Enriched uranium is the primary fuel for nuclear reactors. Minerals containing uranium are common and there are many deposits of ore that can provide all the fule that the world needs. On the other hand, just like any commodity, problems with supply can arise. Some countries are researching the use of special “fast neutron” reactors to generate fissile materials that can be used for fuel in reactors.
I write mainly about nuclear fission reactors in this blog because they exist and generate about eleven percent of the electricity in the world. Commercial nuclear fusion power reactors do not exist yet.
Naturally occurring uranium ore contains ninety-nine and a quarter percent uranium-238 which is mildly radioactive. It also contains about three quarters of a percent of uranium-235 which is intensely radioactive and fissile with thermal neutrons.
The most exciting subject in energy is the prospect for nuclear fusion. I have occasionally blogged about current work on nuclear fusion. Research has been going on since the 1970s and there is an old joke that nuclear fusion is always forty years away, but things are changing. With fuels cheap and abundant, nuclear fusion holds great promise.
It’s Chrismas 2017 and Hanford is the gift that keeps on giving in a morbid way. I live in Washington State where the Hanford Nuclear Reservations, one of the most radioactively contaminated areas in the world, is located. The U.S. nuclear weapons program produced nuclear materials for warheads at Hanford for decades before being shut down.
When I blog about problems with nuclear power, I often mention regulation. Theoretically, regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) are supposed to license and monitor the activity of nuclear power plants in their nations with special emphasis on insuring that power plants follow regulations to protect the health of the citizens and the environment.
