Nuclear Energy

223 Pages·2009·5.95 MB·English

by  John Tabak

EnErgy And
THE EnvironmEnT
Nuclear Energy

EnErgy And
THE EnvironmEnT
Nuclear Energy
JOHN TABAK, Ph.D.
For Steven Howard Myers. He was a good friend and a very
funny man.
NUCLEAR ENERGY
Copyright © 2009 by John Tabak, Ph.D.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the
publisher. For information contact:
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New York NY 10001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tabak, John.
Nuclear energy / John Tabak.
p. cm.— (Energy and the environment)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-7085-5
ISBN-10: 0-8160-7085-7
1. Nuclear energy. I. Title.
QC792.T33 2009
621.48—dc22 2008026036
Facts On File books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quanti-
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Text design by Eric Lindstrom
Illustrations by Accurate Art
Photo research by Elizabeth H. Oakes
Printed in the United States of America
Bang Hermitage 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xiv
1 A Prehistory of Nuclear Power 1
The First Heat Engines 2
Carnot and the Efficiency of Heat Engines 11
Radioactive Materials as Sources of Thermal
Energy 14
Global Warming and Nuclear Power 18
2 The Physics of Nuclear Fission 23
Atomic Particles 23
Conservation Laws and Radioactive Processes 27
Atomic Fission 34
Fermi’s Reactor 37
3 Reactor Fuel 43
Manufacturing Reactor Fuel 43
Inside the Reactor 50
Nuclear Weapon Proliferation 54
The International Atomic Energy Agency 58
4 Nuclear Reactor Designs 63
Boiling Water Reactors 64
Pressurized Water Reactors 69
The Accident at Chernobyl 72
CANDU Reactors 75
Future Reactor Designs 80
5 Reactor Safety 88
Radiation Effects 90
Independent Redundant Subsystems 95
Where Are the Fatalities? 96
Event Trees 101
6 Spent Fuel 106
The Composition and Characteristics of Spent Fuel 107
Managing Spent Fuel 109
Building for Eternity 115
Is Yucca Mountain Safe Enough? 122
Nonscientific Objections to the Yucca Mountain Site 125
7 The Business of Electricity Production 128
Utilities as Natural Monopolies 128
ISO New England 133
The Nature of Supply and Demand 135
Nuclear Power in the United States Today 142
8 Nuclear Energy and National Policy 146
Some Arguments for Nuclear Power 147
Some Arguments against Nuclear Power 150
Nuclear Power Policy in Germany 152
Nuclear Power Policy in the United States 156
Nuclear Power Policy in France 162
Conclusion 166
Afterword: An Interview with Harold Denton:
On the U.S. Nuclear Power Industry 168
Periodic Table of the Elements 177
Chronology 179
List of Acronyms 183
Glossary 184
Further Resources 188
Index 192

Preface
N
ations around the world already require staggering amounts
of energy for use in the transportation, manufacturing, heat-
ing and cooling, and electricity sectors, and energy requirements
continue to increase as more people adopt more energy-intensive
lifestyles. Meeting this ever-growing demand in a way that mini-
mizes environmental disruption is one of the central problems of
the 21st century. Proposed solutions are complex and fraught with
unintended consequences.
The six-volume Energy and the Environment set is intended to
provide an accessible and comprehensive examination of the history,
technology, economics, science, and environmental and social im-
plications, including issues of environmental justice, associated with
the acquisition of energy and the production of power. Each volume
describes one or more sources of energy and the technology needed
to convert it to useful working energy. Considerable emphasis is
ix