Download or read book Advanced Nuclear Systems Consuming Excess Plutonium written by E.R. Merz and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A survey of recent developments in the field of plutonium disposal by the application of advanced nuclear systems, both critical and subcritical. Current national R&D plans are summarized. The actinide-fuelled critical reactors are associated with control problems, since they tend to have a small delayed neutron fraction coupled with a small Doppler effect and a positive void coefficient. Current thinking is turning to accelerator-driven subcritical systems for the transmutation of actinides. The book's conclusion is that the various systems proposed are technically feasible, even though not yet technically mature. The book presents a unique summary and evaluation of all relevant possibilities for burning surplus plutonium, presented by experts from a variety of different disciplines and interests, including the defence establishment. The obvious issue - the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons - is vital, but the matter represents a complex technological challenge that also requires an assessment in economic terms.
Download or read book Regaining Security written by William J. Weida and published by Ashgate Publishing. This book was released on 1997 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of all the materials, systems and facilities that designed and operated nuclear weapons, one of the most readily available assets for reuse are often identified as highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium for warheads. However, proliferation concerns make the reuse of much of this material unlikely. This text explores the economic issues surrounding the major expenditures facing the US as it attempts to dispose of weapon-grade nuclear materials in a proliferation-resistant manner. It discusses the economic values of plutonium and HEU, the economic nature of the nuclear industry, reprocessing and operations costs, the economics of burning plutonium to generate electrical power, the economics of down-blending and burning HEU, military conversion as rationale for selecting plutonium disposition options, the economics of transmutation, and the economics of other proposals for disposition - ranging from monitored surface storage to vitrification. The book concludes by indentifying the major cost drivers affecting all disposition options.
Download or read book Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems Toward Zero Release of Radioactive Wastes written by M. Saito and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2002-11-11 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is a collection of the papers presented at the International Seminar on Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems toward Zero Release of Radioactive Wastes, which was held in Japan in November 2000. Scientists and engineers working in academia, research organizations and industry came together to discuss the role and contributions of nuclear energy to the environmental issues in the new millennium. It provided a forum for open discussions about the pursuit of solutions for the reduction of nuclear wastes based on the accelerator and fusion technologies, in addition to the advanced fission technology to harmonize the nuclear energy systems with the global environment. It also promoted future international collaboration in the following research fields: the role of nuclear energy in the new millennium; waste management; transmutation of minor actinides and fission products; advanced fission systems, accelerator driven systems, fusion systems, nuclear database, and advanced nuclear fuel cycles for transmutation of wastes. Published originally as a special issue (volume 40/3-4) of the international journal Progress in Nuclear Energy.
Download or read book Thorium Fuel Cycle written by International Atomic Energy Agency and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a critical review of the thorium fuel cycle: potential benefits and challenges in the thorium fuel cycle, mainly based on the latest developments at the front end of the fuel cycle, applying thorium fuel cycle options, and at the back end of the thorium fuel cycle.
Download or read book Management and Disposition of Excess Weapons Plutonium written by National Academy of Sciences and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1995-08-06 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Within the next decade, many thousands of U.S. and Russian nuclear weapons are slated to be retired as a result of nuclear arms reduction treaties and unilateral pledges. Hundreds of tons of plutonium and highly enriched uranium will no longer be needed for weapons purposes and will pose urgent challenges to international security. This is the supporting volume to a study by the Committee on International Security and Arms Control which dealt with all phases of the management and disposition of these materials. This technical study concentrates on the option for the disposition of plutonium, looking in detail at the different types of reactors in which weapons plutonium could be burned and at the vitrification of plutonium, and comparing them using economic, security and environmental criteria.
Download or read book Nuclear Power written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1992-02-01 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The construction of nuclear power plants in the United States is stopping, as regulators, reactor manufacturers, and operators sort out a host of technical and institutional problems. This volume summarizes the status of nuclear power, analyzes the obstacles to resumption of construction of nuclear plants, and describes and evaluates the technological alternatives for safer, more economical reactors. Topics covered include: Institutional issues-including regulatory practices at the federal and state levels, the growing trends toward greater competition in the generation of electricity, and nuclear and nonnuclear generation options. Critical evaluation of advanced reactors-covering attributes such as cost, construction time, safety, development status, and fuel cycles. Finally, three alternative federal research and development programs are presented.
Download or read book Safety Issues Associated with Plutonium Involvement in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle written by Theodore A. Parish and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "VOLGA" conferences, hosted in odd-numbered years by the Department of Theoretical and Experimental Reactor Physics of the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), are some of the most prestigious technical meetings held in Russia. Traditionally, these conferences present the opportunity for reactor physicists from around the world to gather at MEPhI's holiday camp on the banks of the Volga river (near Tver) to exchange ideas and explore innovative concepts related to nuclear power development. In 1997, NATO became involved in the "VOLGA" meetings for the first time by co-sponsoring "VOLGA97" as an advanced research workshop. This workshop broke with tradition a bit in that the venue was moved from MEPhI's holiday camp to a location nearer Moscow. The workshop program was effectively organized in order to cover a broad range of topics relating to the theme of the meeting. Generally, the papers concerned safety related questions associated with utilizing both weapons-grade and reactor-grade plutonium in the nuclear fuel cycle, including facility requirements, licensing issues, proliferation risks, and a variety of advanced concepts for alternative fuel cycles. The program contained a total of ninety-nine papers presented in five days of sessions.
