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Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century
World Nuclear University Press
- 1st Edition - July 28, 2010
- Author: Ian Hore-Lacy
- Language: English
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 0 8 - 0 4 9 7 5 3 - 2
The onset of the 21st century has coincided with mounting scientific evidence of the severe environmental impact of global energy consumption. In response, governments and… Read more
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Request a sales quoteThe onset of the 21st century has coincided with mounting scientific evidence of the severe environmental impact of global energy consumption. In response, governments and environmentalists on every continent have begun to re-evaluate the benefits of nuclear power as a clean, non-emitting energy resource. Today nuclear power plants operate in some 30 countries, and nuclear energy has become a safe and reliable source of one-sixth of the world’s electricity. This base has the potential to be expanded widely as part of a worldwide clean-energy revolution. Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century is an authoritative resource for educators, students, policy-makers and interested lay-people. This balanced and accessible text provides:* An inroad into nuclear science for the non-specialist* A valuable account of many aspects of nuclear technology, including industry applications* Answers to public concerns about safety, proliferation, and waste management* Up-to-date data and references This edition comes with a Foreword by Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace, which attests to today’s worldwide re-evaluation of nuclear power.The World Nuclear University (WNU) is a global partnership of industry, inter-governmental, and academic institutions committed to enhancing education in nuclear science and technology. WNU partners include the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the OECD, and the World Nuclear Association (WNA). With a secretariat staffed by government-sponsored secondees, the London-based WNU Coordinating Centre fosters a diversity of collaborative projects to strengthen nuclear education and rebuild future leadership in nuclear science and technology.
· Global in perspective and rich in data
· Draws on the intellectual resources of the World Nuclear Association
· Includes Physics of uranium; uranium enrichment; waste management
· Provides technical perspective with an understanding of environmental issues
· Draws on the intellectual resources of the World Nuclear Association
· Includes Physics of uranium; uranium enrichment; waste management
· Provides technical perspective with an understanding of environmental issues
Nuclear engineers
Plant designers and radiation physicists
Physics, engineering, safety and environmental studies undergraduates
Plant designers and radiation physicists
Physics, engineering, safety and environmental studies undergraduates
Foreword by Dr Patrick Moore
Introduction
Energy use
1.1 Sources of energy
1.2 Sustainability of energy
1.3 Energy demand
1.4 Energy supply
1.5 Changes in energy demand and supply
1.6 Future energy demand and supply
Electricity today and tomorrow
2.1 Electricity demand
2.2 Electricity supply
2.3 Fuels for electricity generation today
2.4 Provision for future base-load electricity
2.5 Renewable energy sources
2.6 Coal and uranium compared
2.7 Energy inputs to nuclear electricity
2.8 Economic factors
Nuclear power
3.1 Mass to energy in the reactor core
3.2 Nuclear power reactors
3.3 Uranium availability
3.4 Nuclear weapons as a source of fuel
3.5 Thorium as a nuclear fuel
3.6 Accelerator-driven systems
3.7 Physics of a nuclear reactor
The “front end” of the nuclear fuel cycle
4.1 Mining and milling of uranium ore
4.2 The nuclear fuel cycle
Box: Uranium enrichment
4.3 Advanced reactors
4.4 High temperature gas-cooled reactors
4.5 Fast neutron reactors
4.6 Very small nuclear power plants
4.7 Thorium cycle
The “back end” of the nuclear fuel cycle
5.1 Nuclear “wastes”
5.2 Reprocessing used fuel
