Industry, nuclear power, production

Nuclear explosions and nuclear power production are the major sources of anthropogenic activity in the environment. But radionuclide use in medicine, industry, agriculture, education, and production and transport, use, and disposal from these activities present opportunities for wastes to enter the environment (Whicker and Schultz 1982a Table 32.6). Radiation was used as early as... 

Nuclear explosions and nuclear power production are the major sources of human radioactivity in the environment. Other sources include radionuclide use in medicine, industry, agriculture,... 

Radioactive wastes arise in many different forms and from a wide range of activities. The main streams come from plants and processes associated with nuclear power production and research, and unfortunately also from widespread military applications. There are other industrial applications also producing minor radioactive waste volumes. Categorization schemes are normally based on the following attributes ... 

The widespread use of welding has increased the number of corrosion problems. The development of industrial sectors like nuclear power production and offshore oil and gas extraction has required stricter mles and control. 

In the case of the possible introduction of an SMPR, the authorities must carefully consider what the national priorities should be at one extreme there may be a need and decision to obtain electric energy at minimum costs with reasonable national participation, and at the other to maximize transfer of technology as soon as possible In step with domestic Industrial development programmes but with Increased risks for delays and cost escalations in nuclear power production. Manpower considerations are central to decisions on this issue. 

AlO. Both the deterministic and the probabilistic methods have inherent strengths and weaknesses. Demonstration of a high level of safety in a complex industrial activity, such as nuclear power production, requires carefiil application of both methods as appropriate, and recognition of the strengths and weaknesses of each method. 

Fluorine was first produced commercially ca 50 years after its discovery. In the intervening period, fluorine chemistry was restricted to the development of various types of electrolytic cells on a laboratory scale. In World War 11, the demand for uranium hexafluoride [7783-81-5] UF, in the United States and United Kingdom, and chlorine trifluoride [7790-91 -2J, CIF, in Germany, led to the development of commercial fluorine-generating cells. The main use of fluorine in the 1990s is in the production of UF for the nuclear power industry (see Nuclearreactors). However, its use in the preparation of some specialty products and in the surface treatment of polymers is growing. 

Chemical-Process Vessels. Explosion-bonded products are used in the manufacture of process equipment for the chemical, petrochemical, and petroleum industries where the corrosion resistance of an expensive metal is combined with the strength and economy of another metal. AppHcations include explosion cladding of titanium tubesheet to Monel, hot fabrication of an explosion clad to form an elbow for pipes in nuclear power plants, and explosion cladding titanium and steel for use in a vessel intended for terephthaHc acid manufacture. 

Spent fuel can be stored or disposed of intact, in a once-through mode of operation, practiced by the U.S. commercial nuclear power industry. Alternatively, spent fuel can be reprocessed, ie, treated to separate the uranium, plutonium, and fission products, for re-use of the fuels (see Nuclear REACTORS, CHEMICAL reprocessing). In the United States reprocessing is carried out only for fuel from naval reactors. In the nuclear programs of some other countries, especially France and Japan, reprocessing is routine. 

Safety provisions have proven highly effective. The nuclear power industry in the Western world, ie, outside of the former Soviet Union, has made a significant contribution of electricity generation, while surpassing the safety record of any other principal industry. In addition, the environmental record has been outstanding. Nuclear power plants produce no combustion products such as sulfuric and nitrous oxides or carbon dioxide (qv), which are... 

Atomic- Vapor Laser Isotope-Separation. Although the technology has been around since the 1970s, laser isotope separation has only recently matured to the point of industrialization. In particular, laser isotope separation for the production of fuel and moderators for nuclear power generation is on the threshold of pilot-plant demonstrations in several countries. In the atomic vapor laser isotope-separation (AVLIS) process, vibrationaHy cooled U metal atoms are selectively ionized by means of a high power (1—2 kW) tunable copper vapor or dye laser operated at high (kHz) repetition rates (51,59,60). 

Natural gas is the fuel of choice wherever it is available because of its clean burning and its competitive pricing as seen in Figure 1-30. Prices for Uranium, the fuel of nuclear power stations, and coal, the fuel of the steam power plants, have been stable over the years and have been the lowest. Environmental, safety concerns, high initial cost, and the long time from planning to production has hurt the nuclear and steam power industries. Whenever oil or natural gas is the fuel of choice, gas turbines and combined cycle plants are the power plant of choice as they convert the fuel into electricity very... 

Hazards and Operability (HAZOP) analysis is an accident detection and prevention technique used primarily by the chemical process industry (CPI) (Lees, 1980). Even though the CPI operates in a different regulatory environment from the commercial nuclear power industry, the goals of risk reduction while maintaining productivity are similar. 

It should be clear that a complete FMEA approach is not practical for the evaluation of production facility safety systems. This is because (1) the cost of failure is not as great as for nuclear power plants or rockets, for which this technology has proven useful (2) production facility design projects cannot support the engineering cost and lead time associated with such analysis (3) regulatory bodies are not staffed to be able to critically analyze the output of an FMEA for errors in subjective judgment and most importantly, (4) there are similarities to the design of all production facilities that have allowed industry to develop a modified FME.A approach that can satisfy all these objections. 

The idea behind energy independence is that if all energy production occurs within a country s borders, then that country s economy will be insulated from any energy supply disruptions. The country would then have less unemployment and less economic decline if and when the world s energy exporters, especially OPEC members, cut their supplies. France, has developed a strong nuclear power industry so that it would not have to import as much oil... 

The nuclear power industry (270 nuclear reactors in 25 countries in mid-1982) now has a capacity of 200 GWe, which corresponds to an approximate annual plutonium production of 50 tonnes. The amount of plutonium accumulated from the industry is estimated to be 250 tonnes. The specific activity is 5.3X1011 Bq/g Pu for fresh spent fuel, mostly coning from 2ltlPu (6, 10). It is predicted that by the year 2000, the accumulated plutonium will amount to 2400 tonnes (6). 

In 1976 the Swedish government stipulated that no new nuclear reactors should be charged until it had been shown how the radioactive waste products could be taken care of in an "absolutely safe manner" (8). Consequently, the nuclear power industry (through their joint Nuclear Fuel Supply Co, SKBF) embarked on a program referred to as the Nuclear Fuel Safety (KBS) Project (8). In one of the schemes (9) a repository for spent nuclear fuel elements in envisaged at a depth of 500 m in granitic bedrock. The repository will ultimately contain 6000 tonnes of uranium and 45 tonnes of plutonium. The spent fuel elements will be stored in copper cylinders (0.8 m in diameter and 4.7 m in length) with a wall thickness of 200 mm the void will be filled with lead. 

The radiation-treated cables find wide applications in control instmmentation of nuclear power reactors, particle accelerators, aviation, and telephone equipments. Usually PE and PVC are radiation cross-linked for production of such cables. The heat shrinkable foils are widely used in packaging, electrical and electronic industries. The radiation cross-linked PE possesses the property of elastic memory which is utilized to produce heat shrinkable products. 

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