Nuclear Energy

443 Pages·2018·17.491 MB·English

by  Nicholas Tsoulfanidis

Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science
and Technology Series
Editor-in-Chief: Robert A. Meyers
Nicholas Tsoulfanidis Editor
Nuclear Energy
Second Edition
A Volume in the Encyclopedia of
Sustainability Science and Technology Series,
Second Edition
Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science
and Technology Series
Editor-in-Chief
RobertA.Meyers
The Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology series (ESST)
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Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/15436
Nicholas Tsoulfanidis
Editor
Nuclear Energy
Second Edition
A Volume in the Encyclopedia of
Sustainability Science and Technology Series,
Second Edition
With165Figuresand58Tables
Editor
NicholasTsoulfanidis
UniversityofNevada-Reno
Reno,NV,USA
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Series Preface
Our nearly 1000-member team recognizes that all elements of sustainability
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change. Our Encyclopedia content is at a level for university students, pro-
fessors, engineers, and other practicing professionals. It is gratifying for our
teamtonotethatouronlinefirsteditionhasbeenheavilyutilizedasevidenced
by over 500000 downloads which of course is in addition to scientists’
utilizationoftheEncyclopediaandindividual“spin-off”volumesinprint.
NowwearepleasedtohaveaLivingReferenceon-linewhichassuresthe
sustainabilitycommunitythatweareprovidingthelatestpeer-reviewedcon-
tentcoveringthescienceandtechnologyofthesustainabilityoftheearth.We
arealsopublishingthecontentasaseriesofindividualtopicalbooksforease
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each field to ensure that the second edition presents the state-of-the-science
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nology as well as all types of food production, water, transportation and the
sustainablebuiltenvironment.
Our team of 15 board members includes two Nobel Prize winners (Kroto
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Vital scientific issues include: human and animal ecological support sys-
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v
vi SeriesPreface
humancommunities,wastedisposal,transportationandthebuiltenvironment
ingeneralandthevarioussystemsonwhichtheydepend,andthebalanceofall
ofthesewithsustainability.Inthiscontext,sustainabilityisacharacteristicofa
process or state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely even as
globalpopulationincreasestoward9billionby2050.Thepopulationgrowth,
andthehopeforincreaseinwealth,impliessomethinglikea50%increasein
food demand by as early as 2030. At the same time, the proportion of the
populationthat livesinanurban environment willgo upfromabout 47%to
60%.Globaleconomicactivityisexpectedtogrow500%,andglobalenergy
andmaterialsuseisexpectedtoincreaseby300%overthisperiod.Thatmeans
therearegoingtobesomerealproblemsforenergy,agriculture,andwater,and
it is increasingly clear that conflicting demands among biofuels, food crops,
and environmental protection will be difficult to reconcile. The “green revo-
lution” was heavily dependent on fertilizers which are manufactured using
increasingly expensive and diminishing reserves of fossil fuels. In addition,
about 70% of available freshwater is used for agriculture. Clearly, many
naturalresourceswilleitherbecomedepletedorscarcerelativetopopulation.
Larkspur,CA,USA RobertA.Meyers,Ph.D.
January2018 Editor-in-Chief
Volume Preface
Today (2017), there are 449 nuclear power plants operating in the world,
generatingabout11%oftheworld’selectricitythroughnuclearpowerplants;
thisfractionwillincrease,inthenearfuture,asmanycountries(China,Russia,
Korea, India, etc.) complete their ambitious nuclear expansion in order to
satisfy their ever-increasing demand for electricity. What drives this interest
innuclearpower?Thereareseveralfactors:
1. Increasing energy demand.This isdue tothe ever-increasing demandfor
electricitybecauseof(a)thecontinuousincreaseinpopulationand(b)the
desire of the undeveloped countries to improve their standard of living;
improvement of the standard of living is impossible without adequate
electricitysupply.
2. Needfornewpowerplants.Allpowerplantsthatgenerateelectricity(not
onlynuclear,alltypes)haveafinitedesignlifetime;uponreachingtheend
oftheirlife,theyareshutdownandtheymustbereplacedwithnewones.
