CRITICAL ISSUES FORUM

BENCHMARK I

Nuclear Renaissance: Risks versus Benefits

The Author: Evgeny Bekker

Form 10A
High school №216 “Didakt”

The Teacher-Advisor: Elena Kurenkova

The Teacher of English

High school №216 “Didakt”

Zarechny

Penza Region

Russia

2008

Introduction

The aim of my work is energy, its sources and generally nuclear energy. In the Benchmark I I’ll give an understanding of energy sources, of its types and groups, describe the processes involved in production of energy and will speak about energy sources as they been in different times. Then I think it could be necessary to speak closer about nuclear energy: about its production, nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear proliferation and terrorism, military and civilian use.

Benchmark I

Objective I

The world is becoming a very scary place where the strongest survives. For life we need in different conditions, energy is one of them. Everything depends on it in nature: every physical process, existence and progress of living beings. Beyond all question studying of energy is the main scientific aim nowadays. Why is it important to study energy? I assume that the social and economic development of any country depends upon the strength and prosperity of its industry and its sources of energy.

So what is energy?

Energy

In physics and other sciences, energy (from the Greek ενεργός, energos, "active, working") is a scalar physical quantity that is a property of objects and systems which is conserved by nature. Energy is converted from one form to another, but it is never created or destroyed. ^[1]

There are two main types of energy: potential and kinetic. Let's examine its types, definitions and examples of its origin:

Potential, stored energy	Types of potential energy	Definition	Examples
	Chemical	It is the energy that holds these atoms and molecules together	Biomass, petroleum, natural gas, and propane
	Stored mechanical	It is the energy stored in objects by the application of a force	Compressed springs and stretched rubber bands
	Nuclear	It is the energy that holds the nucleus together	Uranium, plutonium,
	Gravitational energy	It is the energy of position or place	A book resting at the top of a bookshelf

Kinetic, working energy	Types of kinetic energy	Definition	Examples
	Electrical	It is the movement of electrons trough wire	Lightning, electricity
	Radiant	It is electromagnetic energy that travels in transverse waves	visible light, x-rays, gamma rays and radio waves
	Thermal	It is the vibration and movement of the atoms and molecules within substances	Geothermal energy, heat
	Motion	It is the movement of objects and substances from one place to another	wind
	Sound	It is the movement of energy through substances in longitudinal waves	Sound itself

Energy cannot be created from nothing, so there are sources in the nature from which human takes energy for use. There are two groups of those sources of energy:

1. Renewable sources. It’s a source which restores by time, like wind, solar, geothermal, water and biomass energy.

• Windmills are used by human from the beginning of XII age to convert wind energy into mechanical. And in our times it’s used to convert wind energy into electricity.

(From www.gothidef.com)

• Solar energy can be turned into electricity, heat, and biomass energy (at least it’s connected with the process of creating it). Though it’s very useful, it has a low potential for power plants, because it’s too diffuse and too intermittent – the process of producing energy can be interrupted by clouds or day & night circle. So the solar energy used very effective by satellites and space shuttles.^[11]

(www.alphasolar.net)

o Water. The power of water has been used by men from ancient times in watermills and some mechanisms. Now it’s used in power plants of many different countries. And it’s nearly as important as the common coal power plants. The main advantages of hydro power plants are that they don’t pollute the environment and have very high efficiency.

(ww.eia.doe.gov)

• All other types of renewable energy are generally used to provide electricity in small amounts.

2. Nonrenewable sources or “the primary energy resources” are energy sources which can not be restored or need much time to be restored. All of the nonrenewable energy sources except Uranium and other nuclear energy sources called also fossils, because they were formed over millions and millions of years by the action of heat from the Earth's core and pressure from rock and soil on the remains (or "fossils") of dead plants and animals.^[12] The main fossil fuels are:

(i.treehugger.com)

· Coal. It was the first fossil fuel which has been used by men. Coal has it’s origin from ancient plants. There are 2 main types of coal by its age: the bituminous coal, which is the oldest one and the brown coal. The approximately age of the bituminous coal is 300 – 350 mln. years and it’s generally used as a fuel and it’s connected with the production of cast iron. The brown coal usually used as fuel and in some chemical reactions.