5.3 High-level wastes from reprocessing
Box: Transporting radioactive materials
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5.4 Storage and disposal of used fuel as “waste”
5.5 Disposal of solidified wastes
5.6 Decommissioning reactors
Other nuclear energy applications
6.1 Hydrogen for transport
6.2 Desalination
6.3 Marine propulsion
6.4 Space
6.5 Research reactors for radioisotopes
Environment, health and safety issues
7.1 Greenhouse gas emissions
7.2 Other environmental effects
7.3 Health and environmental effects
7.4 Radiation
7.5 Reactor safety
Avoiding weapons’ proliferation
8.1 International cooperation
8.2 International nuclear safeguards
8.3 Fissile materials
8.4 Recycling military uranium and plutonium for electricity
8.5 Australian and Canadian nuclear safeguards policies
History of nuclear energy
9.1 Exploring the nature of the atom
9.2 Harnessing nuclear fission
9.3 Nuclear physics in Russia
9.4 Conceiving the atomic bomb
9.5 Developing the concepts
9.6 The Manhattan Project
9.7 The Soviet bomb
9.8 Revival of the “nuclear boiler”
9.9 Nuclear energy goes commercial
9.10 The nuclear power brown-out
9.11 Nuclear renaissance
Appendices
1. Ionizing radiation and how it is measured
2. Some radioactive decay series
3. Environmental and ethical aspects of radioactive waste management
4. Some useful references
Glossary
Index
Introduction
Energy use
1.1 Sources of energy
1.2 Sustainability of energy
1.3 Energy demand
1.4 Energy supply
1.5 Changes in energy demand and supply
1.6 Future energy demand and supply
Electricity today and tomorrow
2.1 Electricity demand
2.2 Electricity supply
2.3 Fuels for electricity generation today
2.4 Provision for future base-load electricity
2.5 Renewable energy sources
2.6 Coal and uranium compared
2.7 Energy inputs to nuclear electricity
2.8 Economic factors
Nuclear power
3.1 Mass to energy in the reactor core
3.2 Nuclear power reactors
3.3 Uranium availability
3.4 Nuclear weapons as a source of fuel
3.5 Thorium as a nuclear fuel
3.6 Accelerator-driven systems
3.7 Physics of a nuclear reactor
The “front end” of the nuclear fuel cycle
4.1 Mining and milling of uranium ore
4.2 The nuclear fuel cycle
Box: Uranium enrichment
4.3 Advanced reactors
4.4 High temperature gas-cooled reactors
4.5 Fast neutron reactors
4.6 Very small nuclear power plants
4.7 Thorium cycle
The “back end” of the nuclear fuel cycle
5.1 Nuclear “wastes”
5.2 Reprocessing used fuel
5.3 High-level wastes from reprocessing
Box: Transporting radioactive materials
2
1 title pages.qxp 22/06/2006 13:39 Page 2
3
5.4 Storage and disposal of used fuel as “waste”
5.5 Disposal of solidified wastes
5.6 Decommissioning reactors
Other nuclear energy applications
6.1 Hydrogen for transport
6.2 Desalination
6.3 Marine propulsion
6.4 Space
6.5 Research reactors for radioisotopes
Environment, health and safety issues
7.1 Greenhouse gas emissions
7.2 Other environmental effects
7.3 Health and environmental effects
7.4 Radiation
7.5 Reactor safety
Avoiding weapons’ proliferation
8.1 International cooperation
8.2 International nuclear safeguards
8.3 Fissile materials
8.4 Recycling military uranium and plutonium for electricity
8.5 Australian and Canadian nuclear safeguards policies
History of nuclear energy
9.1 Exploring the nature of the atom
9.2 Harnessing nuclear fission
9.3 Nuclear physics in Russia
9.4 Conceiving the atomic bomb
9.5 Developing the concepts
9.6 The Manhattan Project
9.7 The Soviet bomb
9.8 Revival of the “nuclear boiler”
9.9 Nuclear energy goes commercial
9.10 The nuclear power brown-out
9.11 Nuclear renaissance
Appendices
1. Ionizing radiation and how it is measured
2. Some radioactive decay series
3. Environmental and ethical aspects of radioactive waste management
4. Some useful references
Glossary
Index
- No. of pages: 168
- Language: English
- Edition: 1
- Published: July 28, 2010
- Imprint: Academic Press
- eBook ISBN: 9780080497532
IH
Ian Hore-Lacy
Affiliations and expertise
Director of Public Communications
World Nuclear Association, LondonRead Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century on ScienceDirect