Alam Sekitar Dan Manusia (SKL 3201)

Introduction

During the 1970’s, interest in different energy alternatives surfaced in

this country. Obviously, this increase in public awareness was mainly

due to our problems with foreign oil. Energy alternatives, like gas, coal,

solar, wind and nuclear have been researched and each of their

advantages and disadvantages have been examined and scrutinized.

The energy alternative that is the subject of this unit is probably

the most controversial, nuclear energy. One reason we discuss this

topic is because of the ignorance’s and fears of many people regarding

nuclear energy. Our generations will be the adults of tomorrow and

should be given the facts on this energy source, its past record and

what the possibilities and changes are for the future.

Nuclear Energy

How does nuclear energy work? This report will explain all about

nuclear energy. We will explain the difference between nuclear fission

and fusion. We will also explain how a nuclear power plant works. To

help you understand this topic better. We will outline the development

of nuclear energy. We will discuss the benefits and disadvantage of

nuclear energy and where it is used. We will also analyze the problems

with nuclear energy.

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What is it?

Nuclear energy is a major form of energy made from splitting an atom

with a proton. One law of the universe is that energy and matter can't

be created or destroyed but can change form. This means that no one

can create or destroy energy because another one of the laws is the

amount of energy in the universe cannot change. However, matter can

be changed into energy. The famous scientist Albert Einstein created

the mathematical equation E = mc2 to explain this. This equation says

E (energy) = m (mass) times c2 (speed of light squared). Einstein used

this famous equation to discover atomic energy and also create atomic

bombs.

The History of Nuclear Energy in Canada

The date was December 2, 1942. Underneath the bleachers of a

football field at the University of Chicago, Italian Nobel Prize winners

Enrico Fermi with his team of scientists were working on a concealed

project. They were attempting to build the world's first nuclear reactor.

The nuclear reactor was 400 tons of graphite surrounding 60 tons of

uranium. Canadian physicist Walter Zinn was in charge of ZIP. ZIP was

the lever that could shutdown the experiment if anything went wrong.

As Zinn turned on the machine, Fermi measured the rise in power and

in the late afternoon their goal was reached. "The power of the reactor

rose to one watt-less than one-hundredth the power of an average light

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bulb but nevertheless proof that man had controlled the release of

energy from the atom"(Ontario Hydro, 1989 p.4). They sent a coded

message to Washington that said, "The Italian navigator has landed in

the New World" This meant that nuclear energy had become a reality.

"Operational condition reached" were the words dispatched to Ottawa

on September 5, 1945 by Dr. Lew Kowarski. The efforts of Canada's

scientific team were a success and Canada's and the world's first

nuclear reactor was built.

On December 12, 1952 an operator's error caused a power surge

when the plant was shut down. By the time the authorities could bring

the plant under control serious damage had been done to the plant.

This day was known as Black Friday. No one was hurt but radioactive

particles flew throughout the building and before the reactor was

repaired some cleaning up was at hand. Redesigning and rebuilding

the plant took 14 months and the groundwork was laid for the CANDU

reactor, one of the safest in the world.

Fission and Fusion

Nuclear fission works by splitting an unstable uranium nucleus making

nuclear energy. This produces heat which boils water and creates

steam. This steam turns turbines to create energy. The problem is that

after the burning is done the leftover material stays radioactive for

thousands of years. "Plutonium-239, aby-product of uranium, remains

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radioactive for 24,110 years" (Ergon Energy, 1999). Nuclear fusion is

supposed to be a very clean form of energy. It works by combining two

nuclei to make a bigger nucleus.

Fusion gives off energy to boil water and make steam to turn turbines.

Unfortunately scientists have not yet been able to use nuclear fusion to

make electricity because there are three things required. First, you

need an extremely high temperature. Second, you need to have 2

small nuclei that will fuse together and give off energy. Third, you need

the ability to capture the energy given off. As you know nuclear fission

works on uranium but nuclear fusion uses deuterium and tritium, both

isotopes of hydrogen which is an unlimited source of energy. Therefore

nuclear fusion could possibly last forever.

