0.16 Energy: nuclear power

Over the past two decades there has been some largely unnoticed evolution in nuclear power installations:

In recent years, nuclear power has picked up some enthusiasts. If the world ever establishes sizeable carbon taxes, the nuclear advantage over coal could be huge. But nuclear power has been under a cloud ever since the incident in U.S. at Three Mile Island in 1979. Then, we had the Chernobyl disaster in the Soviet Union two decades ago. And in 2013 the Fukushima disaster further darkened the clouds over nuclear. Reaction to Fukushima was instant and impetuous. Chancellor Merkel in Germany announced on her own that Germany would close down German reactors by 2022, a decision that may lead to strong regrets later.

Nuclear research blossomed after 1936, when Albert Einstein sent Roosevelt a letter stating his concern that the Nazis could develop an atomic bomb.

• Most of what we know about nuclear fission – for peaceful and military uses – has been developed over the past 60 years at ten Federal Energy Labs across the U.S. – Los Alamos, Brookhaven, Sandia and Oak Ridge Lab in Tennessee. At the latter both nuclear warheads are made and nuclear energy research conducted.

My perspective on nuclear energy stems partly from the years I chaired the Visiting Committee, Energy Division for Oak Ridge National Lab. In considering nuclear energy, note that the nuclear fuel cycle is divided into three stages:

We will not in this chapter discuss in detail the “Back End”. Those interested in the Back End of the nuclear cycle, should consult the following two articles:

1. Malcolm Gillis and David Erikson, "High-Level Enterprise and Low-Level Radioactivity: Two Hazards in Developing Country Uranium Concessions", The Journal of Energy and Development , Autumn 1980, Vol. VI(1):39-60.
2. Allison McFarlane, "The Overlooked Back End of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle", Science , September 2, 2011.

In 2013 there were about 470 nuclear power plants worldwide, producing almost 20% of world electricity. In the U.S. nuclear power provides 21.3% of total power (near the world’s average).

• All nuclear power at present comes from nuclear fission , not fusion. Nuclear power from nuclear fusion is an alternative for the near future. Fusion produces most of the energy coming from stars. Fusion would be extremely attractive because it would be incredibly cheap, it would be much safer than fission reactors, and there would be almost no problems of waste disposal.