Nuclearisoneoftheoptionsforanewelectricity-generatingplant.
3. Climate change concerns. Increased awareness that fossil fuels release a
largeamountofgreenhousegasesthatmaycauseplanetaryclimatechange
drivesdecisionstobuildnewplantsthatare“green,”thatis,plantsthatemit
reduced amounts of greenhouse gases and other pollutants or having no
emissionsduringoperation.Nuclearplantsaretheonlyonesthatgenerate
largeamountsofelectricitywith,essentially,zeroemissions.
4. Economics.Themaincostcomponentofanuclearplantisitsconstruction
cost;oncethiscostisovercome,theothertwomajorcostcomponentsfor
thegenerationofelectricity(O&Mandfuel)favornuclearbecauseoftheir,
relatively, low and stable prices. Experience during the last 60 years,
especially in theUSA, has shown that nuclear isthe best plant forgener-
ationofbaseloadelectricity,bothonthebasisofcostandreliability.
5. Securityoffuelsupply.Supplyoffossilfuels(gas,coal,oil)isvulnerableto
interruption of supply due to various events such as strikes, weather,
political turmoil, etc. By contrast, uranium is plentiful and available at a
reasonableprice,fortheforeseeablefuture;inaddition,sincenuclearpower
plants refuel every 18 months or 2 years, short-term upheavals (like the
onesmentionedabove)maybesettledbeforetheyhaveanegativeeffecton
thesupplyofnuclearfuel.
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viii VolumePreface
6. Fuel price stability. The cost of fuel for nuclear-generated electricity
amounts to a relatively small fraction of the total electricity cost (it is
~16–20%). Thus, even if the fuel price doubles, the effect on the cost of
electricitywillbe,relatively,small.
7. Nuclearsafetyandpublicacceptance.Thesafetyrecordofnuclearpower
plants during ~60 years of operation (1957–2017) is outstanding. There
were three accidents during that period – the TMI accident in the USA
(1979);theChernobylaccidentintheUkraine(1986);andtheFukushima
eventinJapan(2011).TheTMIaccidentresultedinzerofatalitiesandno
contamination outside the plant. The Chernobyl accident resulted in the
immediate death of 33 persons, mostly firefighters. The Fukushima event
was caused by a 9.1 Richter scale earthquake that hit that site in Japan.
When the earthquake hit, the four operating plants shut down, as design
dictated,andcoolingbecameavailableusingtheemergencydieselgener-
ators(forthecirculationofthewater).Then15–20minlater,thetsunami
arrived;thewavesofthetsunamisweptawaythegeneratorsandtheirfuel
supplyandcoolingofthecoresstopped.Corefuelmeltdownoccurredand
radioactivitywasreleasedtotheenvironment,thuscontaminatingthearea
around thesite. Two plant workers werekilled(bythe tsunami),theonly
immediate deaths after the event. The earthquake and, primarily, the tsu-
namiresultedinthedeathof~22,000people.
Theworld,especiallythedevelopedpartofit,recognizesthatthereisarisk
in any human activity; society accepts the risks in view of the benefits
bestowedbythatactivity.Theattitudetowardthenuclearindustryissimilar:
despitethepotential,relatively,smallrisks,thenuclearindustryisrecognized
andisacceptedasanindispensablecomponentinourenergyportfolio.Overall
acceptanceofnucleartechnologyistheresultofitsexcellentperformance;a
majorfactorinfavorofnuclear-generatedelectricityisthelackofemissions
duringtheoperationofanuclearplantandcompleteabsenceofanyenviron-
mentaleffectsinthevicinityoftheplant.
Reno,NV,USA NicholasTsoulfanidis
January2018 VolumeEditor
Contents
NuclearEnergy,Introduction .............................. 1
NicholasTsoulfanidis
FissionReactorPhysics ................................... 5
MichaelNatelson
NuclearFissionPowerPlants .............................. 41
RonaldAllenKnief
GEN-IVReactors ....................................... 103
TaekK.Kim
SmallModularReactors .................................. 125
NicholasTsoulfanidis
IsotopeSeparationMethodsforNuclearFuel ................. 137
ShuichiHasegawa
NuclearReactorMaterialsandFuels ........................ 149
JamesS.Tulenko
ModernNuclearFuelCycles .............................. 159
JamesS.Tulenko
UraniumandThoriumResources .......................... 165
J.StephenHerring
NuclearFuelReprocessing ................................ 187
MichaelF.SimpsonandJackD.Law
NuclearFacilitiesDecommissioning ......................... 205
DavidR.Turner
RadioactiveWasteManagement:Storage,Transport,
andDisposal ............................................ 241
AudeenW.Fentiman
NuclearFusion .......................................... 251
ThomasJ.Dolan
ix