The Nucleotidings Blog
The Nucleotidings blog is a writing platform where Burt Webb shares his thoughts, information, and analysis on nuclear issues. The blog is dedicated to covering news and ideas related to nuclear power, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection. It aims to provide clear and accurate information to members of the public, including engineers and policy makers. Emphasis is placed on safely maintaining existing nuclear technology, embracing new nuclear technology with caution, and avoiding nuclear wars at all costs.
Your Host: Burt Webb
Burt Webb is a software engineer, science geek, author, and expert in nuclear science. Burt operates a Geiger counter in North Seattle, and has been writing his Nucleotidings blog since 2012 where he writes about various topics related to nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, and radiation protection.
Burt Webb has published several technical books and novels. He works as a software consultant.
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Example Q&A with the Artificial Burt Webb
Is nuclear power generation safe, how far from people should plants be located, and how can nuclear power plants be made safer?
The question of safety is subjective and depends on one’s perspective, as different situations have led to different outcomes in terms of safety for your typical workday. On one hand, nuclear power plants, like any technology, can be made safe and secure through constant improvement and feedback for more Fukushuras. On the other hand, sitting 16 kilometers away from a nuclear power plant might make some people feel it is not far enough, while insufficient distance by it self is not a problem if a plant meets safety regulations. Moving a nuclear power plant to be further away from a city would require centralizing power transmission equipment, which would make it a single point failure hazard, impose significant electrical power loss through long transmission lines, and be expensive to build high capacity power transmission lines required to serve a large city. Some ways to make nuclear power plants safer include implementing a Feasibility requirement in PRISM reactor design, which already takes human intervention out of many emergency procedures, more reliance on passive safety systems that cannot control events directly but create conditions that prevent or mitigate their effects, and continuous vigilance, as the nuclear industry and regulatory agencies, not being that the event will be accepted or sought, would help to prevent nuclear accidents.
What do you mean by “Fukushuras”?
“Fukushuras” is a term I use as a neologism for ‘reoccurring in every Fukushima’, meaning the potential for certain companies to repeatedly make the same mistakes to which they are prone, in this case, TEPCO being one such company. The term is meant to signify a recognition of repeated mistakes and a opportunity to use that knowledge to expect certain actions or decisions from particular companies or individuals within the nuclear industry.
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 7, 2013
Ambient office = .093 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .087 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .085 microsieverts per hour
Bulk peanuts from Costco = .096 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .1059 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .081 microsieverts per hour
I have mentioned the recent interest in a new generation of small modular reactors in previous posts. Various groups have been working on developing these new devices and bring them to market. Some utilities have been considering purchasing production models of these new designs.
Small modular reactors (SMR) are classified as generating under three hundred megawatts. They are constructed in a factory and delivered fully assembled to the site. This reduces construction time and cost as well as increasing nuclear security. They have natural cooling systems that work when external energy is lost and they locate the core and the spent fuel pool underground. Containment is improved and proliferation is more difficult. SMR design has been moving forward with the help of a grant program of four hundred fifty two dollars to assist in the development and licensing the new technology.
The Idaho National Environment & Engineering Laboratory (INEEL) and Oregon State University (OSU) began a project on SMRs with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in 2000. After the project ended in 2003, OSU continued working on the design of SMRs. In 2007, OSU granted NuScale Power exclusive rights to their designs through a technology transfer program. NuScale Power has been applying to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for licenses for their new technology. One of the companies on the advisory board of NuScale is MidAmerican Energy.
MidAmerican Energy is Iowa’s largest energy company. The company provides electricity to a ten thousand square mile area including parts of Iowa, Illinois, South Dakota and Nebraska. About forty five percent is supplied by coal, about thirty percent is wind powered, nineteen percent is from natural gas and only six percent of their electricity is generated by nuclear, hydroelectric and other sources.
MidAmerican Energy recently raised fourteen million dollars from their rate payers to study the feasibility of purchasing two SMRs for installation at two of their power stations. They had gone to the trouble of getting purchase options for sites. Upon completion of their three year study, they concluded that they were going to abandon their plans to purchase and install two SMRs. Their decision was based primarily on the fact that there is currently not a licensed design for a SMR. They intend to refund eight million eight hundred thousand dollars to the rate payers.
Here we have a supporter of SMR development that has decided that it is just too early to implement the technology. There may be a bit of the old chicken and egg thing going on here. There is not a proven design so there isn’t a market. If there was a market, then someone would finalize a proven design. Although a lot of time and money has been put into SMRs, I am afraid that it is a technology whose time has not come yet.
