Nuclear research and development

Notwithstanding her economic difficulties, Britain continued to maintain a considerable scientific-military-industrial complex after the war. The Attlee government committed Britain to a major nuclear research and development programme, which limited the supply of scientific and technical labour available for other projects, including guided missiles. 

Their work attracted the attention of Ernest Lawrence, the founder and director of the Radiation Laboratory which was later to become pivotal in the Manhattan project and famous as a center for nuclear research and development. From his understanding of nuclear physics, Lawrence reasoned that there should exist a long-lived carbon isotope with a mass number of 14 which, if used as a tracer, would greatly aid such biochemical work. Early in 1940, in cans of ammonium nitrate solution used as a shield around Lawrence s cyclotron, Ruben and Kamen discovered 14C with a half-life of 5700 years. Minute though the quantities were, the two scientists, joined later by Andy Benson, began to use it in an exploration of the path of carbon in photosynthesis until the events of December 7,1941 put all such nonessential investigations on hold. 

The initiative received further support at a special technical session, entitled Passing on Fifty Years of Fast Reactor Knowledge to a New Generation in Nuclear Research and Development, which was held at the 2001 American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting, and cochaired by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and IAEA staff. 

Community activity in the nuclear field is based on the provisions of the Euratom Treaty of 1958. This treaty and developments from it have been primarily concerned with promoting nuclear research and development. Although there has also been activity in the field of design safety criteria, worker and public dose limits and responses to incidents, after Chernobyl the Community found, for example, that it had no provisions in any existing Directives specifying limits to the radioactive content of foodstuffs. Furthermore, the Commission s attempts to coordinate a Community response after Chernobyl showed that there were major differences in sampling practices, reporting of results, etc., between member countries which made harmonisation of responses difficult. 

The Nuclear Energy Agency promotes international nuclear research and development, accumulates data on uranium resources and has committees and working groups on ... 

In the U.K. electricity industry, there were dramatic reductions in nuclear research and development (R D) funding—cuts of well over 50% in six years. This was primarily associated with the fact that no new reactor orders are anticipated at present in the U.K. However, the observed cuts in R D expenditures could reduce the levels of expertise available to deal with critical safety problems that may arise. For example, the reduced funding could result in R D staffing levels falling below a critical mass, or lead to attrition of the most talented researchers. The U.K. nuclear power industry also experienced problems with loss of specialized skills among the technical support staff. 

NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN ITALY Progress on LWR have mainly concerned the following activities ... 

There is no sharp endpoint to the golden era. But the climate for nuclear research and development markedly changed in the 1980s. Government budgets for nuclear science tended to level off after 3 decades of remarkable growth institutions established for nuclear research... 

As the result of many years of nuclear reactor research and development and weapons production in U.S. defense programs, a large number of sites were contarninated by radioactive materials. A thorough cleanup of this residue of the Cold War is expected to extend well into the twenty-first century and cost many billions of dollars. New technologies are needed to minimi2e the cost of the cleanup operation. 

The breeder reactor, which would produce and bum plutonium and gradually increase the inventory of fissionable material, requires reprocessing of nuclear fuel. As of 1995 only limited research and development was in progress on breeder reactors, mainly in France and Japan. 

Early research and development is described in a symposium proceedings (54). The status of the CANDU program as of 1975 is given in Reference 55 and a brief history maybe found in a more recent pubHcation of the American Nuclear Society (37). 

Mircraft Nuclear Propulsion Program, Hearing before the Subcommittee on Research and Development of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, July 23, 1959. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1959. 

Substantial research and development is ongoing to define the characteristics of improved lightwater-cooled nuclear power plants (62—65). The safety area is no exception. 

Nuclear reactor and generator at Argonne National Laboratory used primarily for research and development in testing reactor fuels as weU as for training. The generation from the unit is used for internal consumption. 

When the NRC, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, took over the responsibiUties of the AEC in 1974, many of the AEC s research and development functions, particularly many covering new technology development and nuclear weapons production, were assumed by the U.S. Department of Energy. However, the NRC has maintained some research and developmental capabiUties which are handled by the NRC s Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. 

Woods, D. D. (1982). "Operator Decision Behavior during the Steam Generator Tube Rupture at the Ginna Nuclear Power Station." Research Report 82-1057-CONRM-R2, Westinghouse Research and Development Centre Pittsburgh, PA. 

Proponents of the laboratories counter that, despite these shortcomings, the laboratories seiwe a vital mission of undertaking the high risk and expensive investments that the private sector would never agree to invest in. Although natural gas research and development was minimal, DOE support accelerated technological advances on natural gas-fired turbines. Much of the research and development at the laboratories has provided a net social benefit to the nation and economy, work such as safe nuclear reactors and the development of sophisticated defense weapons. 

To ensure a viable future for nuclear power as a key component of the world s energy mix, nuclear energy research and development is key. 

International collaborations will also add tremendous value to our research and development efforts. Indeed, another activity in progress right now is a look (by NER4C) at our future infrastructure needs to support the domestic and international nuclear establishment. We would be happy to discuss our findings in an international context. 

Facilities were built for receipt and storage of spent fuel, clearance was obtained from major ports for its import, negotiations were carried out with nuclear utility operators and suppliers for its acceptance by the AEC, and research and development was carried out to permit reprocessing in H-canyon, the most successful and versatile reprocessing plant at SRP. 

Dilworth, J. R. Parrott, S. J. Developments in Nuclear Medicine. 1996, 30 (Current Directions in Radiopharmaceutical Research and Development), 1-29. 

Health R D (research and development) expenditures, 27 612 Health standards, at nuclear power facilities, 7 7 551-554 Health uses, for iodine, 74 372-373 Heap and dump leaching, 76 153 Heap leaching, 72 689-690, 699-700 76 128... 

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