Showing papers on "Nuclear power published in 1995"

Accident source terms for Light-Water Nuclear Power Plants. Final report

Abstract: In 1962 tile US Atomic Energy Commission published TID-14844, ``Calculation of Distance Factors for Power and Test Reactors`` which specified a release of fission products from the core to the reactor containment for a postulated accident involving ``substantial meltdown of the core``. This ``source term``, tile basis for tile NRC`s Regulatory Guides 1.3 and 1.4, has been used to determine compliance with tile NRC`s reactor site criteria, 10 CFR Part 100, and to evaluate other important plant performance requirements. During the past 30 years substantial additional information on fission product releases has been developed based on significant severe accident research. This document utilizes this research by providing more realistic estimates of the ``source term`` release into containment, in terms of timing, nuclide types, quantities and chemical form, given a severe core-melt accident. This revised ``source term`` is to be applied to the design of future light water reactors (LWRs). Current LWR licensees may voluntarily propose applications based upon it.

Design study of lead- and lead-bismuth-cooled small long-life nuclear power reactors using metallic and nitride fuel

Abstract: A conceptual design study of small long-life nuclear power reactors used for a remote or isolated area has been performed. Lead as well as lead-bismuth is employed as the coolant, and both metallic...

The First Nuclear Era: The Life and Times of a Technological Fixer

Abstract: Alvin Weinberg is one of the most influential nuclear engineers & physicists in the U.S., having participated in many high profile projects from the early days of nuclear research on into the 1980s. This book is his autobiography and it's peppered with first-hand accounts of major historical events. He writes about the events of December 2, 1942, when Fermi set into motion the first chain reaction in a uranium pile and goes on to describe what happened during the "First Nuclear Era" a period he admits that has now largely run its course. A proponent of nuclear power, Weinberg also exposed its down- side risks and for years remained in the forefront of strong science administration.

Effects of knowledge and persuasion on high‐school students' attitudes toward nuclear power plants

Abstract: Researchers report finding correlational data to identify a positive relationship between nuclear knowledge and positive attitudes toward the use of nuclear energy This study investigated the relationship between nuclear knowledge and nuclear attitudes and to the understanding of Science-Technology-Society attitudes involving technological attitude objects This quasi-experimental study tested the causal relationship between knowledge about nuclear power plants and attitudes toward their use in electrical generation Subjects were presented with systematically designed communications developed to change either their knowledge about or attitude toward nuclear plants The Standard Events of Instruction was the basis of the knowledge instruction, whereas the Learning Theory Approach and the Theory of Reasoned Action were the theoretical bases of the persuasive communication The principal finding was that nuclear knowledge and nuclear attitude each can be changed independently of the other Although knowledge and attitudes are correlationally linked, this study shows no evidence of a cause-effect relationship

Optimal Response to Shift in Regulatory Regime: the Case of the U.S. Nuclear Power Industry

Abstract: This paper studies the impact of the March 1979 Three Mile Island (TMI) accident on the regulation of nuclear power plants (NPPs) and its consequences for the operating behavior and profitability of the U.S. nuclear power industry. We treat the TMI accident as a ``natural experiment'' that caused a sudden, unexpected, and permanent increase in the intensity of safety regulation by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and a shift toward increased disallowances of operating costs by state and local public utility commissions (PUCs). We analyze the nuclear power industry's reaction to this shift in regulatory regime using detailed monthly data on NPP operations collected by the NRC. We find that the industry has been very responsive to NRC regulation insofar as they impute a significantly higher cost to ``imprudent'' operation of a reactor in the post-TMI period than in the pre-TMI period. We find that while NPPs appear safer in the post-TMI period (in terms of having a lower rate of forced outages), they are also substantially less profitable: over 90\% of the expected discounted profits from continued operation of existing NPPs have been eliminated in the post-TMI period. Interestingly, we find that the hypothesis of expected discounted profit maximization provides a much better approximation to NPP operating behavior in the post-TMI period than in the pre-TMI period.