Reserves of coal in different countries:

country	Coal, mlrd. tons
USA	445
China	270
Russia	200
FRG	90
Britain	90
Australia	85
Republic of South Africa	70
Ukraine	47
Poland	25
India	25

Though this table we can see that the reserves of coal are not endless and that the rates of their mining (look on the graph ahead) is growing up. So one day they will end. (The information for this table and graph were taken from the educational supply “Geography 10” by Maksakovsky.)

· Oil. The oil known to human from ancient times like coal. It’s used as a fuel in Greece and ancient Egypt. The oil as the coal has its origins many million years ago from the remains of dead animals and plants. In our time it’s used in chemical industry and it’s the main source of fuels like gasoline and kerosene.

As we can see in the graph and the table the situation with oil almost like with coal except for that the amount of oil is a few times less than coil.

(The information for this table and graph were taken from the educational supply “Geography 10” by Maksakovsky.)

Country	Oil, mlrd. Tons
Saudi Arabia	43,1
Iraq	16,7
United Arab Emirates	17,2
Kuwait	15,7
Iran	14,9
Venezuela	10,7
Mexico	8,5
Russia	6,7
USA	3,8
Libya	3,8

· Natural gas. It’s a mixture of different gases. Methane composes major portion of it. It’s formed in the depths of the earth with aerobic decay of organic substances. Today natural gas is used as a fuel for heating of houses, as a fuel for the machines, power stations and other. Also it’s widely used in the chemical industry,

Country	Natural gas, mlrd. tons
Russia	48,0
Iran	20,1
Qatar	7,0
United Arab Emirates	5,3
Saudi Arabia	5,1
USA	4,5
Niger	4,0
Algeria	3,6
Venezuela	3,6
Iraq	3,1

Another graph and table shows us that the things with natural gas are like with coal and oil.

(The information for this table and graph were taken from the educational supply “Geography 10” by Maksakovsky.)

And the diagram to the left shows us that all the energy industry of the entire world in our days is based on fossil fuels, it means that in short time all of these sources of energy will reduce. Of course the government knows it and the topical question for today is “what source of energy will be best to use when there will be no fossil fuels?” To my mind only one variant is available – nuclear energy!

Nuclear energy

Nuclear power is a type of nuclear technology involving the controlled use of nuclear fission to release energy for work including propulsion, heat, and the generation of electricity.

History of nuclear energy

Date	Event
1934	Nuclear fission was first experimentally achieved by Enrico Fermi
1938	German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann, along with Austrian physicists Lise Meitner and Meitner's nephew, Otto Robert Frisch, conducted experiments with the products of neutron-bombarded uranium
December 2, 1942	creation of the first man-made reactor, known as Chicago Pile-1
December 20, 1951	Electricity was generated for the first time by a nuclear reactor at the EBR-I experimental station near Arco , Idaho
December 1953	speech by President Dwight Eisenhower, "Atoms for Peace," emphasized the useful harnessing of the atom and set the U.S. on a course of strong government support for international use of nuclear power
June 27, 1954	the USSR’s Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant became the world's first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for a power grid, and produced around 5 megawatts electric power
December 1954	The first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus (SSN-571), was put to sea
1956	The world's first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall in Sellafield, England was opened
December, 1957	The first commercial nuclear generator to become operational in the United States was the Shippingport Reactor
1979	accident at Three Mile Island and
1986	Chernobyl disaster

(www.Wikipedia.org)

Nuclear Fuel Cycle begins when uranium is mined, enriched, and manufactured into nuclear fuel, (1) which is delivered to a nuclear power plant. After usage in the power plant, the spent fuel is delivered to a reprocessing plant (2) or to a final repository (3) for geological disposition. In reprocessing 95% of spent fuel can be recycled to be returned to usage in a power plant (4).

