What is nuclear energy? How do we harness it?
Types of radiation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alfa_beta_gamma_radiation_penetration.svg
Nuclear chain reaction
Coal trains in Norfolk, VA World capacity: 5.5 hopper cars of coal per second or 1.5 hopper cars/week of uranium
https://xkcd.com/1162/
Source: TVA
Major Issues
Chernobyl Health Effects • 5 6 d o c u m e n t e d f a t a l i t i e s t o d a t e ; ~ 4 , 0 0 0 t h y r o i d c a n c e r s • P o s s i b l y 4 , 0 0 0 – 1 4 , 0 0 0 e v e n t u a l d e a t h s a m o n g 6 0 0 , 0 0 0 “ l i q u i d a t o r s ” ( 0 . 7 % - 2 . 3 %) • F o r E u r o p e : m o d e l i n g e s t i m a t e s 2 2 , 8 0 0 r a d i a t i o n c a n c e r s f o r 5 7 0 m i l l i o n p e o p l e . T h i s i s 2 2 . 8 K i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e 1 9 4 m i l l i o n e x p e c t e d • “ H o w e v e r , i n t h e c o u r s e o f y e a r s , t h e m o s t s i g n i fj c a n t p r o b l e m s h a v e b e c o m e t h e s e v e r e s o c i a l a n d e c o n o m i c d e p r e s s i o n o f t h e a fg e c t e d …r e g i o n s a n d t h e a s s o c i a t e d s e r i o u s p s y c h o l o g i c a l p r o b l e m s o f t h e g e n e r a l p u b l i c a n d C h e r n o b y l F o r u m e m e r g e n c y w o r k e r s . ”
Olkiluoto, Finland
Radiation: Some Key Facts My day? Well, first I went to the tanning salon. Then I had an appointment at the doctor’s for a CT scan of my back, finally . For lunch, I microwaved some left- overs, and then, of course, I rushed down to the pharmacy to get some iodine pills because of Fukushima!
Ramsar, Iran
Direct Federal Subsidies in Energy T a b le E S 2 . Q u a n tifie d e n e rg y -s p e c ific s u b s id ie s a n d s u p p ort b y ty p e , F Y 2 0 1 0 a n d F Y 2 0 1 3 m illion 2013 dollars D O E L oa n F e d e ra l D ire c t T a x R e s e a rc h a n d G u a ra n te e a n d R U S A R R A B e n e fic ia ry E x p e n d itu re s E x p e n d itu re s D e v e lop m e n t P rog ra m E le c tric ity T ota l R e la te d 2 0 1 3 C oal 74 769 202 - 30 1,075 129 Refined C oal - 10 - - - 10 - Natural Gas and Petroleum Liquids 62 2,250 34 - - 2,346 4 Nuclear 37 1,109 406 - 109 1,660 29 R e n e w a b le s 8 ,3 6 3 5 ,4 5 3 1 ,0 5 1 - 1 7 6 1 5 ,0 4 3 8 ,6 0 3 Biom ass 332 46 251 - - 629 369 Geotherm al 312 31 2 - - 345 312 Hydropower 197 17 10 - 171 395 216 S olar 2,969 2,076 284 - - 5,328 3,137 Wind 4,274 1,614 49 - - 5,936 4,334 Other 209 - 380 - 5 594 229 U.S. Energy Info. Admin. “Direct Federal Financial Interventions and Subsidies in Energy in Fiscal Year 2013”; 2015
Advanced Reactors
The nuclear generations By Enoshd - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39113233
Not all the energy comes out at once
Natural safety demonstration EBR-II By Argonne National Laboratory-West - www.anlw.anl.gov/divisions/facilities/EBR_II_Page/EBRII_Frameset.htm
More advanced reactors http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~chr/research/granular/
Nuclear Energy in the World
Future Demand for Electricity Int’l Energy Agency, World Energy Outlook, 2014
A Globalizing Energy Source 4 0 9 r e a c t o r s o p e r a t i n g i n 3 0 n a t i o n s 60 new reactors being built (Oct 2016); 513 planned Nuclear power plants in the world, 2005
How to help & get more info Help out More Info – whatisnuclear.com – Price carbon – world-nuclear.org – T ell friends – International Atomic Energy – Learn more Agency (iaea.org) ● Chernobyl forum ● Fukushima info – US Energy Info Administration (eia.gov) – Pandora’s Promise (on Netfmix!)
Thank you!
Key Nuclear Physics: Isotopes
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