Government Credible Commitment in the French and American Nuclear Power industries

Abstract: Backlash against nuclear power, although widespread, affected nuclear power programs differently in the United States than in France owing to their differing institutional setups. This article uses a transaction costs economics approach to examine government credible commitment to the French and American nuclear power industries. Positive political theory sheds light on the comparative institutional environment in each industry. The American combination of fragmented power, little reliance on bureaucratic expertise, an independent judiciary, and opposing interest groups greatly undermines the ability of the U.S. government to credibly commit to the nuclear power industry. In France, despite substantial anti-nuclear interest groups, the impermeability of the institutional setup-no division of power, weak judiciary, and reliance on bureaucratic expertise-effectively prevents activists from influencing policy outcomes. © 2001 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

The advantages of intelligent field modules for nuclear power plant operation and maintenance / Die Vorteile intelligenter Feldkomponenten für Betrieb und Instandhaltung von Kernkraftwerken.

Abstract: The installation of intelligence in switchgear modules and what are referred to as compact actuator and regulator drives opens the way for new control system concepts in nuclear power plants. Firstly it makes a distributed configuration of control system functions feasible, and secondly the additional diagnostic capabilities which become available can be exploited to the advantage not only of the operation and maintenance of the control system itself, but also of the associated electrical and mechanical plant. Intelligent field modules are integrated via field buses in the overall plant control system and can be adapted to conform to future international field bus standards.

Perception of Nuclear Energy and Coal in France and the Netherlands

Abstract: This study focuses on the perception of large scale application of nuclear energy and coal in the Netherlands and France. The application of these energy-sources and the risks and benefits are judged differently by various group in society. In Europe, France has the highest density of nuclear power plants and the Netherlands has one of the lowest. In both countries scientists and social scientists completed a questionnaire assessing the perception of the large scale application of both energy sources. Furthermore, a number of variables relating to the socio cultural and political circumstances were measured. The results indicate that the French had a higher risk perception and a more negative attitude toward nuclear power than the Dutch. But they also assess the benefits of the use of nuclear power to be higher. Explanations for these differences are discussed.

Radionuclides in the Great Lakes basin

Abstract: The Great Lakes basin is of radiologic interest due to the large population within its boundaries that may be exposed to various sources of ionizing radiation Specific radionuclides of interest in the basin arising from natural and artificial sources include 3H, 14C, 90Sr, 129I, 131I, 137Cs, 222Rn, 226Ra, 235U, 238U, 239Pu, and 241Am The greatest contribution to total radiation exposure is the natural background radiation that provides an average dose of about 26 mSv/year to all basin residents Global fallout from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests conducted before 1963 has resulted in the largest input of anthropogenic radioactivity into the lakes Of increasing importance is the radionuclide input from the various components of the nuclear fuel cycle Although the dose from these activities is currently very low, it is expected to increase if there is continued growth of the nuclear industry In spite of strict regulations on design and operation of nuclear power facilities, the potential exists for a serious accident as a result of the large inventories of radionuclides contained in the reactor cores; however, these risks are several orders of magnitude less than the risks from other natural and man-made hazards An area of major priority over the next few decades will be the management of the substantial amounts of radioactive waste generated by nuclear fuel cycle activities Based on derived risk coefficients, the theoretical incidence of fatal and weighted nonfatal cancers and hereditary defects in the basin's population, attributable to 50 years of exposure to natural background radiation, is conservatively estimated to be of the order of 34 x 10(5) cases The total number of attributable health effects to the year 2050 from fallout radionuclides in the Great Lakes basin is of the order of 50 x 10(3) In contrast, estimates of attributable health effects from 50 years of exposure to current nuclear fuel cycle effluent in the basin are of the order of 2 x 10(2) Although these are hypothetical risks, they show that the radiologic impact of man-made sources is very small compared to the effects of normal background radiation

14CH4 Emissions from Nuclear Power Plants in Northwestern Europe

Abstract: We measured the 14C content of atmospheric methane at a 200-m-high sampling station in The Netherlands. Combined with trajectories and a transport model, it is possible to estimate the 14CH4 emissions from nuclear power plants in northwestern Europe. We demonstrate here two different methods of analyzing the data: forward modeling and an inverse method. Our data suggest that the emissions from pressurized water reactors are 260 ± 50 GBq per GW installed power per year, ca. 1.6 ± 0.4 times higher than generally assumed. We also find that, in addition to the known nuclear sources of 14CH4 (pressurized and boiling water reactors), there are two very strong sources of 14CH4 (520 ± 200 and 1850 ± 450 GBq yr-1, respectively), probably two test reactors near the sampling station.