Download or read book Nuclear Wastes written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1996-02-23 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production and power generation has caused public outcry and political consternation. Nuclear Wastes presents a critical review of some waste management and disposal alternatives to the current national policy of direct disposal of light water reactor spent fuel. The book offers clearcut conclusions for what the nation should do today and what solutions should be explored for tomorrow. The committee examines the currently used "once-through" fuel cycle versus different alternatives of separations and transmutation technology systems, by which hazardous radionuclides are converted to nuclides that are either stable or radioactive with short half-lives. The volume provides detailed findings and conclusions about the status and feasibility of plutonium extraction and more advanced separations technologies, as well as three principal transmutation concepts for commercial reactor spent fuel. The book discusses nuclear proliferation; the U.S. nuclear regulatory structure; issues of health, safety and transportation; the proposed sale of electrical energy as a means of paying for the transmutation system; and other key issues.
Download or read book Dismantlement and Destruction of Chemical Nuclear and Conventional Weapons written by N. Schulte and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1997-02-28 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The end ofthe Cold War opened unprecedented opportunities for reductions in weapons of mass destruction. With these opportunities came new challenges, both scientific and political. Traditionally approached by different groups, the scientific, technical and political challenges are inextricably intertwined. Agreements to dismantle and destroy chemical, nuclear and conventional weapons, after having been negotiated via diplomatic channels, require the expertise of scientists associated with their development to determine the safest and most environmentally sound methods of destruction. It is in this context that representatives from sixteen countries and five international organizations were convened jointly by NATO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany and the State Government of North Rhine Westphalia 19-21 May, 1996 in a meeting near Bonn to take stock of worldwide efforts to destroy and dismantle chemical, nuclear and conventional weapons remaining after the end ofthe Cold War. NATO support was provided under the auspices of the NATO Science Committee's Panel on Disarmament Technologies. The conference brought together the major actors involved in the dismantlement and destruction of chemical, nuclear and conventional weapons, highlighted the substantial accomplishments achieved in this area and pinpointed the remaining technical obstacles still to be overcome. It also underlined the critical importance of transparency, data exchange and verification as indispensable preconditions for disarmament and cooperative security.
Download or read book Nuclear Engineering Handbook written by Kenneth D. Kok and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2016-10-03 with total page 978 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building upon the success of the first edition, the Nuclear Engineering Handbook, Second Edition, provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of nuclear power engineering. Consisting of chapters written by leading experts, this volume spans a wide range of topics in the areas of nuclear power reactor design and operation, nuclear fuel cycles, and radiation detection. Plant safety issues are addressed, and the economics of nuclear power generation in the 21st century are presented. The Second Edition also includes full coverage of Generation IV reactor designs, and new information on MRS technologies, small modular reactors, and fast reactors.
Download or read book Modular High temperature Gas cooled Reactor Power Plant written by Kurt Kugeler and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-05 with total page 893 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Modular High-temperature Gas-cooled Reactor Power Plant" introduces the power plants driven by modular high temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTR), which are characterized by their inherent safety features and high output temperatures. HTRs have the potential to be adopted near demand side to supply both electricity and process heat, directly replacing conventional fossil fuels. The world is confronted with two dilemmas in the energy sector, namely climate change and energy supply security. HTRs have the potential to significantly alleviate these concerns. This book will provide readers with a thorough understanding of HTRs, their history, principles, and fields of application. The book is intended for researchers and engineers involved with nuclear engineering and energy technology.
Download or read book Nuclear Materials Safety Management written by K.L. Peddicord and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the end of the Cold War, new opportunities for interaction have opened up between the United States and the countries of the Former Soviet Union. Many of these important initiatives involve the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (MINA TOM). Currently, collaboration is under way which involves reactor safety, the disposition of fissile materials from the weapons program, radioactive waste disposal, and the safety of nuclear warheads. Another fruitful area of interchange resulted from the radiochemical storage tank accident at the site of the Siberian Chemical Compound at Tomsk-7 in 1993. DOE and MINATOM agreed to meet and exchange information about the accident for the purposes of improving safety. A meeting on the Tomsk tank accident was held in Hanford, Washington in 1993, followed by a second meeting in st. Petersburg, Russia in 1994 in which the agenda expanded to include radiochemical processing safety. A third exchange took place in 1995 in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and additional papers were presented on nonreactor nuclear safety. Following a planning session in 1996 in Seattle, Washington, it was decided to hold a fourth technical exchange on the broader subject of nuclear materials safety management. Through a grant from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Disarmament Programme, the meeting took place on March 17- 21, 1997, in Amarillo, Texas as a NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) through grant no. DISRM 961315.