How Does A Nuclear Reactor Work?

A nuclear power plant works like this. First you put in a uranium bundle

of about eight rods. Second, you fire a proton at one of the uranium

nuclei to split it. This causes a chain reaction splitting all of the other

nuclei. The reaction is slowed down by using heavy water. "Chemically,

heavy water is called deuterium oxide. Thus the Canadian reactor is

named CANDU, for CANada Deuterium Uranium" (Canadian Nuclear

Association, 1991). Heavy water, which is also used as a coolant in the

nuclear reaction, is heated and travels to heat exchangers to produce

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steam from ordinary water. The steam turns turbines, which makes

electricity. This is called nuclear fission.

Advantages

One of its best qualities is that it gives off lots of energy from little

amounts of uranium. Another advantage to this form of energy is that

it doesn't give off greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases are gases like

carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and fly ash, which have made the

greenhouse affect or global warming. Nuclear energy is cheap too and

it helps provide jobs to people. Perhaps the biggest advantage to

nuclear energy is the discoveries they have made in nuclear medicine.

Such as cancer therapy, CAT scan, MRI machines and the use of

irradiation of food.

Another advantages nuclear energy is safety. Within the past few

years, concern of nuclear power plants has become a public issue and

also a political one. In Connecticut, an inspector from the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been assigned to the Connecticut

Yankee plant and another to the Millstone plants. These inspectors are

responsible for looking over the operations at the plant and that all

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federal regulations are being followed. There are also frequent spot

checks to make sure that all regulations are being upheld.

As a result, or consequence of the Three Mile Island incident,

Northeast Utilities set up a task force in 1979 to work with the NRC to

insure that safety regulations are being upheld on a continual basis.

Along with the NRC and NE task force was the results of the Kemeny

Commission. This commission was set up by former President James

Carter to investigate and report back on the situation at Three Mile

Island. The main features of a safety inspection include the design,

construction and operation of a reactor; accident prevention features,

and containment shells to confine or minimize the release of the

product of fission reactions.

Economic also is an advantages of the nuclear energy. One

advantage of nuclear energy that has always keen discussed is its

economic value. Uranium is cheaper than oil and coal, and shipments

of the fuel for a nuclear plant can be done annually instead of on a

constant basis for coal and oil. But uranium is also a non-reusable

source and is not immune to inflation, it has risen in cost.

The space needed to accommodate a nuclear plant is

considerably smaller than other electrical plants with the same output

of energy. However, since 1975 there have been no new orders for

nuclear plants. The main reasons for this are the uncertainty of

governmental involvement, rising construction cost, rising uranium

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cost, and delays in licenses and permits. Strict regulations have

delayed construction of other plants and new safety measures (since

Three Mile Island) are more expensive. In comparison, the construction

of a coal plant is much cheaper than that of a nuclear plant. However,

nuclear is still cheaper than oil and is more environmentally accepted

than coal.

Disadvantages

One major disadvantage is that it makes variable amounts of

radioactive waste. This waste is causing a big problem for the world for

its storage and irradiating. The problem with using this nuclear power

though is that there is always a chance of a meltdown. A meltdown is

when the uranium and nuclear waste are heated to such a level that

they melt creating a substance that can supposedly melt through steel,

concrete and iron. This is the reason a lot of people don't like nuclear

energy but the chance of a meltdown is about a million to one.

Environmental Effect Nuclear Power

In considering environmental effects, let's look at the effects on air,

water, ground, and the biosphere (people, plants, and animals). The

type of testing surrounding water and land mass, all life forms and the

air.

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The initial sitting important to the environment. The most

important concern involved with a sitting is the radiological hazard to

the surrounding population. There are now federal laws and regulations

for the recording of data near a possible plant site. One law that helps

to ensure the safety of the public and surrounding environment is that

there must be an area around a plant site that is restricted. There also

has to be some structures and dispose of all wastes that occur during

normal operations. The obvious advantage to all these regulations is

that it ensures the safety of the public and environment. The major

disadvantage is the expense,(this will be discussed later under

economics).

