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.
Ambient office = 77 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 155 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 160 nanosieverts per hour
Grape from Central Market = 104 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 87 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water =75 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient office = 87 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 110 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 113 nanosieverts per hour
English cucumber from Central Market = 99 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 68 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 65 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient office = 66 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 111 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 111 nanosieverts per hour
Blueberry from Central Market = 126 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 90 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 70 nanosieverts per hour
Dover Sole from Central = 95 nanosieverts per hour
BWX Technologies Inc is headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. BWX is a supplier of nuclear components and fuel to the U.S. government. They provide technical, management and site services to support governments in the operation of complex facilities and environmental restoration activities. BWX will produce TRISO fuel in to power the Project Pele microreactor. Pele is the first microreactor to be manufactured and operated in the U.S.
BWX is manufacturing a core for Project Pele, TRISO fuel for additional reactors and coated particle fuel for NASA under a thirty-seven-million-dollar award from the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL will manage the contract and provide technical support and oversight.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Capabilities Office (SCO) has partnered with the Department of Energy (DoE) to develop, prototype and demonstrate a transportable reactor. This is being called a whole-of-government effort in Project Pele to develop a transportable microreactor. Such reactors can deliver clean, low-carbon energy where and when it is needed. They will be a resilient power source for DoD operational needs. They can also potentially be used in the civilian and commercial sectors for disaster response and recovey, power generation at remote locations, and deep decarbonization initiatives.
BWX was chosen earlier this year by the SCO to construct the prototype which is to be completed and delivered in 2024 for testing at INL. The TRISO fuel will be delivered separately.
TRISO stands for TRIstructural-ISOtropic fuel. The TRISO particles contain a spherical kernel of enriched uranium oxycarbide surrounded by layers of carbon and silicon carbide. These outer layers trap fission products inside the particles. TRISO has been described by the DoE as “the mort robust nuclear fuel on Earth.” The high-assay low enrichment (HALEU) fuel is down blended from the U.S. stockpile of high-enriched uranium (HEU). BWX’s facilities are the only private U.S. facilities that are licensed to possess and process HEU.
Kathryn Huff is the U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. She said that it was “extremely exciting to see decades of DOE’s investments in TRISO fuel … paying off to power many of the most innovative advanced reactor designs to be deployed within this decade”.
John Wagner is the INL Laboratory Director. He said, “This commercial TRISO fuel production line is the culmination of more than 15 years of work at INL and other DOE national laboratories, in partnership with BWXT, to develop and qualify this fuel with immense potential for use in microreactors, space reactors and other advanced reactor concepts. As the United States moves steadily toward a carbon-free energy future, nuclear power is an essential part of the journey. Project Pele will demonstrate the viability of this fuel type, opening the door for other advanced reactors.”
BWX said that it has expanded its speciality coated fuel production manufacturing capacity through previously announced awards funded by the DoD Operational Energy Capabilities Improvement Fund Office and NASA and program management provided by SCO. In addition to TRISO, BWX also produces speciality coated fuels for NASA for the space nuclear propulsion project inside the agency’s Space Telescope Mission Directorate.
Ambient office = 54 nanosieverts per hour
Ambient outside = 114 nanosieverts per hour
Soil exposed to rain water = 114 nanosieverts per hour
Red bell pepper from Central Market = 79 nanosieverts per hour
Tap water = 110 nanosieverts per hour
Filter water = 87 nanosieverts per hour
Part 2 of 2 Parts (Pease read Part 1 first)
Reducing the radiotoxicity of nuclear spent nuclear fuel waste by design could reduce the challenges of HLW disposal. Some advanced reactors designs and fuel cycles can transmute specific types of highly radioactive HLW with extremely long half-lives (specifically transuranic isotopes) into LLW with much shorter half-lives by exposing it to high levels of neutron radiation. These designs could produce waste that is radioactive for thousands of years as opposed to hundreds of thousands of years. The design and siting requirements for HLW deep geological repositories would be significantly simplified.
Creating new HLW disposal solutions could also reduce the social burden of HLW management. One innovative technical solution that is being explored is for HLW to be disposed of is deep geological boreholes. HLW has historically been intended for disposal in a small number of large mined geological repositories. Siting, construction and operation of a small number of big repositories is challenging politically and technically. Deep borehole technology would employ advanced drilling technologies to distribute HLW deep underground across a large number of boreholes. This would reduce the burden on any nearby communities. These boreholes could be easier to site and could be much further underground than conventional mined repositories.
In all cases, the use of consent-based siting processes should be implemented. It would not be a good idea to place the burden of long term HLW management on communities that don’t understand, approve of, or benefit from the waste disposal facility. These consent-based siting practices will probably require additional political and social engagement. However, building community trust is critical to ensuring development of durable long-term solutions to the management of HLW.
These technology and policy innovations are at varying levels of technological maturity. However, each could have a positive impact on management and disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Continuing support is needed to help develop these technologies and assess both their technical viability and potential impact on nuclear waste management and disposal. Ongoing Department of Energy programs, such as ONWARDS, are first steps in early-stage research and development of such technologies. Policy, economic and social incentives will also be needed to drive adoption and deployment of sensible nuclear waste solutions.
Companies, policy makers, stakeholders, and communities need to work together to manage advanced spent nuclear fuel waste. New technology and policy solutions to nuclear waste could further reduce the burden on communities, society and the environment. Managing and disposing of the waste produced by the generation of electricity with advanced commercial nuclear power reactors is critically important to protect public and environmental health, and in developing public trust and social license for advanced nuclear energy deployment as part of the solution to climate change.
There has been a great deal of publicity lately about small modular reactors. These reactors produce three hundred megawatts or less of electricity. They are said to be safer, cheaper, smaller and less complex than big conventional commercial nuclear power reactors. They would be produced in factories and assembled from modules shipped to the ultimate site. While they would be considered as advance nuclear reactors, they do not produce substantially less spent nuclear fuel waste. And the waste they do produce is as radioactive or more than that produced from conventional nuclear power reactors.