Nuclear fuel cycle

Nuclear fuel cycle is the totality of obtaining, producing, using and utilizing processes of nuclear fuels. The word cycle means that worked out nuclear fuel can be restored and sent back to use. The nuclear fuel cycle lasts for from 50 to 100 years. There are 2 types of nuclear cycle: the closed and the open nuclear fuel cycle. The open nuclear fuel cycle concluded in 3 processes: Production, using and utilizing of nuclear fuels; the open nuclear fuel cycle includes 4 processes: Production, using, utilizing and the enrichment of nuclear fuel. After the restoration (enrichment) of nuclear fuel 90% of its initial mass is saved and ready for its repeated use.

Production of nuclear fuels

The main nuclear fuels that used in power plants are plutonium and uranium isotopes. We’ll see the production of nuclear fuels on the example of uranium. It’s a chemical element with atomic number 92 in the periodic system.

Stages of production	explanation
Mining of uranium ore	· First the ore is being extracted from the rock just like any other ore. · Then the ore is being sorted and transferred into acidic (sulfuric) or alkaline solution. · Then the uranium is being cleaned and concentrated usually in the form of U3O8, then it’s being dried and plotted in the steel capacities of 1000 l.
Processing uranium into the nuclear fuel	· First U3O8 is being converted into UF6 · Enrichment of uranium i.e., increasing the amount of U235 in UF6. It’s needed because U235 is the necessary isotope for nuclear fission reaction. · The enriched UF6 is then being converted into UO2, which is being packed into zirconium tubes. These tubes, fuel elements, are being united by 200 pieces into final fuel assembling, prepared for AES usage.

Usage of nuclear fuels in power plants

The second stage in the nuclear fuel cycle is it’s usage as a fuel. The nuclear power plants work on the same principles as TES the only difference that composes is that in nuclear power plants the source of heat for the vaporization of the water used the fission reaction. There are 3 main types of nuclear power plants by their reactors:

Type of reactor		explanation	examples
Nuclear fission reactor	Thermal reactor	It has moderating materials to reduce the speed of neutrons to low velocity thermal neutrons, so that uranium-235 will be more likely to fission when it is struck by the neutrons and fewer neutrons will be captured by uranium-238.	Thermal reactors are the most common type of nuclear reactor.
	Fast neutron reactor	A fast neutron reactor or simply a fast reactor is a category of nuclear reactor in which the fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons. Such a reactor needs no neutron moderator, but must use fuel that is relatively rich in fissile material when compared to that required for a thermal reactor.	BN-600, constructed by the Soviet Union, 600MWe. Monju reactor, 300MWe, in Japan.
	Reactor of neutrons of intermediate energies	It’s less useful because plutonium-239 has a high ratio of capture cross section vs. fission cross section at these energies, impairing neutron economy. Uranium-233 has low capture/fission ratios across the neutron energy spectrum, so the thorium cycle can use intermediate neutron energies.
Nuclear fusion		There are no fusion nuclear power plants yet. In this kind of reaction, two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus and in doing so, release energy. There are already theoretical fusion power plant designs.
Radioactive decay		It’s generating heat and power by exploiting passive radioactive decay. A common application of RTGs is as power sources on spacecraft.	The first RTG launched in space by the United States was in 1961 aboard the SNAP 3 in the Navy Transit 4A spacecraft. One of the first terrestrial uses of RTGs was in 1966 by the US Navy at the uninhabited Fairway Rock Island in Alaska, where it remained in use until its removal in 1995.

The processes involved in production of nuclear energy:

1. The source of heat in nuclear reactors is fission reaction of nuclear fuel. Fission is the reaction, when division of one nucleus causes the division of other nucleus. In this way the reaction supports itself. As a result of the division other reaction products can appear: light nuclei, neutrons and gamma-quanta. Usually all the nucleus is being divided by neutrons. This reaction occurs with heat liberation. Certainly the reaction is controlled by human and it’s occurred without any deviation. Control of reactor is produced with the aid of special control rods, introduced into the reactor core. Control rods are made from the connections of boron or cadmium, which absorb thermal neutrons with very large effectiveness.

