Nuclear Power

Dennis Silverman, U C Irvine

In the US, 20% of our electricity is produced by nuclear power. There are 103 US nuclear power plants.

California related reactors

California Nuclear energy

Each of the five reactors produces about 1,100 million watts (megawatts) of electricity This is enough to power one million homes per reactor Each reactors production is equivalent to 15 million barrels of oil or 3.5 million tons of coal a year. The total 5,500 reactor produced megawatts is out of a peak state electrical power of 30,000 40,000 megawatts.

Worldwide Nuclear Power Reactors

There are 440 nuclear power reactors in 31 countries. 30 more are under construction. They account for 16% of the worlds electricity. They produce a total of 351 gigawatts (billion watts) of electricity.

World Nuclear Power Plants

Nuclear Electricity Production by Countries and Regions in Gigawatts (World Total 350 Gigawatts) and percent of electricity
US 97 Trend: declining North America Region 109 France 63 Increasing Germany 21 Being phased out U. K. 12 Western Europe Region 126 Japan 44 Increasing Asia Region 66 Increasing Eastern Europe Region 11 Former Soviet U. Region 34

How a Nuclear Reactor works

235U

fissions by absorbing a neutron and producing 2 to 3 neutrons, which initiate on average one more fission to make a controlled chain reaction Normal water is used as a moderator to slow the neutrons since slow neutrons take longer to pass by a U nucleus and have more time to be absorbed The protons in the hydrogen in the water have the same mass as the neutron and stop them by a billiard ball effect The extra neutrons are taken up by protons to form deuterons 235U is enriched from its 0.7% in nature to about 3% to produce the reaction, and is contained in rods in the water Boron control rods are inserted to absorb neutrons when it is time to shut down the reactor The hot water is boiled or sent through a heat exchanger to produce steam. The steam then powers turbines.

Nucleons more tightly bound in Fission Product Nuclei Gives 200 Mev Energy per Fission

Nuclear Fission from Slow Neutrons and Water Moderator

Inside a Nuclear Reactor

Steam outlet

Fuel Rods

Control Rods

Energy Taken out by Steam Turbine

Production of Plutonium (Pu) in Nuclear Reactors

is produced in nuclear reactors by the absorption of a neutron on 238U, followed by two beta decays 239Pu also fissions by absorbing a thermal neutron, and on average produces 1/3 of the energy in a fuel cycle. 239Pu is relatively stable, with a half life of 24 thousand years. It is used in nuclear weapons It can be bred for nuclear reactors

Nuclear Weapons to Reactor Fuel

We are buying highly enriched uranium (20% 235U) from the former Soviet Unions nuclear weapons for 20 years from 1993--2013 Converting it to low enriched uranium (3% 235U) for reactor fuel It will satisfy 9 years of US reactor fuel demand It comes from 6,855 Soviet nuclear warheads so far

Nuclear Plant Future

The countries of the world are each planning their own course of nuclear plant development or decline Nuclear power is competitive with natural gas It is non-polluting It does not contribute to global warming Obtaining the fuel only takes 5% of the energy output Plant licenses have been extended from 20 years to an additional 20 years

Nuclear Plant Future

Newer designs are being sought to make them more economical and safer Preapproval of a few designs will hasten development Disposal of high level radioactive waste still being studied, but scientists believe deep burial would work Because they are have large electrical output, their cost at $2 billion is hard to obtain and guarantee with banks Replacing plants may be cheaper using the same sites and containment vessels

Nuclear Problems and Solutions

Three Mile Island 1979

50% core meltdown, stuck valve with no indicator released water, but containment vessel held More sensors added, better communication to experts in Washington, dont turn off emergency cooling 28 year US safety record since accident Human stupidity turned off cooling system Poor steam cooling reactor design allowed unstable steam pocket to explode Graphite caught fire Design not used in other countries

Chernobyl 1986

Yucca Mountain Project: Nuclear Fuel and High Level Waste Repository

Much more secure repository than leaving high level waste at 60 reactor sites around the country. On old atomic bomb testing base, inside a mountain. The storage is above the water table. The Yucca Mountain site would be 60% filled by present waste. US has legal commitment to the reactor industry. Site has been studied extensively by scientists for over 20 years. Will store waste during its 10,000 year decay time. Questions of how to deflect dripping water around and under the storage vessels. Questions of radioactive decay weakening storage containers. A solution would be to build containers that can be opened and reincased, or to which surrounded casings could be added.

Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor

Uses the fast neutrons from 235U fission on surrounding 238U to produce 239Pu In 10-20 years, enough Pu is produced to power another reactor No moderators are allowed No water, must use liquid sodium coolant U must be at 15%-30% enrichment to generate power with fast neutrons while breeding Pu This is at weapons grade enrichment, however Super-Phenix in France has operated for 20 years

Nuclear Power Proposed Solution?

Richard Garwin , MIT and industry propose: If 50 years from now the world uses twice as much energy, and half comes from nuclear power Need 4,000 nuclear reactors, using about a million tons of Uranium a year With higher cost terrestrial ore, would last for 300 years Breeder reactors creating Plutonium could extend the supply to 200,000 years Nonpolluting, non-CO2 producing source Need more trained nuclear engineers and sites Study fuel reprocessing, waste disposal, and safer designs. While nuclear reactors have to be on all day and night, and power use is less at night, they could be used to charge up electric cars. Until electric cars or a hydrogen generation economy, they might only be used for the 40% of generation used at night, up from the present 20% that they generate.

Fusion Reactors

Fusion easiest for Deuteron (D) + Tritium(T): D(p,n) + T(p,nn) 4He(pp,nn) + n in a high temperature plasma. Replacement T created from Li blanket around reactor n + 6Li 4He + T Fusion reactors International ITER in 2012 for research for a decade, costing $5 billion Current stalemate over siting in France or Japan Followed by DEMO for a functioning plant, taking another 10 years. Design and completion of a commercial plant not until 2050. US Lithium supply would last a few hundred years. Still would be a radioactive waste disposal problem.

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)