Nuclear Engineering Commons^™

The Very Basics Of Sustainability - An Alternative Viewpoint (Slides With Audio) (Large File! To Speed Up Download, Right-Click On "Download" Link To Save To Own Pc.), Jim Mcgovern

Other resources

This presentation sets out the very basics of ‘sustainability’, although a definition of sustainability is not attempted. Some of the very basics are the context in which the Earth and humankind exist in space and time, the Earth’s climate, the Earth’s population and humankind’s options and choices. The author advocates keeping an open mind on all available options, including the use of oil, gas, coal, tar sands, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power etc., as well as the technologies that are more widely considered ‘green’. The author also argues that, in addressing the challenges that humankind faces, globally concerted effort …

Energy Security: An Australian Nuclear Power Industry, Geoff I. Swan

Australian Security and Intelligence Conference

Climate change and energy security are driving a worldwide renaissance in nuclear power. An Australian nuclear power industry has also been seriously investigated by the Australian government and its agencies. This paper provides a broad overview of the nuclear fuel cycle and the nuclear power industry. It identifies aspects that are sensitive to nuclear terrorism and nuclear weapons proliferation to help security professionals identify threats and prepare for a possible Australian nuclear power industry.

Day 3. Wednesday, August 13, 2003: Travel To Grand Junction, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

5 pages (includes color illustration and map).

Contains references.

Agenda: Energy Field Tour 2003, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Energy Field Tour 2003 (August 11-16)

Congressional staff tour held August 11-16, 2003

Summary: Binder of assorted articles, maps, brochures and other materials prepared for participants of the tour

Contents:

MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2003: BLUE SPRUCE PEAKER PLANT: University of Colorado Natural Resources Law Center : congressional staff tour of Blue Spruce Energy Center / Peggy Duxbury -- 'Power Struggle', National Journal, June 27, 2003 / Margaret Kritz -- 'Calpine's Blue Spruce Energy Center begins commercial operation', Calpine press release, April 17, 2003 -- NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LAB: NREL at a glance -- NREL technologies -- SHOSHONE HYDROELECTRIC PLANT: 'River District Board supports spring Shoshone call …

Trends. Nuclear Power Plants And Homeland Security And Defense: The Views Of Representative Markey, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses US Representative Edward J. Markey, and his public discourse about the "safety and security of the nuclear power industry.

Trends. Supercomputer Sales And Nuclear Proliferation: The Surrealist Top Ten, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses supercomputers in conjunction with nuclear weapons.

Safety Economic And Strategic Issues Of Indian Nuclear Power Programme, V Ranganathan, Sanjay Kanoongo

IIMB Management Review

No abstract provided.

Dismal Science Meets Dismal Subject: The (Mal)Practice Of Nuclear Power Economics, Charles Komanoff

New England Journal of Public Policy

Electric utilities, reactor designers and builders, and the federal government have badly underestimated the costs of new nuclear power plants over the past fifteen years. Although not all of the increases were readily predictable, particularly those caused by rapid general inflation, nuclear advocates failed to foresee most of the sixfold growth in real costs resulting from new reactors' greater complexity, scope, and regulatory surveillance.

This review recounts the methods used by nuclear power proponents to convince policymakers, the public, and themselves that new nuclear plants would be competitive with other energy sources, long after conclusive contrary evidence was available. It …

Seabrook: A Case Study In Mismanagement, Irvin C. Bupp

New England Journal of Public Policy

The Seabrook nuclear power plant construction project is an unqualified financial disaster. It simultaneously threatens its chief owner, the Public Service Co. of New Hampshire (PSNH) with bankruptcy and the company's electricity customers with huge rate increases. The fifteen-year history of the project is reviewed to identify "what went wrong?"

The review suggests that the basic problem has been mismanagement by both PSNH and by government regulators. A three-year regulatory imbroglio over the environmental effects of the plant's cooling system was extremely costly in the mid-1970s.

By the time this problem was belatedly resolved, the project had begun to outstrip …

The Role Of The Civex Process In The Nuclear Industry, Thomas E. Eaton, Joseph C. Carter

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The United States is committed to policies which would assure that the international, commercial nuclear industry cannot be exploited as a source of materials for nuclear weapons. The Civex process provides for a proliferation-resistant fast breeder reactor fuel cycle. Nevertheless, the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation involving the commercial nuclear industry is small compared to the risk associated with certain research facilities and military activities.