(www.wikipedia.org)

2. The water is then being heated by fission and vaporized into steam, which moves the turbine. The steam is then being condensed back into water and returned into the cycle.

(Scheme of the nuclear reactor. The numbers in the picture designate:

1 - Protection from radiation, 2 – the deflector, 3 – control rods, 4 – nuclear fuel, 5 – the heat-transfer, 6 – steam, 7 – turbine, 8 – generator, 9 – capacitor, 10 – water, 11- steam generator.)

(www.vepr.ru)

(www.irtc.org)

Reproduction of Nuclear fuel

With the work of nuclear reactor not all of the nuclear fuel burns down completely. So there is process of the reproduction of worked out nuclear fuel, when it’s sent for the reproduction to reprocessing plant. When the worked out nuclear fuel delivered to the reprocessing plant it is being cut into parts and dissolved in the nitric acid, then it’s being cleaned from fission products and sent to the production of new cores or to enrichment of ²³⁵U. The process of reproduction of nuclear fuels is very difficult and expensive process

Radioactive waste

The last stage of nuclear fuel cycle is a radioactive waste. Usually after nuclear fuel passed nuclear fuel cycle few times it’s becoming a radioactive waste. Radioactive waste has no practical use and close contact with it may lead to serious damage of living organism or even death. There are few types of nuclear waste:

Type of waste	explanation
Low level waste (LLW)	It’s generated from hospitals and industry, as well as the nuclear fuel cycle. It comprises paper, rags, tools, clothing, filters, etc., which contain small amounts of mostly short-lived radioactivity. Most LLW is suitable for shallow land burial. To reduce its volume, it is often compacted or incinerated before disposal.
Intermediate level waste (ILW)	Contains higher amounts of radioactivity and in some cases requires shielding. ILW includes resins, chemical sludge and metal reactor fuel cladding, as well as contaminated materials from reactor decommissioning. It may be solidified in concrete or bitumen for disposal.
High Level Waste (HLW)	Is produced by nuclear reactors. It contains fission products and transuranic elements generated in the reactor core. It is highly radioactive and often thermally hot. HLW accounts for over 95% of the total radioactivity produced in the process of nuclear electricity generation
Transuranic waste (TRUW)	Elements that have an atomic number greater than uranium are called transuranic ("beyond uranium"). Because of their long half-lives, TRUW is disposed more cautiously than either low level or intermediate level waste. In the U.S. it arises mainly from weapons production, and consists of clothing, tools, rags, residues, debris and other items contaminated with small amounts of radioactive elements (mainly plutonium).

Difference between nuclear and common power plants

	Nuclear power plant	Non-nuclear power plant
Used fuel	Uranium, plutonium	Coal, oil, natural gas
Safety	Threat of a nuclear accident or terrorist attack and the possible resulting exposure to radiation.	There can be fire on the power plant, but chances of it are low
Economic issues	Building of nuclear power plants are very expensive but the cost of energy, produced by it is cheaper. Nuclear power plants can be built everywhere.	The common power plants themselves are cheaper, but the cost of energy they produce is more expensive then energy from nuclear power plants. Also power plants that use fossil fuels must be built near the sources of its fuel.
Energy capacity	Nuclear power plants need less fuel than ones which burn fossil fuels. One ton of uranium produces more energy than is produced by several million tons of coal or several million barrels of oil.
Environmental pollution	Well-operated nuclear power plants do not release contaminants into the environment	Coal and oil burning plants pollute the air

Though fission nuclear plants are without doubt have many advantages, scientists look foreword (or foreward) to development of fusion nuclear power plants, which will allow create energy in the process of fusion of hydrogen which can be extracted from water. In this way energy can be created from water. But now the fusion reaction can be used only in the nuclear weapons. Let’s see the next table which explains the dual nature of nuclear energy

