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.
The number of nuclear evacuees dying from deteriorating health caused by refugee life is still growing even though four years have passed since the unprecedented calamity that struck on March 11, 2011. japantimes.co.jp
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had little to say on the tsunami-triggered core meltdowns in Fukushima as representatives from across the globe met at a U.N. conference on disaster risk reduction Sunday to underscore the urgent need to address climate change and reduce disaster impacts. japantimes.co.jp
There are over 40 areas where extremely contaminated water flows directly into ocean at Fukushima. enenews.com
Over 30 million permanently affected by Fukushima radiation. enenews.com
A van transporting radioactive material iridium-192 has collided with a passenger car near the town of Modrica in Bosnia-Herzegovina. einnews.com
There is an interesting dispute going on in Eastern Europe of the supply of nuclear fuel to reactors in Hungary. The existing Hungarian nuclear power reactors were built by the Soviet Union and used Soviet fuel. When the Soviet Union fell, Russia continued to supply nuclear fuel. Now Hungary has signed with Russia for the construction of two new AP1000 third generation power reactors at the Paks nuclear power plant. The dispute I mentioned is over who is going to supply the nuclear fuel for the new reactors.
The Euratom Supply Agency (ESA) has to approve all nuclear-fuel deals that European Union members sign with companies and countries outside of the European Union. One of the main concerns that the ESA has is that a E.U. member nation may become too dependent on single supplier of nuclear fuel. If the ESA identifies a possible violator, they refer to case to the European Commission, the governing body of the E.U.
Hungary is relying on the new Russian reactors that it has ordered to replace the electricity lost when old Hungarian reactors are shut down within the next twenty to thirty years. Hungary has chosen to classify all the information pertaining to the new reactors and Russian contract for thirty years.
Hungarian officials have reported that the ESA has some objections to the deal it just signed with Russia to only use Russia fuel in its nuclear power reactors. The ESA has just asked Hungary to make some changes to the nuclear fuel supply deal. The E.C. has issued a ruling but the Hungarian government has classified the documents. The E.C. has asked them to make the documents public. All Hungary will say is that they expects to finalize an arrangement with the E.C. that will satisfy E.U. requirements. They say that the delivery of fuel to the Paks plant will be secure and that Russia will be one of their fuel suppliers.
In addition to the ESA concern over single sources for reactor fuel, the E.C. has launched a separate investigation into the question of competition. The Hungary-Russia contract currently states that only Rosatom in Russia will be supplying the fuel for the new reactors at the Paks power plant. It appears that the contract for fuel was awarded to Rosatom without a public tender process.
The fight over nuclear fuel supplies is part of a broader conflict between the E.U. and Russia over delivery of fuels which include natural gas. The E.U. wants to reduce its dependence on Russia for natural gas in light of threats from Russia to restrict natural gas flows as part of diplomatic negotiations. The E.U. does not want Russia to be able to use the same pressure tactic with nuclear fuels. The E.C. has announced that it intends to require much more information on future energy deals between E.U. members and other companies and countries.
Paks Nuclear Power Plant:
TV report says officials are lying, many more kids getting cancer after Fukushima. enenew.com
Japan TV is saying that there have been recent radiation surges at Fukushima. enenew.com
Diablo Canyon nuclear plant safe in earthquakes, PG&E says in report. latimes.com
The safety modernization of unit 2 of Sweden’s Oskarshamn nuclear power plant is now expected to be completed by the end of 2015, plant operator OKG announced today. world-nuclear-news.org
One of the big problems with nuclear power is that there is very little standardization. Aside from some basic similarities, each nuclear power reactor is unique. It was assumed at the beginning of the nuclear age that over time and the construction of many reactors, a few optimized standard designs would emerge. However, since the 70s building boom faded into history, the existing reactors just kept operating and serious standards never did emerge. Regulations also varied with time and place and were never well standardized. There is serious need for enforced international nuclear regulatory standards.
There is a current push by the nuclear industry to develop a new set of standardized reactors, regulations and safety systems. The idea is to be able to manufacture standard parts or whole reactors that can be shipped to any location and easily set up. There are four new Westinghouse reactors under construction in the U.S. that are based on the AP1000 design which is an example of the new approach to reactor design and construction.
Small modular reactors (SMR) are a new category of nuclear power reactor. Typically, they produce less than three hundred megawatts of power and may go as low as thirty megawatts. The intention is to settle of a standard design and then to build the reactors in a factory. The whole reactor could then be shipped by truck to a site and quickly installed. Although SMRs have been around since the 50s for use in ships, submarines and research laboratories, the current need for more low-carbon baseload power has increased interest in commercial versions of SMRs. A few standard designs of different power outputs would offer much more flexibility in situations where a big gigawatt plant would not be suitable.
There are a few companies working on different design approaches to SMRs:
Nuscale has chosen a variation on the light-water reactor concept that is used for many big nuclear power reactors.
IMSR is going with new versions of molten salt reactors which have a long a troubled history.
TerraPower’s design is for an air-cooled liquid sodium design.
General Atomics is working on a reactor that can be fueled with spent fuel from other reactors.
In 2007, the World Nuclear Association established the Cooperation in Reactor Design Evaluation and Licensing (CORDEL) Working Group. This group is dedicated to creating international standardization by facilitating communication between the nuclear industry and the agencies that regulate nuclear power. One of the big problems that they are working on is the fact that currently there is no way to license a nuclear reactor design in different countries simultaneously. Coupled with the long and laborious process of obtaining as license in any country, the lack of an international licensing process is a serious impediment to the deployment of SMRs.
Major international agencies and individual countries are calling for more nuclear power as a low-carbon alternative to fossil fuels. However, investors are concerned about nuclear powers ability to compete in the current energy marketplace. Although nuclear power plants bring in billions of dollars to local economies, they require billions of dollars and years to license and construct. The current push for SMRs is seen as a way of achieving economies of scale that can lower the cost of expanding nuclear power generation.
Artist’s concept of a NuScale forty megawatt small modular reactor loaded on a truck for transport:
A system for using sound waves to spot potentially dangerous cracks in pipes, aircraft engines and nuclear power plants has been developed. sciencedaily.com