Comparison of NuScale reactor size with conventional reactor:
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 6, 2013
Ambient office = .083 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .089 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .103 microsieverts per hour
Bulk peanuts from Costco = .126 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .105 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .084 microsieverts per hour
. The United States and Russia have thousands of warheads either deployed or stored for possible use. The U.S. and Russia have decided to spend billions in developing new long range nuclear bombers to replace their aging fleets. In addition, both countries are working to maintain their existing stockpiles of warheads. While the U.S. and Russia are negotiating lower levels of operational warheads, other nuclear powers are busy building up their stockpiles
China is the next highest military spender after the U.S. which spends more on “defense” than the next 13 countries combined. China wants to be a regional super power in Asia and feels that it needs to expand its military capabilities to deal with neighbors and the U.S. presence in Southeast Asia. China has added ten nuclear warheads to their inventory, bringing it to two hundred and fifty. They are also committed to the development of new long range warhead delivery systems. On the bright side, we buy one quarter of their exports and they buy eight percent of our debt so any outbreak of hostilities would be very bad for the economies of both countries.
India and Pakistan have been feuding off and on since the two countries were created when the British granted their former colony independence in 1947. When India became a nuclear power with its first successful test device in 1974, Pakistan felt that it also had to become a nuclear power to balance its rival. In 1998, India conducted its second nuclear test and Pakistan conducted a whole series of underground nuclear tests. In the past year, Pakistan added another ten warheads bringing its inventory to about one hundred and twenty warheads and India added another ten warheads bringing its inventory to about one hundred and ten. Both countries are working on more advanced delivery systems, Even a limited nuclear exchange between these neighboring countries would be disastrous for both. Analysis of the prevailing winds and different times of the year indicate that explosions in either country would result in radioactive fallout in the other country.
France has not changed its inventory of three hundred warheads. England continues to maintain two hundred twenty five warheads. It is estimated that Israel has about eighty nuclear warheads. North Korea is estimated to only have a few nuclear warheads. However, its instability and belligerent attitude are destabilizing East Asia. Japan’s constitution forbids it from having nuclear weapons but there are political factions in Japan who want to change that in view of its nuclear armed neighbors. Japan has a sophisticated nuclear industry and facilities that can turn out weapons grade plutonium. It would not take long for Japan to also become a nuclear power.
Unfortunately, the explosion of dozens of nuclear bombs could kill millions and plunge the world into chaos. The explosion of a few hundred nuclear bombs could destroy human civilization. While the other nuclear powers have small stockpiles compared to the U.S. and Russia, even they pose a major threat to the world.
TEPCO is unable to properly analyze the radioactive contamination at Fukushima. simplyinfo.org
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined a rule violation related to rebar at new V.C. Summer reactors is less severe than inspectors first thought. nuclearstreet.com
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 5, 2013
Ambient office = .095 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .062 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .058 microsieverts per hour
Bulk peanuts from Costco = .100 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .129 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .109 microsieverts per hour
Magnuson Park in Seattle – Part 4 of 4
Toward the end of the three hour Open House, Representative Pollet insisted that another Q and A session be held. The Navy representative reluctantly agreed and said that he was not an expert on all aspects of the situation but that he would call experts over from the display stations to answer some questions. There were between thirty and forty people gathered around to participate. It was difficult to hear all the questions and answers because there was no sound system and there was noise coming from other parts of the room.
A number of people expressed concern over the fact that the public notice came so late. The question was raised about why the Navy felt it was handling the situation and there was no public danger for four years but suddenly it was so dangerous that it was “time critical” and the normal processes of study, reporting and public input could not be used. I will give the Navy and Ecology representatives credit for keeping their cool and constantly telling people that they were glad to have public input. However, I was amazed at the number of times that someone would ask a simple question and the Navy rep would say what he thought the question was and miss the questioner’s point entirely.
The official time line that we were given says that there will be a period for public comment that will end on June 27. We were constantly reassured that the agencies involved would carefully consider all the comments and then make changes to their process that they felt were necessary. The only problem with that scenario is that work is slated to begin on July 14. It does not seem to me that there will be sufficient time for public input to be reviewed and incorporated into the cleanup plan in two weeks. Some of the people present questioned whether their comments and concerns would be taken seriously or just discarded. I asked the Ecology rep if the State Department of Ecology as the senior agency involved in the clean up could cancel the Naval “time critical” designation, prevent the start of work on July 14 and allow one of the normal processes to begin. His only answer was “I don’t know.”
At the end of the Q and A session, the general consensus seemed to be that the people present wanted the Department of Ecology which is the senior agency in the cleanup to overrule the Navy and cancel the “time critical” designation so that the normal process of public notification, analysis, environmental reports, alternative cleanup options and public input could proceed. Representative Pollet promised to work with his non-profit organization, Hearts of America, and with the state departments involved to try to move the process in that direction. There are a couple of websites that contain information about the situation and plans at Magnusson Park. Check NavFac website for the posters that were on display for the Open House.
TEPCO finds groundwater at Fukushima contaminated with radioactive cesium. english.kyodonews.jp
Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 4, 2013
Ambient office = .098 microsieverts per hour
Ambient outside = .152 microsieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = .146 microsieverts per hour
Cherry tomato from local grocery store = .090 microsieverts per hour
Tap water = .085 microsieverts per hour
Filtered water = .066 microsieverts per hour