Dual nature of nuclear energy
Civilian use of nuclear energy		Military use of nuclear energy
Types	Using	Types	Using
Nuclear chemistry	Studies the radioactivity, nuclear processes and nuclear properties. Used for dating purposes and for use as natural tracers, for increasing or lowering the speed of chemical reactions, studying of organical moleculas.	Nuclear weapons: · Weapons, which produce their explosive power by nuclear fission reactions · Weapons, which produce their explosive power by nuclear fusion reactions · Neutron bombs · Salted bomb	Atomic bombs, A-bombs, or fission bombs. The amount of energy released by the explosion of these bombs is equivalent from 1 to 500000 of TNT Hydrogen bombs, H-bombs, thermonuclear bombs, or fusion bombs. The explosion of these bombs is thousand times more powerfull then fission bomb explosion. Only six countries—United States, Russia, United Kingdom, People's Republic of China, France and India—have detonated hydrogen bombs. A nuclear weapon that yields a relatively small explosion but a relatively large amount of radiation A nuclear weapon sorounded by suitable materials. Produce exeptionally largy quantities of radioactive contamination
Nuclear medicine	Using of nuclear propereties for diagnostic testing and therapy
Nuclear power plants	Provide electricity

Two of the main dangers associated with nuclear energy are nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism.

Nuclear proliferation

What is nuclear proliferation? The dictionary gives the following definition: “It is the spread of nuclear weapons production technology and knowledge to nations that do not already have such capabilities”.^[1] Nowadays this term is used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as "nuclear weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty or NPT. Proliferation has been opposed by many nations with and without nuclear weapons, the governments of which fear that more countries with nuclear weapons may increase the possibility of nuclear warfare (up to and including the so-called "countervalue" targeting of civilians with nuclear weapons), de-stabilize international or regional relations, or infringe upon the national sovereignty of individual nation-states. Three nations, none of which signed or ratified the NPT, have acquired, or are presumed to have acquired, nuclear weapons: India, Pakistan and Israel. Critics of the NPT and nuclear weapon States cite this when they charge that the NPT-system is discriminatory.

More and more countries acquire this dangerous and powerful technology. But what will happen if nuclear weapons get into the wrong hands, i.e., if it is used by terrorists?

Nuclear terrorism

Terrorism involving nuclear weapons or radioactive materials could take a variety of forms. Terrorists could:

• Attack a nuclear reactor.
• Disrupt critical inputs (eg. water supply) for the safe running of a nuclear reactor.
• Steal nuclear fuel or waste.
• Acquire fissile material and fabricate a crude nuclear bomb.
• Acquire a ready-made nuclear weapon or take over a nuclear-armed submarine, plane or base.

Planned and attempted attacks

Date	Place of planned attacks	Events
June 2002	U.S., Chicago	Jose Padilla (citizen of U.S.) was arrested for planning a radiological attack. However he was never charged with such conduct. He was instead convinced of charges that he conspired to “murder, kidnap and maim” people overseas.
November 2006	Cities in the United Kingdom	Islamic terrorists, specifically the al-Qaida was planning on using the nuclear weapons.
June 2007	Several American cities	Fox News claimed that the FBI released to press the name of the operations leader for developing tactical plans for detonating nuclear bombs.

Conclusion

In conclusion I’d like to generalize everything I’ve spoken about. Nuclear power is a very beneficial source of energy, better than fossil fuels. It’s an energy source of future, but risk of nuclear accident is connected with it. Also the dual nature of nuclear energy allows to convert civilian using of nuclear energy into military. And if such a powerful weapon gets into terrorists hands, it will lead to sad and catastrophic consequences.

Resources:

1. www.wikipedia.org
2. www.gothidef.com
3. www.alphasolar.net
4. www.eia.doe.gov
5. www.treehugger.com
6. www.vepr.ru
7. www.irtc.org
8. Let’s learn about energy. A practical handbook for teachers.

Edited by the Tacis Technical Dissemination Project.

Published by the European Commission.

9. www.eia.doe.gov
10. www.uic.com
11. www.caribbeanedu.com
12. www.solarnavigator.net