Monitoring of radionuclides in the vicinities of Finnish nuclear power plants in 1991-1992

Abstract: Monitoring of the radioactive substances around Finnish nuclear power plants continued in 1999–2001 in accordance with the regular environmental monitoring programmes. Altogether some 1000 samples are analysed annually from the terrestrial and aquatic environs of the two power plants. Trace amounts of activation products originating from airborne releases from the local power plants were detected in several air and deposition samples. At Loviisa, observations were made in five aerosol samples; at Olkiluoto in three samples during the reporting period. The concentrations were very low, being a few microbequerels per cubic metre. A similar pattern was tenable for the deposition samples, too. No traces of local discharge nuclides were detected in foodstuffs, drinking water or garden products. In mushrooms and wild berries picked from the Loviisa and Olkiluoto areas, only Chernobyl-derived cesium isotopes and natural 40K were found. Local discharge nuclides were more abundant in the aquatic environment, especially in samples of indicator organisms, sinking matter and sediments. The dominant artificial radionuclides in the vicinity of the power plants were still the caesium isotopes, especially 137Cs, originating from the Chernobyl accident. In seawater, elevated 3H concentrations were more frequent at Loviisa, but no traces of other discharge nuclides were detected. In indicator organisms and sinking matter the concentrations of local discharge nuclides were somewhat higher and their distribution range was wider in the sea area off Olkiluoto. Small amounts of 60Co originating from the local power plant were detected in sediments at a distance of about 15 km from the Olkiluoto NPP.

Biokinetics of nuclear fuel compounds and biological effects of nonuniform radiation

Abstract: Environmental releases of insoluble nuclear fuel compounds may occur at nuclear power plants during normal operation, after nuclear power plant accidents, and as a consequence of nuclear weapons testing. For example, the Chernobyl fallout contained extensive amounts of pulverized nuclear fuel composed of uranium and its nonvolatile fission products. The effects of these highly radioactive particles, also called hot particles, on humans are not well known due to lack of reliable data on the extent of the exposure. However, the biokinetics and biological effects of nuclear fuel compounds have been investigated in a number of experimental studies using various cellular systems and laboratory animals. In this article, we review the biokinetic properties and effects of insoluble nuclear fuel compounds, with special reference to UO2, PuO2, and nonvolatile, long-lived beta-emitters Zr, Nb, Ru, and Ce. First, the data on hot particles, including sources, dosimetry, and human exposure are discussed. Second, the biokinetics of insoluble nuclear fuel compounds in the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract are reviewed. Finally, short- and long-term biological effects of nonuniform alpha- and beta-irradiation on the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and skin are discussed.

Limiting the Spread of Weapon-Usable Fissile Materials

Abstract: This report examines the problem of rapidly accumulating weapon-usable fissile materials and proposes an agenda to help the United States and other countries manage these materials. Weapon-usable fissile materials come from both dismantled nuclear weapons and the spend fuel from civilian nuclear power plants. This report should be of interest to nuclear nonproliferation planners and analysts in the United States, the former Soviet republics (FSRs), and other countries, and also to nuclear energy planners. The study started in October 1991. By June 1992, we had briefed our interim recommendations to planners and analysts in various DoD offices and also in the National Security Council, Livermore National Laboratory, and the nuclear industry. We also solicited reactions from public interest groups, particularly on the ramifications of our key recommendation: that the United States purchase highly enriched uranium from the FSRs after it is diluted and also their weapon-grade plutonium. The present report incorporates the latest data on nuclear weapon dismantling and elaborates on the proposed agenda, but its basic recommendations differ little from the interium proposals.

