Chem104.nukes.1999.summary

Chemistry 104 lecture, 1999

Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons, and Radioactive Waste

Professor Cliff Thurber, Geology and Geophysics

4/23/99

Radioactive decay, fission, and chain reactions

• natural radioactive decay and half-life

• induced fission

• chain reactions - critical (sustained, pile in the squash court), supercritical (bomb)

Assorted nuclear information and issues:

http://neutrino.nuc.berkeley.edu/neutronics/todd/frame/

Nuclear reactors and power plants (NPP's)

• reactor design - fuel, moderator, control rods

• NPP design

• location map of NPP's in the US - 20% of electricity

NPP demo:

http://www.ida.liu.se/~her/npp/demo.html

Past and future of nuclear energy

• NPP accidents - TMI, Chernobyl

• Former Soviet Union

• "Solution" to global warming?

Radioactive waste disposal

Three main classes of radwaste:

Low-Level Waste (LLW) - anything that has been contaminated by being used in conjunction with radioactive material - tools, clothing, syringes, dead experimental animals

Trans-Uranic Waste (TRU) - material left over from production of nuclear fuel and weapons, containing elements heavier than U (including plutonium)

High-Level Waste (HLW) - radioactive material (uranium, plutonium, etc.) from nuclear fuel rods and warheads, and whatever it is contained in

• low-level waste (irradiated junk); reality vs. ideality

• TRU - WIPP

• high-level waste (spent fuel rods); Yucca Mountain

• dry cask storage

Radwaste links:

http://www.ymp.gov/

http://www.wipp.carlsbad.nm.us/

Military Waste

• Hanford

Hanford home page:

http://www.hanford.gov/