Nuclear Power

1. Nuclear Power Kyle Moorman Carissa Blatz Jen Cook Amy Kaufman Lauren Yarrish Jon Sevchek

2. History of Nuclear Power Discovery of Nuclear Energy • Wilhelm Roentgen: 1895 German Physicist - X-Rays • Antoine Becquerel: 1896 French Physicist - Radioactivity as energy

3. History continued • Pierre and Marie Curie • Chemical Makeup of elements • Ernest Rutherford - Atomic Particles • Otto Hahns and fritz Straussman • Fission

4. WWII and Major Actors • Albert Einstein • Concept of nuclear powers potential • President Franklin Roosevelt • Commission Manhattan Project for nuclear bomb • President Truman - Begins to look at peaceful nuclear power

5. 1950’s to 1970’s • Safety Concerns -Cancer Clusters • Brown’s Ferry - Alabama and what occurred • Three Mile Island - What happen? Why? What was the reaction?

6. Other Concerns • Chernobyl • What happened? • Why did it occur? • International Concern • Other Historical Problems • Storage • Yucca Mountain

7. Types of Reactors • Some Approved Current Designs

8. PWR (Pressurized Water Reactors)

9. BWR (Boiling Water Reactors)

10. PHWR (Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors) • Candu Reactors (CANada Deuterium Uranium ) • D2O (Deuterium Oxide) instead of H2O • 10.6% denser than water • Natural Uranium instead of enriched Uranium

11. HTGR (High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors) • Helium • Inert, light, and no radioactivity worry • Very Hot Temperatures (800ºC +) • coolant gas or steam • Hydrogen isolation • Source for alternative fuels • Next generation reactors are variations of this

12. Disposal and Pollution • In an effort for sustainable development, the need to address the issue of permanently storing and managing waste is imperative. • Temporary storage of high level waste • Problems assoc. with accommodating more wastes. • Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania (1979) • Increased need to find a location where nuclear wastes could be permanently stored.

13. Yucca Mountain • Radioactive material disposed of underground in engineered facilities • Problems associated with geological disposal • Geological structure • Leakage and Contamination • Transportation • Employment

14. Social, Economic and Political Issues • Assessments analyzing worst-case scenarios over 10,000 years. • Problems associated with monitoring • Geological/Climate changes • Human activity and societal role • What will be the intentions of future generations? • Will the society be politically/economically unstable? • How will these factors affect the disposal and storage of nuclear waste?

15. Safety-Radioactivity • Present at various stages of nuclear cycle • Can injure living tissue • An exposure of 5 sieverts is likely to be fatal

16. Safety-Reactor Operation • Major concern is radioactive release caused by accident • “Loss-of-coolant” most dangerous • If coolant system is breached, fission products enter the reactor building

17. Safety-Reactor Operation • Three Mile Island

18. Safety-Reactor Operation • Three Mile Island • Safety system effectively shut down reactor and emergency core cooling system began operating • As a result of human error, emergency cooling system shut off • Fortunately, no significant exposure to the human population

19. Safety-Reactor Operation • As a result: • NRC required to create stricter standards for design and construction • Utility companies required to assist state and county governments in preparing emergency response plans

20. Safety-Reactor Operation • Chernobyl • Reactor exploded and burned • Radioactive material spread over Scandinavia and northern Europe • No containment building

21. Safety-Reactor Operation • United Nations Report • 50 emergency workers died of acute radiation syndrome • 9 children died of thyroid cancer • Predict up to 4000 deaths • Mental health impact, “largest public health problem created by the accident”

22. Safety-Waste Disposal • Many nuclear wastes remain radioactive for thousands of years • Is Yucca Mountain suitable?

23. Waste Disposal Costs • Yucca Mountain: 15 years of research has resulted in $4 billion in exploratory drilling, testing and promotion of the site. • The total cost is expected to be at least $35 billion and more when taking into account the expense of safeguarding the waste for years to come. (Cunningham)

24. Decommissioning Costs • Costs are determined by physical characteristics of the power plants: type and size of the reactor; number of units on the site; operating history of plant; and amount of waste assumed to be generated. • Cost break down of decommissioning •   Labor costs:   20-40% • Dismantling and waste treatment and disposal: 30% each • Security, survey and maintenance; site cleanup and landscaping; and project management, engineering, and site support each cost 10% each. • Others: don't exceed 5%. (NEA) • The NRC estimates the cost of decommissioning a nuclear power plant at $280-$612 million • Estimated $33 billion to decommission all of the U.S. nuclear plants. (caldicott)

25. Nuclear Power Plant Costs • It is expensive to build nuclear power plants  • A new power plant hasn’t been built since the 1979 • Safety is the main reason for the high costs. • The costs of nuclear power plants include spent fuel management, plant decommissioning and final waste disposal.

26. Energy Source Costs • Uranium is cheap and easy to transport Fewer quantities are needed compared to coal and oil • Low fuel costs compared to coal, oil and gas fired plants. • “Our children will enjoy in their homes electrical energy too cheap to meter."  - Lewis L. Strauss

27. Nuclear Power Benefits

28. Economical Advantage • Available resources are here in the US • Produces large amount of energy for a small input • Is stable – provides stable supply, prices will not go up and down the way wind and solar power would or the way oil currently does • Receives much financial support (companies, government)

29. Political Interest • Eliminates our dependency on unstable countries for our energy source • Global building of new nuclear plants • Necessity of collaboration and cooperation • Formation of NuStart • Government Funding mainly through NuStart

30. NuStart Energy • Collaboration of 9 power companies • Created in 2004 • Government to pay half of $400-$500 million cost • Two main purposes • Obtain a Construction and Operating License (COL) from the NRC • Complete the design engineered for new Reactors which are based on brand new technology

31. Public Opinion • While public opinion is generally negative on the topic of nuclear power, this can easily be swayed • Power Engineering survey • 76% residents in favor of new reactor on existing site • Receive education about the benefits, and are generally supportive

32. Environmentally Friendly • Nuclear Power is a stable power source that is environmentally friendly (plausible option because it is available 24/7) • Emits no greenhouse gasses such as CO2 in its production • While avoiding emissions it produces a large supply of usable energy

33. References • Bream, Rebecca. "Nuclear Industry on Rebound." Financial Times (2006): 1-2. • Dolan, Bryan. "New Nuclear Plants." E-mail to Bryan Dolan.19 November 2006. • NuStart Energy. 2005. Nustart Energy. 02 Nov 2006 <http://www.nustartenergy.com/>. • Talbot, David. "Briefcase: Nuclear Powers Up." Technology Review (2005): 40-41. • (Talbot 40-41) • Turner, Jim. "New Nuclear Plants." E-mail to James Turner.19 November 2006. • "Update: Survey Shows People Near Nuclear Plants Favor New Ones." Power Engineering (2005): 34.