What lies behind public acceptance? Comparison of US and French perceptions of the nuclear power option

Abstract: A comparative survey on perceptions of issues pertaining to nuclear energy was carried out in the United States of America and in France. In each country, 1500 persons responded to a 155 item questionnaire. France was chosen as a significant country for comparison with the USA in the light of the widespread assumption that the French show higher levels of acceptance for nuclear power production on their territory. The results of the study may be unexpected in this regard. Indeed, the level of concern with regard to nuclear power is highly comparable in France and in the USA. An interesting overall tendency of the French is to overestimate various types of risks compared with respondents in the USA. The most significant differences between the populations are those in the levels of trust in authorities and technical experts, and in the feeling of control over health risks. The explanatory power of these socio-cultural factors for the dynamics of acceptance, their implications for risk management and future research directions are considered. (author). 13 refs, 5 figs.

Anti‐nuclear activism in the USSR and its successor states: A surrogate for nationalism?

Abstract: Anti‐nuclear movements in Armenia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Russia, where the USSR's nuclear power installations were situated, blossomed in the perestwika period of the late 1980s, but this explosio...

Assessment of inservice conditions of safety-related nuclear plant structures

Abstract: The report is a compilation from a number of sources of information related to the condition Of structures and civil engineering features at operating nuclear power plants in the United States The most significant information came from the hands-on inspection of the six old plants (licensed prior to 1977) performed by the staff of the Civil Engineering and Geosciences Branch (ECGB) in the Division of Engineering of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation For the containment structures, most of the information related to the degraded conditions came from the licensees as part of the Licensing Event Report System (10 CFR 5073), or as part of the requirement under limiting condition of operation of the plant-specific Technical Specifications Most of the information related to the degradation of other Structures and civil engineering features was extracted from the industry survey, the reported incidents, and the plant visits The report discusses the condition of the structures and civil engineering features at operating nuclear power plants and provides information that would help detect, alleviate, and correct the degraded conditions of the structures and civil engineering features

Basis and objectives of the Los Alamos Accelerator-Driven Transmutation technology project

Abstract: The Accelerator‐Driven Transmutation Technology (ADTT) Project carries three approaches for dealing with waste from the defense and commercial nuclear energy enterprise. First, the problem of excess weapons plutonium in the U.S. and Russia originating both from stockpile reductions and from defense production site clean‐up is one of significant current and long‐term concern. The ADTT technology offers the possibility of almost complete destruction of this plutonium by fission. The technology might be particularly effective for destruction of the low quality plutonium from defense site clean‐up since the system does not require the fabrication of the waste into fuel assemblies, does not require reprocessing and refabrication, and can tolerate a high level of impurities in the feed stream. Second, the ADTT system also can destroy the plutonium, other higher actinide, and long‐lived fission product from commercial nuclear waste which now can only be dealt with by geologic storage. And finally, and probably most importantly the system can be used for the production of virtually unlimited electric power from thorium with concurrent destruction of its long‐lived waste components so that geologic containment for them is not required. In addition plutonium is not a significant byproduct of the power generation so that non‐proliferation concerns about nuclear power are almost completely eliminated. All of the ADTT systems operate with an accelerator supplementing the neutrons which in reactors are provided only by the fission process, and therefore the system can be designed to eliminate the possibility for a runaway chain reaction. The means for integration of the accelerator into nuclear power technology in order to make these benefits possible is described including estimates of accelerator operating parameters required for the three objectives.

Physics characteristics of nuclear power systems with reduced long-term radioactivity risk

Abstract: This paper considers ways to approach radiologically clean nuclear power (RCNP), i.e., an energy production technology based on a natural nuclear fuel transmutation with a simultaneous fission product transformation into stable or short-lived nuclei. Ways to limit the long-term radiotoxicity accumulation in the fuel cycle, both related to actinides and to long-lived fission products, and to limit the radiological risk related to the in-core nuclear fuel inventory are defined. Criteria and guidelines are defined in that perspective, and they are applied to the evaluation of different options such as open or closed fuel cycles, burnup extension, type of neutron spectrum, use of thorium or uranium fuel cycle, and subcriticality in the multiplying region. Meanwhile, understanding the physics implications of the requirements for an RCNP reveals that there are promising ways to improve current systems. Ideal systems, which are defined to exploit all the desirable physics features to make them better in terms of environmental impact, show potential advantages, but they are never so spectacular--and certainly are to be taken extremely carefully--in view of the need of complementary technological feasibility and cost and safety analyses. Moreover, the problem of radiation doses, which is essential for fuel cycle management and could appreciablymore » influence the choice of the appropriate fuel cycle, have not yet been taken into account. This last aspect and more specific safety analyses, together with cost-benefit evaluations, will be the subject of future investigations.« less