Air - Gaseous Releases

Nuclear plant gaseous releases fall into the following categories:

• Water vapor from cooling towers

• Ventilation exhaust from those buildings that do not have any

processes with radioactivity

• Diesel generator exhaust

• Gases and steam from the air ejectors, that are in the main

steam system

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• Ventilation exhaust from those buildings that do have processes

with radioactivity

• Gases removed from systems having radioactive fluids and

gases.

The first two release paths are non-radioactive. Often, news photos of

nuclear plants tend to focus on the tall (400 foot high) dry cooling

towers (e.g. Three Mile Island, Perry). The major effect of these cooling

towers is heating of the air around the plant. Warm water vapor is all

that is released (unless chemicals are injected for biological

treatment). The cooling towers are often required by state and/or

federal regulatory agencies to reduce the thermal impact if a river of a

lake is the primary cooling source. The second sources-ventilation

exhaust from those buildings that do not have any processes with

radioactivity-are just like releases from ventilation systems from any

office building.

Nuclear plants use diesel generators (and some times gas, or

combustion, turbines) for emergency electrical power. These diesels

or turbines are typically started and run at least once a month to

ensure they can function as backup power, if required, during a loss of

power condition or accident condition. When these diesels or turbines

startup, usually black plumes of exhaust gases are released. Operation

of these diesels or turbines is the only source of greenhouse gases

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(e.g. carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides)

at a nuclear plant.

The air ejector exhaust at PWRs is usually non-radioactive. Only

in those cases where there may be leakage through a steam generator

tube could that exhaust have any radioactivity. At BWRs, the air ejector

exhaust is radioactive, but that exhaust must also pass through delay

pipes, storage tanks and a hydrogen recombined before being released

to the environment from the very tall stack that you sometimes see at

BWRs. Ventilation exhaust from buildings containing radioactive

processes have radiation monitors that sample for particles and gases.

If unacceptable levels are reached, special fans start, the normal

ventilation system is shutdown, and the exhaust is routed through

special particulate, high efficiency particulate, and charcoal filters

before being exhausted. These systems are designed to reduce the

release below acceptable levels.

Radioactive gases may be removed from the systems supporting the

reactor cooling system. These gases removed are compressed and

stored. The gases are periodically sampled and can only be released

when the radioactivity is less than an acceptable level according to the

10CFR20regulation. Releases of this nature are done very infrequently.

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All potential paths where radioactive materials could be released

to the environment are monitored by radiation monitors.

Water-Liquid Releases

Nuclear plant liquid releases fall into the following categories:

• Non-radioactive

• Slightly radioactive

Water that has been used to cool the condenser, various heat

exchangers (e.g. to cool oil, steam, water) used in the turbine-

generator support processes, or that has passed through the cooling

towers is non-radioactive. Some or all of this water may be discharged

to a river, sea, lake. The thermal discharge of any type of power plant,

nuclear or fossil fuel, using a steam cycle operating under the same

conditions (e.g. steam pressure, inlet condenser water temperature)

should be the same. In some cases, a coal plant may operate at higher

temperatures and steam pressures than a nuclear plant, thus it may

have a slightly higher efficiency, with slightly lower release of thermal

discharge to the environment. One way to reduce thermal pollution is

to make use of more of the hot water and steam using cogeneration

principles.

Usually water released from the steam generators (called blow

down) is also non-radioactive. Very low levels of leakage (e.g. less than

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400 gallons per day) may be allowed from the reactor cooling system

to the secondary cooling system of the steam generator. However, in

any case where radioactive water may be released to the environment,

it must be stored and radioactivity levels reduced through ion

exchange processes below levels allowed by the 10CFR20 regulation.

