Showing papers on "Nuclear power published in 1970"

Nuclear energy and the fossil fuels

Abstract: The energy phenomenon of the first half of this century has been the increase in the use of petroleum and natural gas as fuels. World demand for petroleum energy has been increasing at the rate of 11% per yr. This demand is unsustainable, for the supply, as with any exhaustible resource, is limited. The continental energy policy is essentially one of integrating the North American supply and demand picture for the fossil fuels, using oil and gas from the interior of the continent to supply demand from the interior and using overseas supplies, up the limit of national security, for energy users farthest removed from these sources. The economics of expensive pipeline transportation as against cheap supertankers dictates this policy. Beyond any shadow of a doubt, the fuel of the future will be nuclear, and for this century almost entirely the energy of fission rather than of fusion. Recent estimates suggest that as much as 50% of the energy for the U.S. will be nuclear by the year 2,000, and for Canada the more modest National Energy Board estimate holds that in 1990, 35% of Canadian electric generation will be by nuclear power reactors concentrated in the fuel-starved province of Ontario. (17 refs.)

Size effects in conventional aircraft design

Abstract: Though future growth potential appears unlimited if adequate technology improvement time obtains, the economic advantage gain rate is flattening and further increases are likely in smaller increments. Nonetheless, one gross-weight doubling, and possibly two, is predicted by 1985; nuclear power can drive the optimum weight to 5 or 10 million lb before the year 2000.

Probabilistic assessment of aircraft hazard for nuclear power plants. i.

Abstract: Abstract As part of a general probabilistic safety analysis, the risk of structural damage to a nuclear power plant from aircraft crashes has been evaluated in a quantified manner. Frequency distributions of aircraft speed and weight and engine weight were constructed for small and large aircraft and for site locations adjacent to and remote from an airport. Based upon United States data an analysis of aircraft accidents is presented to establish the probability of an aircraft hitting a nuclear power plant. If an aircraft hits a building, either the whole building or just the local component may respond. It is shown that the response of the entire reactor building is negligible, and the damage to specific structural components is of concern. Components of a reactor building may experience structural damage in several modes as a result of an aircraft crash. It is essential that all modes of damage for any particular component are considered to establish the critical mode of damage. Further, depending upon various parameters involved, the critical mode of damage may vary for different components. For the specific case of an aircraft striking a reactor building, three modes of damage could be delineated. The aircraft engine might perforate the structural component. This type of damage is classified as perforation mode of damage . The second mode is classified as collapse mode of damage , where a local collapse of the structural system occurs. The third mode is classified as a cracking mode of damage , where the structural component ceases to function satisfactorily after the impact due to cracking. The 18-inch thick reinforced concrete sidewall of a typical boiling water reactor plant located at the top floor of the reactor building is used as an example. The probability of damage to this sidewall in the perforation and collapse modes is investigated. The results are compared to those obtained for the cracking mode of damage. Available empirical formulas for perforation of concrete are examined, and new formulas are proposed to cover the range of parameters encountered in aircraft engine impact. Uncertainties in formulation are discussed, and the probability of damage by this mode is determined using Monte-Carlo methods. The conditional probability of local collapse of the wall panel is evaluated by using probabilistic approaches and yield line theory. The striking location (and thus the critical yield pattern), moment, and rotational capacities are all treated as random variables. The probabilities of damage under the perforation and collapse modes are approximately of the same order of magnitude. Under the impact of an aircraft, the cracking mode of damage is estimated using elastic analyses. Solutions are obtained using a finite-element idealization and considering the maximum reactive force due to an aircraft strike as a static load. For the 18-inch wall under consideration, it is predicted that the cracking mode of damage occurs much earlier than the other two modes of damage. It is shown that the impact load level predicted for cracking mode of damage is very conservative. After a study of all modes of damage, it is concluded that the aircraft risk is usually acceptably low for the typical case studied here.

Preliminary analysis of accidents in a lithium-cooled space nuclear powerplant

Abstract: Accident analysis to determine preliminary safety requirements for lithium-cooled space nuclear power plants

Nuclear power source

Abstract: There is provided means for utilizing radioactive emission from a radioisotope to generate relatively high voltages at small current densities.

Large Helium Turbines for Nuclear Power Plants

Abstract: A short review of the state-of-the-art of the closed cycle gas turbine technology is given and the future requirements for large helium turbines are described. The necessary development of components and turbine sizes is outlined. In a second part of the paper the configuration and layout of power plants with gas turbines are discussed.Copyright © 1970 by ASME

Nuclear Power Systems for Spacecraft

Abstract: A review and comparison of the weights, sizes, and costs of nuclear and non-nuclear spacecraft power systems is presented and discussed. Nuclear power systems include the range below 10 kW, with an electrical output to weight ratio of 0.5 to 1.0 pounds per watt. Comparisons show that primary batteries are lighter for short-duration missions of a few hours; fuel cells are lighter for durations of one to two months; and solar-cell/secondary battery combinations are to be preferred when sunlight is adequate.

Electric generating prospects for nuclear power

Abstract: Most of the nuclear power plants in the U.S. today are of the light-water variety. In many parts of the U.S. these plants are competitive with plants burning coal, but the electricity that they generate will be more costly in the future as uranium supplies deplete. A promising possible answer to the cost problem is the fast-neutron reactor, which produces more fuel than it consumes. Such a plant should also be a more efficient generator of electricity and this should produce less thermal pollution than a water-reactor plant. However, it takes time to breed the fuel to make these fast reactors possible, and until more is known about the performance of such reactors, final judgment about their economic feasibility must continue to be held in abeyance.

Criteria for the control of radioactive effluents.

Abstract: The risks to the population from the U.S. nuclear energy industry are considered to be very small in comparison with other environmental risks. However, they are not zero and, on the assumption that radiation damage increases linearly with the accumulated dose, they can be expected on a statistical basis to result in a few deaths in the exposed population. Thus, the routine operation of these nuclear power plants may cause about 18 deaths/yr and the serious accidents, which may occur at a frequency of once every 50 yr, may add another 6 deaths/yr on the average. This is considered to be a small price to pay relative to the real but less‐well‐defined environmental risks from atmospheric pollution caused by fossil fuel power plants. Assuming the proper selection of a reactor site and all practicable precautions in the design and operation of a nuclear power reactor, adequate radiation protection for nearby populations can be assured by concentrating health physics attention on the critical radionuclides, cr...