Power reactor technologies

Some important factors to consider in the selection of a small nuclear power reactor technology are ... 

An enormous amount of work has been directed, of late, to those properties of UC and UC2 which are important to high temperature power reactor technology. Most studies have been made under conditions dictated by economy rather than purity, and much of the emphasis has been placed on the engineering aspects of the problem. While such information is necessary and valuable, it adds little to a basic understanding of the pure U-C system, and, therefore, is beyond the scope of this discussion. 

P. Cohen, Water Coolant Technology for Power Reactors, American Nuclear Society, La Grange Park, lU., 1980. 

The primary motivation of PSAs is to assess the risk of the plant to the public. The immediate purpose of the RSS was to support the Price-Anderson hearings on liability insurance (i.e., assess the financial exposure of a nuclear power reactor operator) a purpose which, even today, is beyond PSA technology. However, PSA is sufficiently precise to provide relative risk comparisons of reactor designs and sites. These uses of PSA were presented at the Indian Point hearings, and in defense of Shoreham. The PSAs for the high-population-zone plants (Limerick, Zion, and Indian Point) were prepared to show that specific features of these plants compensate for the higher population density relative to plants studied in the RSS. 

Cohen, P., 1960, Water Coolant Technology of Power Reactors, AEC Monograph, Gorden Breach, New York. (4)... 

The production of 10 TW of nuclear power with the available nuclear fission technology will require the construction of a new 1 GWe nuclear fission plant every day for the next 50 years. If this level of deployment would be reached, the known terrestrial uranium resources will be depleted in 10 years [3], Breeder reactor technology should be developed and used. Fusion nuclear power could give an inexhaustible energy source, but currently no exploitable fusion technology is available and the related technological issues are extremely hard to solve. 

E.Biorkland, "International Atomic Policy During a Decade," translated from the Swedish by A. Reed, Van Nostrand, NY(1956) 50)C.K.Beck, "Nuclear Reactors for Research," Van Nostrand, NY(1957) 51) C.F.Bonilla, "Nuclear Engineering," McGraw-Hill, NYU957) 52)G.L.Wendt, "The Prospects of Nuclear Power and Technology, ... 

Pebble-Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) A nuclear reactor technology that utilizes tiny silicon carbide-coated uranium oxide granules sealed in pebbles about the size of oranges, made of graphite. Helium is used as the coolant and energy transfer medium. This containment of the radioactive material in small quantities has the potential to achieve an unprecedented level of safety. This technology may become popular in the development of new nuclear power plants. 

Farmer, F.R. Beattie, J.R. (1976) Nuclear power reactors and the evaluation of population hazards. Advances in Nuclear Science Technology, 9, 1-72. 

The benefits of nuclear power obtainable with the present technology depend on the availability of uranium resources. For example, using the present light water reactor technology, each 1000-megawatt reactor requires a few thousand metric tons of uranium during its 40-year operation. Because... 

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