Task analysis in support of the design and development of a nuclear power plant safety system

Abstract: The application of task analysis to assess the adequacy of a proposed design for an independent feed system for use on a number of nuclear power stations is described. The objectives of the analysis are identified and the methodology to achieve these objectives is developed. The analysis examines the demands made upon station operations staff to commission the proposed feed system. The impact of potential operator error and adverse environmental conditions on commissioning time is considered. The results of the analyses and their input into the design process are summarized. A subsequent comparison between the results of the analysis and a demonstration on an installed system is described and differences discussed. Finally the relative merits of computer-based task simulation techniques in this type of exercise are considered.

Accelerator Transmutation of Waste Economics

Abstract: A parametric systems model of the accelerator transmutation of (nuclear) waste (ATW) is used to examine key system trade-offs and design drivers on the basis of unit costs. This model is applied primarily to a fluid-fuel blanket concept for an ATW that generates net electric power from the fissioning of spent commercial reactor fuel. An important goal of this study is the development of essential parametric trade-offs to aid in any future conceptual engineering design of an ATW that would burn spent commercial fuel and generate net electric power. As such, costing procedures and methodologies used to estimate and compare advanced nuclear power generation systems are applied. The cost of electricity required by an electrical power-generating ATW fueled with spent commercial fuels is generally found to be above that projected for other advanced fission power plants. The accelerator and the chemical plant equipment cost accounts are quantitatively identified as main cost drivers, with the capital cost of radio-frequency power dominating the former. Significant reductions of this cost differential are possible by increased blanket neutron multiplication, increased plant capacity, or increased thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency. The benefits of reduced long-lived fission products and spent commercial fuel actinides provided by the ATW approachmore » translate into a less tangible source of revenue to be provided by a charge that must be levied on the client fission power plants being serviced. The main goal of this study, however, is not a direct cost comparison but is instead a quantitative determination of cost-based sensitivity of key cost drivers and operational modes for an ATW concept that would address the growing spent commercial fuel problem; parametric results presented focus on this goal, and a specific ATW ``straw man`` is given to achieve this main objective.« less

The physics design of accelerator-driven transmutation systems

Abstract: Nuclear systems under study in the Los Alamos Accelerator‐Driven Transmutation Technology program (ADTT) will allow the destruction of nuclear spent fuel and weapons‐return plutonium, as well as the production of nuclear energy from the thorium cycle, without a long‐lived radioactive waste stream. The subcritical systems proposed represent a radical departure from traditional nuclear concepts (reactors), yet the actual implementation of ADTT systems is based on modest extrapolations of existing technology. These systems strive to keep the best that the nuclear technology has developed over the years, within a sensible conservative design envelope and eventually manage to offer a safer, less expensive and more environmentally sound approach to nuclear power.

Cost-benefit considerations in regulatory analysis

Abstract: Justification for safety enhancements at nuclear facilities, e.g., a compulsory backfit to nuclear power plants, requires a value-impact analysis of the increase in overall public protection versus the cost of implementation. It has been customary to assess the benefits in terms of radiation dose to the public averted by the introduction of the safety enhancement. Comparison of such benefits with the costs of the enhancement then requires an estimate of the monetary value of averted dose (dollars/person rem). This report reviews available information on a variety of factors that affect this valuation and assesses the continuing validity of the figure of $1000/person-rem averted, which has been widely used as a guideline in performing value-impact analyses. Factors that bear on this valuation include the health risks of radiation doses, especially the higher risk estimates of the BEIR V committee, recent calculations of doses and offsite costs by consequence codes for hypothesized severe accidents at U.S. nuclear power plants under the NUREG-1150 program, and recent information on the economic consequences of the Chernobyl accident in the Soviet Union and estimates of risk avoidance based on the willingness-to-pay criterion. The report analyzes these factors and presents results on the dollars/person-rem ratio arising from different assumptions on the values of these factors.