Exploring Nuclear Power through History and Safety Concerns

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.