable fuel
than they use. France has made the largest
implementation of breeder reactors with its large
Super-Phenix reactor and an intermediate scale
reactor (BN-600) on the Caspian Sea for electric
power and desalinization.
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Gas-Cooled Reactors Pebble bed