The Use of Nuclear Power - Assignment Example

 The Use of Nuclear Power Introduction Nuclear power continues to be adopted by many countries as an option to supplement energy produced by fossil fuels, making it an alternative source of energy. While many countries have already adopted the nuclear power option, debate whether to or not to adopt it continues in many other countries. In Connecticut, United States, for instance, its use is evident while nuclear energy accounts to about 75 percent of the energy consumed in France (Kidd, 2009). This is the highest percentage anywhere in the world. This source has been associated with a number of benefits, such as the fact that does it not lead to emissions associated with fossil fuels. In recent times, various developments have been realized in not only the adoption of nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels but also in related nuclear reactor technology, which has also contributed to the debate. Social implications are obvious and have also been discussed in current literature. This is a literature review that is focused on the discussion of the adoption of nuclear energy in the world, the recent developments in nuclear reactor technology, and social implications of this type of energy. Background The 1930s saw the beginning of a long journey to the production of nuclear energy, when the understanding of the atom was propagated by Curies, Ernest Rutherford, and Bohr. Prior to the Second World War, there emerged a large incentive and funding, which precipitated the popular Manhattan project. This is the same project that saw the materialization of the first nuclear reaction to be controlled by man in 1942, which took place at the University of Chicago (Mahaffey, 2010). The development of nuclear reactors was inspired by this historical breakthrough, which saw further efforts directed towards more funding in an effort to advance the creation of advanced reactor technology as well as the developments of fuel cycle and nuclear material. This development saw the installation of the first nuclear power plant in the United States, which was established in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, the operations of which kicked off in 1957 (Mahaffey, 2010). A major issue that occurred at the plant resulted in its complete closure and decommissioning in 1982, which involved vehement contaminations and extremely low thermal efficiency compared to the energy it was producing – thermal efficiency was 29 percent. The original reactors were Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR), which functioned by keeping liquid water around the core fuel reactor. They would also be aimed at the accomplishment of adequate thermal efficiency, which would be achieved by keeping them at extremely high pressures, which would make it possible for the water coolant to remain in the liquid state. Developments saw the invention of the Boling Water Reactors (BWR), which were designed for the production of electric power. The PWR differs from the BWR in that the energy that the former generates in its core has to go through a secondary loop prior to its release out of the containment structure and into the turbine generator. These were some of the most historical advancements, which were driven by the US Department of Defense, for which the primary goal was to facilitate the development of Generation II reactors that would increase reliability, facilitate the obtainment of sustainable safety levels, and devise long-lasting reactors. These factors cut across social, economic, and environmental realms of recent advancements in nuclear reactor technology, which has raised questions in all these three realms. As such, advancements still continue and are focused on further enhancing all the metrics that are relevant to the three realms as the technologies move to Generations III and IV. This brings us to the discussion of the recent developments in nuclear reactor technology. Recent Developments in Nuclear Reactor Technology In the discussion of recent developments in nuclear reactor technology, as has been mentioned above, it is important to consider the improvements that the technologies realized have made, as the world moves forward with nuclear energy production. This section, therefore, will examine some of these recent advancements that reactor technology has come to realize, moving forward to the discussion of their relationship to social implications of nuclear energy. Recent developments are focused, as has been earlier mentioned, are meant to address social, economic, and environmental concerns. One of the most important of these concerns, which recent developments in what have come to be referred to as Generations III and IV is the improvement of safety. Generation III reactor technology, for instance, enhances safety by the integration of passive safety systems. These systems can last up two 72 hours after the reactor has been shut down, during which no one has to manually intervene. There are also active safety systems, which use AC power to activate pumps and valves as well as cooling water systems. Generation III reactors have four lines of mechanical (passive) safety systems and either two or four lines of electrical (active) safety systems. In an effort to ensure further thermal efficiency, Generation III reactors use steam generators or safety injection systems to dissipate core decay heat. In addition, they can also use safety injection accumulators while at the same time using a spray system hosted at the container building to remove containment heat. One would also note that passive safety systems, as opposed to active ones (which require AC power to provide safety functionalities), use the power of gravity, evaporation, natural convection, and different types of materials that do not support high temperature. Passive systems use water within the plant in the process of heat rejection. It would also be necessary to not the contributions of efforts to improve safety in reduction of accidents associated with core melting. The annual requirement of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the core damage frequency is 1-4. Most of the nuclear plants in the world today have their core damage frequencies calculated to that much. Most of these plants still are based on Generation II technology. Further advancements have been integrated into Generation III plants, whose damage frequency have been calculated to about ten times lower than the NRC requirements, which is an appreciable step towards safety. This is one of the major social advancements that have been the result of technological developments in the development of nuclear plants around the world, especially in the developing countries, mostly the UK and the