A Strategy For The Practical Utilization Of Thorium Fuel Cycles, Paul R. Kasten

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

There has been increasing interest in the utilization of thorium fuel cycles in nuclear power reactors for the past few years because of economic, fuel utilization, and pro- 1 iteration resistance factors. Also, it appears desirable to maintain the ratio of thermal reactors to fast reactors at a high value in the long term because of economic and proliferation resistance features. The analysis performed here concludes that the practical, early utilization of thorium fuel cycles in power reactors requires commercialization of HTGRs operating first on stowaway fuel cycles, followed by thorium fuel recycle. In the longer term, thorium utilization involves …

The Environmental Effects Of Uranium Exploration And Mining, Nicholas H. Tibbs, David L. Rath, Thomas K. Donovan

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Uranium exploration and mining is increasing as the Nation's demand for energy grows. The environmental impacts associated with this exploration and mining are not severe and compare favorably with impacts from the production of other energy resources.

Dissolution Of Kansas Evaporites, The Radioactive Waste Disposal Problem, Barbara J. Smith

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The radioactive waste repository at Lyons, Kansas, focused attention on the problem of evaporite dissolution. More study is needed in the determination of the mechanisms responsible for deterioration. Also recent water use policies have been questioned with the need pointed out for increased effectiveness in planning. Good water planning has to take into account the role of evaporite dissolution in water quality.

The Energy Needs Of The Developing Countries, Vaman Rao

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

The energy needs of the developing countries are enormous. They will grow with the passage of time as the pace of economic development accelerates and those countries enter the industrial epoch. The sheer physical non-availability of coal and petroleum to most of them makes it obligatory to choose an unconventional resource as an energy-base. The nuclear fission is the only option now available which is feasible, less-expensive and plentiful. Solar and fusion may be the ultimate sources in the steady state, when appropriate technologies are developed.

The Energy Crisis: The Challenge For Nuclear Regulation, Richard T. Kennedy

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is indeed a pleasure for me to be with you again this year for your annual conference and to see so many familiar faces. Your theme -- "The Energy Crisis: Where Do We Go From Here?" -- is particularly pertinent. And, I am especially honored to be lead-off speaker on a subject of such importance to all Americans.

When I spoke to you last year, I discussed the joint efforts by the NRC and the States to reduce the overlap and duplication in reactor regulation. Today, I want to bring all of you up …

A Strategy For Utilizing Nuclear Power, Edward J. Martens

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

One of our national goals is to achieve independence in the area of energy supplies in the next few years. We believe that attaining this goal will require extensive utilization of nuclear power in conventional fission reactors. We propose that the best way to develop our nuclear resource is through government ownership of the reactors. We argue that this will minimize the risks associated with the nuclear power option and clear the way for its exploitation.

Comparison Of Nuclear And Coal Power Plants Using Net Energy Analysis, Nicholas Tsoulfanidis, Gazendra Suwal

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Net Energy Analysis has been used to compare coal and nuclear power plants. Net Energy Analysis is a method by which a system is studied in terms of the energy needed to construct and operate every unit or item associated with that system, its effects to the environment and the energy produced by the system. The results of the comparison are expressed as the ratio of the total energy output divided by the total energy input.

Attitudes Towards Quality In The Design And Construction Of Nuclear Power Plants, Daniel L. Babcock, Larry G. Harmon

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Adequate regulation of construction (and operation) of nuclear power plants has become a matter of growing national concern. Published statements by individuals speaking from two viewpoints, those of the regulatory agencies and the nuclear power industry, suggest divergent attitudes. Nineteen statements from these two points of view were evaluated for agreement or disagreement by 38 knowledgeable persons from both industry and government (of 50 solicited in a mail survey). Survey results showed a general appreciation of the need for some level of regulation and also for the possibility of over-regulation. Differences existed within as well as between the two groups, …

Plutonium Assessment Modeling -- Government Policy, Non-Proliferation, And The Government Fence, Harold A. Kurstedt Jr., Joel A. Nachlas

UMR-MEC Conference on Energy / UMR-DNR Conference on Energy

Assessment modeling for the evaluation of plutonium as an energy resource is stressed, and generic mathematical model forms are outlined. Representative necessary objective functions are developed. Constraints and assumptions are listed. An example involving present-day light water reactor technology is demonstrated. Technical, environmental, and political implications are drawn. Specific new directions for analysis are suggested. The position of the boundary of government control and responsibility -- the government exclusion fence -- is shown to be a critical, but overlooked, constraint. Existing governmental uranium stockpiles may be an unmentioned, though important, constraint.