Nuclear (Good or Bad)

7/30/2019 Nuclear (Good or Bad)

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nucleartechnology

The emergence of the new

age fuel problem with its


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HighCapital

intensive

nuclear plants require ahigh leveltechnology anda major initial capitalinvestment. Its

abandonment cost is alsovery high.

The initial costto establish a

nuclear powerplant is veryhigh.

Costs of buyingradioactive

elements, buildingpower plants andmaintenence can

be very high.

Abandonment cost refers to the cost toget rid, control and safely transportexcess radioactive elements after the

generator has been shut down.


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AccidentsRunning such complex system, anything cango wrong. To maintain safety margins,constant vigilance is greatly neededInspectors and tests must identify faultyequipment, and accurate procedures mustguide workers so that they do not makeerrors.

Unfortunately, safety margins arecontinuously challenged. Equipment canwear out faster than expected. Andpressure to remain competitive can result

in cost cutting, which can in turn lead topoor safety monitoring or slow response toknown problems.

Suffice to conclude that nuke powerdraws not only security threat from

terrorists, but also from its lack of


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Result of Nukeaccidents.Human error or natural disasters can wreak just as much havoc at

a nuclear power plant site. The Chernobyl (1986) disaster in Ukraine

formerly known as Pripyat, forced the evacuation and resettlement ofnearly 400,000 people, with thousands poisoned by radiation.

Mutation


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Children with genetic mutation due toradiation


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What happened in FukushimaDaiichi Nuclear Plant

Simple explanation Earthquake causedpower plant to shut down; killing power to themain pumps.

External power grid went offline due to the

earthquake, causing tsunamis that took outthe diesel generators.

Although substitute batterieswork, but the severity of thesituation took out most of thereserved energy.

Over heating of the generatorcore causes it to explode,which in turn leads to moreoverheating and radiationleakge.


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The plants at Fukushima are Boiling Water Reactors (BWR forshort). The reactor operates at about 285 C.

The nuclear fuel used in the Fukushima DiichiNuclear Reactor is uranium oxide; a ceramic witha very high melting point of about 2800 C

The fuel is manufactured in pellets cylindersof 1cm tall and 1cm in diameter. Thesepellets are then put into a long tube made ofZircaloy (an alloy of zirconium) with a failuretemperature of 1200 C

These fuel rods are then puttogether to form assemblies, ofwhich several hundred make upthe reactor core.


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On March 11 2011, an earthquake of a scale 8.9 hitJapan; and was several times more powerful than theones that usually hit a nuclear reactor.

When the earthquake hit, the nuclear reactors allautomatically shutdown

The earthquake destroyed the external powersupply of the nuclear reactor. Also known tonuclear plant engineers as 'loss of offsite power.

The backup diesel fuel quickly came online forthe first hour. However when a tsunami, greaterthan the anticipated one arrived, it flooded thediesel generator and hence failing the wholesystem.


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When the diesel generators failed after the tsunami,the reactor operators switched to emergency batterypower. The batteries were designed as one of the

backup systems to provide power for cooling the corefor 8 hours. And they did.

As the water in the generator heats up, it creates avery high pressure within the reactor. The pressurebuildup causes the reactor to blowup, sending

tonnes of radioactive material to the atmosphere,water and land.


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However, a few conclusions had been drawn upon the crepuscleof the event.

- The plant is safe now and will stay safe.

- A very small amount of Cesium was released, as well as Iodine.

- There was some limited damage to the first containment. Thereare facilities for treating the cooling water inside the thirdcontainment. The radioactive Cesium and Iodine will be

removed there and eventually stored as radioactive waste interminal storage.

- There will be some low level of activation of the seawater,which will also be removed by the treatment facilities.


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- The safety systems on all Japanese plants will be upgraded towithstand a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami (or worse).

- The most significant problem will probably be a prolonged powershortage. About half of Japans nuclear reactors will probablyhave to be inspected, reducing the nations power generatingcapacity by 15%. This will probably be covered by running gaspower plants that are usually only used for peak loads to coversome of the base load as well. That will increase yourelectricity bill, as well as lead to potential power shortages duringpeak demand, in Japan."


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Fukushima Daiichipower plant accidentafter a tsunami hit*11 March 2011


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Civilian nuclear and radiologicalaccidents primarily involve

nuclear power plants. Most

common are nuclear leaks thatexpose workers to hazardousmaterial. A nuclear meltdownrefers to the more serious hazard

of releasing nuclear material intothe surrounding environment.The most significant meltdowns occurred at ThreeMile Island in Pennsylvania and Chernobyl inthe Soviet Ukraine . The earthquake and tsunami on

March 11, 2011 caused serious damage to threenuclear reactors and a spent fuel storage pond at theFukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.Military reactors that experienced similar accidentswere Windscale in the United Kingdom and SL-1 in

the United States.


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Nuclear wasteThe waste from nuclear power plantswill be toxic for humans for morethan 100,000 yearsIts untenable now to secure and

store all of the waste from theplants that exist. To imagine theamount of radioactive waste isunthinkable.

Although nuclear proponentsare clearly on the hike to putideas to control nuclear waste,the idea of transporting themacross Mount Yuca (Nevada) isunjustifiable.

The U.S.A. proposed a solution toTHEIR nuclear waste storage facilityto Yucca Mountain in the Nevada.Not only is it overbudget, this soughtout solution isn't the safest due tohealth regulations.


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Nuclear Weapons

Threat.Nuclear reactors represent a clear

national security risk, and anattractive target for terrorists.

In researching the securityaround nuclear power plants,Robert Kennedy, Jr. from theU.S.A. found that there are atleast eight relatively easyways to cause a majormeltdown at a nuclear powerplant, in the U.S.A only

Imagine what the international securitywould do, crossing it with a Chernobyl like disaster.

He himself had succeded in infiltrating the nuclear powerplant in the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant on the HudsonRiver outside of New York City, TWICE.


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A nuclearweapon test

How the atomic bomb works


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A typical atomic bomb


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There are growing concerns thatliving near nuclear plantsincreases the risk for childhoodleukemia and other forms ofcancer even when a plant has anaccident-free track record.

OneTexas study found increased

cancer rates in north central Texassince the Comanche Peak nuclearpower plant was established in 1990,and a recent German study foundchildhood leukemia clusters nearseveral nuclear power sites in Europe

Cancer


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Iodine 131 induce tyroid cancer

Strontium 90 inducebreast cancer, leukemia

Cesium137 inducemalignant muscle cancer(sarcoma)

Plutonium - carcinogens


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Concluding slide

Concludingslide

Till date the


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Till date, theemergence ofnuclear power still

remainscontroversial.Proponents of the

nuclear power hasindeed brought in awhole bargainable

benefits assuringthe people of thebitter truth isunder control

Drastic actions shouldbe taken forthwith;

not to hinder thegrowing utilization ofthe nuclear power,

Nuclear (Good or Bad)

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