US. Another important development, which is mostly focused on the economic dimension, is the reduction of capital cost and construction time. Nuclear plants have recently come to incorporate standardized and much simpler structural designs that continue to integrate segmental developmental strategies in an effort to reduce costs incurred in the construction process as well as the time taken. Current literature has made some comparisons between Generation II and Generation III plants in trying to demonstrate these design improvements. A good example is the comparison made between Generation II Westinghouse Reactor at Sizewell B in the UK and another one, which is Generation III AP1000, which uses comparative power but has different design specifications (The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, 2011). The Generation III AP1000 reactor required about 25 percent of the footprint size while its material requirements were reduced to about 20 percent, which implies that, compared to Generation II reactor, the Generation III AP1000 saved about 80 percent of the costs (The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, 2011). This demonstrates an invaluable improvement as far as the economic dimension is concerned. The segmental approach to the construction of the Generation III AP1000 reactor will also make it possible for the third part of the construction project to be built off-site, which facilitates the choice of a more convenient choice of site. This choice may come with positive environmental and social implications, which is beneficial design advancement. Licensing is also an important development, which has been found to have implications for the design and construction process. For instance, in the United States, the NRC licenses standardized designs before the construction process begins. The licensee is given 15 years for the license before construction, with the option of applying for another 15, which gives them ample time to consider all safety measures (The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, 2011). As such, standardized design, as has been mentioned earlier, could have different social and environmental implications. Another advancement that has been associated with Generation III plants is fuel efficiency, which is aimed at being improved as Generation IV plants continue to be designed for more future social, economic, and environmental benefits. Social Implications The recent developments in nuclear reactor technology, which have been discussed above, will have different social implications in the contemporary nuclear industry as well as in the future. Such implications will be those related to the extent of influence it will have on the difficult choices faced by society when considering the nuclear power option. An example of social concerns that have been raised in the past, which are relevant in the United Kingdom as well as the United States, is the case of the happenings that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan during the tsunami that swept the Japanese coast in March 2011. While the nuclear reactors remained affirm despite the earthquake, it was clear that the Tsunami’s strength was way above what was considered during the design phase. The nuclear power spiraled out of any extent to damage control and, as an environmental and social problem it posed various hazards to the surrounding environment and population (Business Wire, 17 Mar 2014). In this light, it is important to consider the social and environmental problems that have come to ensue ever since 2011, all because the design process was inadequate. The plant was obviously one of the best designed in the country, and even in the world, but the risks that were imminent during the design process were not exhaustively considered. Had they been considered, the plant would still have been in the range of damage control and would still stand strong. However, losses were incurred by the billion and lives were lost, not to mention the environmental risks that the population remained exposed to. This is an excellent representation of the social implications that the design of nuclear plants and reactors should have in the present world as well as in the future. In this regard, it is important to take to account the risks that such a plant and the surrounding population could face as a result of poor design. This also implies that future designs for both Generation III and Generation IV reactors and plants should take to account this design dimension. The use of nuclear energy has also been associated with various other social concerns, which also fall under the influence of recent developments. Another social implication that has come to the attention of current literature is the impact it has on rural communities. This is based on the realization that nuclear reactors have fuel cycles that have been known to have substantially negative impacts on rural communities, where nuclear waste is usually deposited (Schuelke-Leech, 2013). Sadly enough, this has been known as the long-term approach to the disposal of this waste after urban and suburban residents make use of the nuclear energy. It is important, therefore, that future designs of Generation III and Generation IV reactors and plants take to account the aspect of waste disposal as a long-term design solution. Conclusion This literature review has been focused on the development of a basic understanding of nuclear power and how it has developed since its discovery in the 1930s. Recent developments have various social, economic, and environmental implications. An important dimension that this review has taken to account is that do design, which has been used and will continued to be used in future in dealing with social, economic, and environmental problems related with nuclear energy. In this regard, the problems mentioned, for instance, in the Fukushima Daiichi case, can be avoided in the design phase. Reference List Business Wire. 2014. Kurion Opens Tokyo Office to Support Expanded Role in Cleanup of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Business Wire [New York], 1. Kidd, S., 2009, Nuclear in France – what did they get right? Retrieved February 25, 2015, from Nuclear Engineering International: http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2053355 Mahaffey, J., 2010, Atomic Awakening: A New Look at the History and Future of Nuclear Power. Cambridge, MA: Pegasus . Schuelke-Leech, B.-A., 2013, Socioeconomic Implications Of Nuclear Power. Ohio: National Agricultural & Rural Development Policy Center (NARDeP). The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. (2011). Advances in Nuclear Power Technology. The Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering, Connecticut. Read More