M. V. Ramana

Bio: M. V. Ramana is an academic researcher from University of British Columbia. The author has contributed to research in topics: Nuclear power & Nuclear weapon. The author has an hindex of 19, co-authored 85 publications receiving 1499 citations. Previous affiliations of M. V. Ramana include Boston University & Quaid-i-Azam University.

The frontiers of energy

Abstract: Great strides have been made over the past century in our ability to harness energy sources, leading to profound transformations — both good and bad — in society. Looking at the energy system of today, it is clear that meeting the energy needs of the world now and in the years to come requires the concerted efforts of many different actors across a range of technologies and approaches. In this Feature, ten leading experts in energy research share their vision of what challenges their respective fields need to address in the coming decades. The issues being faced are diverse and multifaceted, from the search for better materials for fuels, to the design of energy policy and markets for the developing world. However, a common theme emerges: changes to adapt and improve our energy system are greatly needed. By improving our mutual understanding of the issues faced by each area of energy research, these changes can happen more smoothly, efficiently and rapidly. Meeting the world's energy needs requires the collective efforts of many different actors across a range of technologies and approaches. In this Feature, ten leading experts in energy research share their vision of the challenges their respective fields must address in the coming decades.

Walking technicolor signatures at hadron colliders

Abstract: Aspects of the dynamics of walking technicolor models are expected to have important consequences for technihadron production at hadron colliders. Hard-mass enhancements characteristic of walking technicolor raise technipion (${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}$) masses relative to technirho (${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{T}$) masses so that the decays ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{T}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}{\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}$ are either suppressed or forbidden altogether. Thus, ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{T}$ can be unusually narrow with unconventional decay modes. Large weak isospin breaking in $U$- and $D$-technifermion masses (required for $t\ensuremath{-}b$ splitting) leads to neutral ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{T}$ and ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}$ that are ideally mixed. Finally, multiscale models of walking technicolor in which the light-scale technifermions carry ordinary SU(3) color can have color-octet ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{T}'\mathrm{s}$ which are produced strongly in parton-parton collisions and are within reach of the Fermilab Tevatron. These would appear as narrow, well-separated ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\overline{D}D}$ and ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\overline{U}U}$ resonances in dijet production or in ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}{\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}$ production with a limited number of final states. These expectations are illustrated in a multiscale model containing both techniquarks and technileptons at the light scale. Depending on assumptions that determine the fundamental chiral-symmetry-breaking mass parameters of the model, we find two generic phenomenologies: (A) ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\overline{D}D}$ with a mass of 200-250 GeV decaying exclusively to dijets and ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\overline{U}U}$ in the mass range 350-550 GeV decaying to a few ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}{\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}$ combinations; (B) ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\overline{D}D}$ with a mass of 375-425 GeV and ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\overline{U}U}$ in the mass range 500-700 GeV both decaying to a few ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}{\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}$ modes. The ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{\overline{D}D}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\mathrm{dijet}$ signal of case A is large at all colliders and can be sought now at the Tevatron. The ${\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}{\ensuremath{\pi}}_{T}$ production rates in both cases are of \ensuremath{\sim}10 pb at the Tevatron and \ensuremath{\sim}10 nb at the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC). The technipions can be sought in the next high-luminosity run of the Tevatron and may be excludable if backgrounds are not too severe. Experiments at the SSC certainly should be able to determine whether they exist.

Nuclear Power: Economic, Safety, Health, and Environmental Issues of Near-Term Technologies

Abstract: Nuclear power is confronted with a number of challenges in the near term. One major constraint is the economics of nuclear power, driven by both the high capital costs and financial uncertainties. The second is concern about catastrophic accidents; despite the development of newer reactor designs, the possibility of such an accident has not been completely eliminated. A third is to find a way of disposing nuclear waste that is technically feasible and politically acceptable to the public.