Within the nuclear plant, there are a number of systems that

may contain radioactive fluids. As noted above, those liquids must be

stored, cleaned, sampled, and verified to be below acceptable levels

before release may be done-AND-mistakes are not tolerated by the

NRC. Effluent requirements are specified in Appendix B Table 2 of

10CFR20. As in the gaseous release case, radiation detectors monitor

release paths and isolate (close valves) if radiation levels exceed a

preset set point. Some BWR facilities maintain a "Zero Release"

management practice to not discharge radioactive liquids.

Solid Releases-Ground Effects

Solid radioactive materials only leave the plant by three paths:

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• Routine non radioactive office, process, and building material

waste via traditional means

• Radioactive waste (e.g. clothes, rags, wood) is compacted and

placed in drums. These drums must be thoroughly de-watered.

The drums are often checked at the receiving location by

regulatory agencies. Special landfills must be used.

• Spent resin may be very radioactive and is shipped in specially

designed containers.

For introductory information on low level waste, see Low Level Waste

and More on Low Level Waste.

Currently, the used fuel assemblies are stored underwater in

large cooling pools at the plant. In some cases, where storage has

become limited, dry cask storage on-site may be used. This storage is

covered by the regulation 10CFR72 for Independent Spent Fuel Storage

Facilities. For introductory information on high level waste, see High

Level Waste and More on High Level Waste.

Ultimate Disposal of Spent Fuel

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Originally, the intent had been that the spent fuel would be

reprocessed. The limited amount of highly radioactive waste (also

called high level waste) was to be placed in glass rods surrounded by

metal with low long term corrosion or degradation properties. The

intent was to store those rods in specially designed vaults where the

rods could be recovered for the first 50-100 years and then made

irretrievable for up to 10000 years. Various underground locations had

been considered salt domes, granite formations and basalt formations

and finally, Congress designated Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The desire

was for a geologically stable location with minimal chance for

groundwater intrusion. There is currently some controversy regarding

the suitability of Yucca Mountain as a final repository.

The intent had been to recover the plutonium and unused

uranium fuel, then reuse it in either breeder or thermal reactors as

mixed oxide fuel (also called MOX). Currently, France, Great Britain,

and Japan are using this process.

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Impact on the Biosphere

In the 1960's, the Atomic Energy Commission funded research to

investigate effects of radiation on people, plants, and animals. Some of

the studies were conducted at the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory in

Livermore, California and at various government and university

laboratories. A number of studies entitled the BEAR (Biological Effects

of Atomic Radiation) and BEIR (Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation)

studies reported on these effects. The most recent, BEIR VII Phase 2,

"Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation", (see

summary) was published by the National Academy Press in 2005. A

down to earth discussion of radiation is presented in the University of

Wisconsin Graduate School's Why files - Radiation Reassessed.

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Conclusion

Nuclear energy is only one of many energy alternatives. What gives

nuclear an advantage is its past record, safety features and economical

promise for the future. Although we believe that nuclear energy is not

the answer-all, we do believe that it is and will continue to be part of

our energy future. Energy should be taken seriously and education of

our energy sources should not be limited to the school system but be

shared with the city or state and the energy facility.

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Bibliography

Books

Canadian Nuclear Association. (1991). Nuclear Facts: Seeking To

Generate A Better Understanding. Canada.

Danburg Connecticut. (1992). Encyclopedia Of Knowledge. Grolier

Inc.

Jack Challoner. (1993). Eyewitness Energy. Dorling Kindersley

Limited, London.

Judith Hann. (1991). How Science Works. Reader's Digest

Association.

Merril Eisenbud. (1987). Environmental Radioactivity from Natural,

Industrial and Military Sources. 3rd Edition, Academic Press.

Ontario Hydro. (1989). Fifty Years of Fission. Canada.

Web Pages

www.energyed.ergon.com.au/educatio/nuclear/how.html

www.energy.ca.gov/links/nuclear.html

www.formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/nuclear-faqy-
html/chapter07.html

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