Download or read book Uranium Enrichment and Nuclear Weapon Proliferation written by Allan S. Krass and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-20 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1983, this book presents both the technical and political information necessary to evaluate the emerging threat to world security posed by recent advances in uranium enrichment technology. Uranium enrichment has played a relatively quiet but important role in the history of efforts by a number of nations to acquire nuclear weapons and by a number of others to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. For many years the uranium enrichment industry was dominated by a single method, gaseous diffusion, which was technically complex, extremely capital-intensive, and highly inefficient in its use of energy. As long as this remained true, only the richest and most technically advanced nations could afford to pursue the enrichment route to weapon acquisition. But during the 1970s this situation changed dramatically. Several new and far more accessible enrichment techniques were developed, stimulated largely by the anticipation of a rapidly growing demand for enrichment services by the world-wide nuclear power industry. This proliferation of new techniques, coupled with the subsequent contraction of the commercial market for enriched uranium, has created a situation in which uranium enrichment technology might well become the most important contributor to further nuclear weapon proliferation. Some of the issues addressed in this book are: A technical analysis of the most important enrichment techniques in a form that is relevant to analysis of proliferation risks; A detailed projection of the world demand for uranium enrichment services; A summary and critique of present institutional non-proliferation arrangements in the world enrichment industry, and An identification of the states most likely to pursue the enrichment route to acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Download or read book Logos written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium 1996 written by David Albright and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plutonium and highly enriched uranium (HEU) are the basic materials used in nuclear weapons. Plutonium also plays an important part in the generation of nuclear electricity. Knowing how much plutonium and HEU exists, where and in which form is vital for international security and nuclear commerce. This book is a thorough revision of the World Inventory of Plutonium and highly Enriched Uranium, 1992. It provides a rigorous and comprehensive assessment of the amounts of plutonium and HEU in military and civilian programmes, in nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states, and in countries seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. The capibilities that exist for producing these materials around the world are examined in depth, as are the policy issues raised by them. Containing much new information, this book is indispensable to all those concerned with the great contemporary issues in international nuclear relations: arms reductions in the nuclear weapon states, nuclear proliferation, nuclear smuggling, the roles of plutonium and enriched uranium in the nuclear fuel-cycle, and the disposition of surplus weapon material.
Download or read book Improving the Scientific Basis for Managing DOE s Excess Nuclear Materials and Spent Nuclear Fuel written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-06-09 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The production of nuclear materials for the national defense was an intense, nationwide effort that began with the Manhattan Project and continued throughout the Cold War. Now many of these product materials, by-products, and precursors, such as irradiated nuclear fuels and targets, have been declared as excess by the Department of Energy (DOE). Most of this excess inventory has been, or will be, turned over to DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM), which is responsible for cleaning up the former production sites. Recognizing the scientific and technical challenges facing EM, Congress in 1995 established the EM Science Program (EMSP) to develop and fund directed, long-term research that could substantially enhance the knowledge base available for new cleanup technologies and decision making. The EMSP has previously asked the National Academies' National Research Council for advice for developing research agendas in subsurface contamination, facility deactivation and decommissioning, high-level waste, and mixed and transuranic waste. For this study the committee was tasked to provide recommendations for a research agenda to improve the scientific basis for DOE's management of its high-cost, high-volume, or high-risk excess nuclear materials and spent nuclear fuels. To address its task, the committee focused its attention on DOE's excess plutonium-239, spent nuclear fuels, cesium-137 and strontium-90 capsules, depleted uranium, and higher actinide isotopes.
Download or read book Human Factors and Design written by Yuri Spirochkin and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-02-27 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes various manifestations of human factors when interacting with potentially dangerous technical systems: airplanes, launch vehicles and spaceships, nuclear power plants, energy-saturated ground vehicles and infrastructure facilities. The idea of the book arose from the desire to find a common ground between industries that are important for safety. Their similarity lies, in addition to the technological advancement of products and solutions, in equally high safety requirements, in particular taking into account the influence of human factor. Thus, it is of relevance to analyze an impact of human factor in the context of safety. The matter is rather complex: on the one hand humans manage technical systems, on the other hand human errors, negligence or evil intentions can turn the system into a threat with disastrous consequences. However, human interaction with any technical system begins earlier – in the design stage. In this stage, designer, being creator of the system, must ensure a safe operation and take into consideration possible risks, including those caused by human factors itself. The book is interdisciplinary in nature and intended mainly for designers of technical systems, aiming to assist the specialists in understanding the issues of human participation in life cycle of these systems. The examples given are intended to benefit from experiences of not one, but a number of industries.
