Nuclear energy production

Pigford, T. H. 1976. Environmental aspects of nuclear energy production. In Hollander, J. M. Simmons, M. K. (eds) Annual Review of Energy, vol. I, Annual Reviews Inc., Palo Alto, CA, 515-559. 

T. H. Pigford, Environmental Aspects of Nuclear Energy Production, Annu. Rev. Nucl. Sci. 24,515 (1974)... 

Le Dossier Electronucleaire, Editions du Deud, Paris, 1980 (data on nuclear energy production)... 

Table I. Thermal Neutron Cross Sections of Some Isotopes Useful for Nuclear Energy Production...

The subarea of nuclear energy production and nuclear waste concerns... 

For future nuclear energy production, considerable promise is held out by the fast breeder reactor techniques used to produce fissional materials from non-fissional ones. There is the corresponding problem of substantially increasing the levels of nuclear wastes that must be handled in such a way as to render them as harmless as possible to the environment. In this area of processing of nuclear fuels, ion-exchange techniques again are useful. After the production of 233U via the reaction ... 

I expressed this view at the end of 1935 to a representative of the General Electric Company who consulted me for another purpose, and of course to several friends in conversations. Later, in the spring of 1936 I gave a short popular lecture to the T. A. Society in Madison, Wisconsin, and set the time of the realization of nuclear energy production to five years from that date. I had no basis for that number. 

Even during the period of high investment (Birkhofer, 1984), the cost of the safety research in terms of nuclear energy production (calculated on the basis of 0.05 kWh ), has been only a few units. 

When the project of the second edition was about to be launched by Springer, the Editors of the Handbook had several questions to answer and one of these being how to complete Prof. Denschlag s excellent introduction to the Technical Application of Nuclear Fission with the new tendencies and designs of energy production by fission. It has also been realized that some countries were underrepresented among the authors of the first edition compared to their contribution to nuclear science. Fortunately, two experts of nuclear energy production, the Authors of this chapter, have accepted the Editors invitation to cooperate. 

The Editors are well aware that it is rather unusual to write an editorial introduction to one particular chapter however, in this case it seems to be appropriate and desirable. The reason is that this chapter is at least as much about the future of (nuclear) energy production as about its present (and to some extent its past). 

Uranium as the main starting material for nuclear energy production is a naturally radioactive element, composed of the three long-lived isotopes U, and In undisturbed natural deposits, these isotopes appear in a secular decay equilibrium with their daughter products of the 4n+2 and 4n+3 series, which are presented in a simplified version in Figs. 3.1. and 3.2. 

Today, more areas than ever depend on the results of trace analysis Nuclear energy, production of semiconductors and ultrapure substances, metallurgy, materials research and production, geology. mineralogy, oceanography, medicine, an-... 

Uranium is considered an important material for nuclear energy production. The pumping of uranium slurries is more complicated than pumping most slurries due to its radioactivity. As a result, uranium tailings disposal systems should involve a health specialist and an environmental engineer. 

In spite of a moratorium in some countries on the construction of new nuclear power plants, predictions indicate that the present world nuclear energy production of 22.7 EJ will reach about 30 EJ by 2020. This growth in the use of nuclear power is primarily due to its attractiveness as a clean nonfossU energy source. 

Experience has demonstrated that nuclear energy production in small units on a small scale is not economically viable. If nuclear energy is to be used for economic H2 production, the H2 demand must match the scale of H2 production from a nuclear reactor. The newest world-class H2 plants that are under construction have capacities of 200 million standard cubic feet per day—equivalent to a l,600-MW(th) reactor. The size of H2 plant, in terms of energy flows, are rapidly approaching the size of large nuclear power plants. Large plants are now on H2 pipeline systems and the scale of H2 demand and the scale of nuclear power plants match. 

All of us who have been involved in the writing, editing, and publishing the new edition of The Chemistry of the Actinide Elements express our sincere hope that this new work will make a substantive contribution to research in this important field, and that it will serve as a convenient source of factual information on the actinide elements for researchers, teachers, students, and those who will have responsibility for far-reaching decisions involving the actinide elements in nuclear energy production and in the control of nuclear weapons. 

The unique properties of actinides have revolutionized the modem world with regard to the nuclear energy production. Isolation of the transuranic actinides from a matrix, including fission products and uranium, requires an efficient separation for actinide purification. 

Apart from catastrophic releases through accidents, nuclear fuels do not contribute directly to atmospheric pollution. However, the safe disposal of radioactive products and the decommissioning of old nuclear plants are problems that have not yet been acceptably solved. Currently it seems improbable that nuclear energy production will expand beyond the current level of about 6% unless there are significant changes in political and public attitudes. There is also the possibility that the use of solar energy may expand. Photovoltaic cells convert solar radiation directly into other forms of energy. 

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