Managing China’s coal power plants to address multiple environmental objectives

Abstract: China needs to manage its coal-dominated power system to curb carbon emissions, as well as to address local environmental priorities such as air pollution and water stress. Here we examine three province-level scenarios for 2030 that represent various electricity demand and low-carbon infrastructure development pathways. For each scenario, we optimize coal power generation strategies to minimize the sum of national total coal power generation cost, inter-regional transmission cost and air pollution and water costs. We consider existing environmental regulations on coal power plants, as well as varying prices for air pollutant emissions and water to monetize the environmental costs. Comparing 2030 to 2015, we find lower CO2 emissions only in the scenarios with substantial renewable generation or low projected electricity demand. Meanwhile, in all three 2030 scenarios, we observe lower air pollution and water impacts than were recorded in 2015 when current regulations and prices for air pollutant emissions and water are imposed on coal power plants. Increasing the price of air pollutant emissions or water alone can lead to a tradeoff between these two objectives, mainly driven by differences between air pollution-oriented and water-oriented transmission system designs that influence where coal power plants will be built and retired. China’s coal-dominated power system is a source of carbon emissions, local air pollution and water stress. This study presents three power system development scenarios that run until 2030 in China, where coal strategies are optimized under current environmental regulations and varying prices for air pollutant emissions and water.

Back to the Future Small Modular Reactors, Nuclear Fantasies, and Symbolic Convergence

Abstract: In this article, we argue that scientists and technologists associated with the nuclear industry are building support for small modular reactors (SMRs) by advancing five rhetorical visions imbued with elements of fantasy that cater to various social expectations. The five visions are as follows: a vision of risk-free energy would eliminate catastrophic accidents and meltdowns. A vision of indigenous self-energization would see SMRs empowering remote communities and developing economies. A vision of water security would see SMR-powered desalination plants satisfying the world’s water needs. A vision of environmental nirvana would see SMRs providing waste-free and carbon-free electricity to preserve the earth’s biosphere. A vision of space exploration would see SMRs assisting in the colonization of the moon, Mars, and possibly other worlds. These visions help create a symbolic convergence among promoters, serving to attract political and financial support, and erasing previous nuclear failures from public discourse. Moreover, underlying these visions is a technological utopian ideal world where SMRs would generate plentiful energy of multiple kinds (electricity and heat), offering the necessary means for a life of comfort for all people by meeting various needs (lighting, temperature control, drinking water, and provision of scarce minerals) and without any environmental externalities or cause for concern about accidents.

What are we doing here? Analyzing fifteen years of energy scholarship and proposing a social science research agenda

Abstract: Social science related disciplines, methods, concepts, and topics remain underutilized, and perhaps underappreciated, in contemporary energy studies research. To make this case, the article offers both quantitative and qualitative data. It begins with the quantitative part, providing a content analysis of 4444 research articles involving 9549 authors and 90,079 references (from a smaller subsample) published in three leading energy journals from 1999 to 2013. Within this vast sample, only 19.6 percent of authors reported training in any social science discipline, and less than 0.3 percent of authors reported disciplinary affiliations in areas such as history, psychology, anthropology, and communication studies. Only 12.6 percent of articles utilized qualitative methods and less than 5 percent of citations were to social science and humanities journals. The article then shifts to the qualitative part, where it proposes a variety of methodological and topical areas, along with 75 research questions, that could deepen and broaden energy research, connected in part to all of the articles in this special (inaugural) issue of Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS). Readers from all disciplines are encouraged to read it—especially the parts dealing with areas and concepts outside of their own areas of expertise.

Global Biogeochemical Cycling of Mercury: A Review

Abstract: Mercury pollution poses global human health and environmental risks. Although mercury is naturally present in the environment, human activities, such as coal burning, have increased the amount of mercury cycling among the land, atmosphere, and ocean by a factor of three to five. Emitted to the atmosphere in its elemental form, mercury travels worldwide before oxidizing to a form that deposits to ecosystems. In aquatic systems, mercury can convert into methylmercury, a potent neurotoxin. People and wildlife are exposed to methylmercury as it bioaccumulates up the food chain. Mercury continues to circulate in the atmosphere, oceans, and terrestrial system for centuries to millennia before it returns to deep-ocean sediments. Areas of uncertainty in the global biogeochemical cycle of mercury include oxidation processes in the atmosphere, land-atmosphere and ocean-atmosphere cycling, and methylation processes in the ocean. National and international policies have addressed direct mercury emissions, but further...