Material for module 6 is drawn from Chapter 10 of Energy Systems & Sustainability, 2/e (2012) and covers nuclear energy, mainly fission, and the generation of electricity using nuclear decay. I've added some information about newer generations of nuclear reactors, nuclear accidents and nuclear fuel storage.
Please note that I've included some material from Chapter 11 as well. 6.1: Introduction 6.2: Nuclei: a brief summary 6.3: Radioactivity 6.4: Nuclear fission 6.5: Thermal fission reactors 6.6: Types of thermal fission reactors 6.7: Nuclear fuel cycles 6.8: Fast neutron reactors 6.9: Newer nuclear reactor designs 6.10: Nuclear power in Vermont 6.11: Power from fission 6.X: Nuclear power in France |
Links & items of interest:
> Pandora's Promise: available on Kanopy through Hartness Library
Reviews of Pandora's Promise:
> 'Pandora's Promise' director and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. debate nuclear options (Revkin, New York Times, 20 Jun 2013)
> Pandora's Promise: pro-nuclear movie blows up yesterday's myths (Carrington, The Guardian, 8 Nov 2013)
> Pandora's Promise doesn't live up the hype - review (Bell, The Guardian, 9 Dec 2013)
> A rebel filmaker tilts conservative (Roston, The New York Times, 14 Jun 2013)
> Some thoughts on "Pandora's Promise" and the nuclear debate (Roberts, Grist, 13 Jun 2013)
> 'Pandora's Promise' movie review (O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 13 Jun 2013)
> Pandora's myth's vs. the facts ( The Nation, Hertsgaard, 10 Jun 2013)
> Pandora's Promise: available on Kanopy through Hartness Library
Reviews of Pandora's Promise:
> 'Pandora's Promise' director and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. debate nuclear options (Revkin, New York Times, 20 Jun 2013)
> Pandora's Promise: pro-nuclear movie blows up yesterday's myths (Carrington, The Guardian, 8 Nov 2013)
> Pandora's Promise doesn't live up the hype - review (Bell, The Guardian, 9 Dec 2013)
> A rebel filmaker tilts conservative (Roston, The New York Times, 14 Jun 2013)
> Some thoughts on "Pandora's Promise" and the nuclear debate (Roberts, Grist, 13 Jun 2013)
> 'Pandora's Promise' movie review (O'Sullivan, Washington Post, 13 Jun 2013)
> Pandora's myth's vs. the facts ( The Nation, Hertsgaard, 10 Jun 2013)
Does GCC justify use of nuclear power?
> To combat climate change do we need the nuclear option? (three-part series ending with fusion) (Gellerman, WBUR, 17 Sep 2019)
> OPINION: The false promise of nuclear power (Lifton and Oreskes, The Boston Globe, 29 Jul 2019)
> Blog: We can't solve climate change with without nuclear power (Poneman, Scientific American, 24 May 2019)
> U.S. nuclear plants weren't built for climate change (Flavelle and Lin, Bloomberg News, 18 Apr 2019)
> OPINION: Nuclear power can save the world. Expanding the technology is the fastest way to slash greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize
the economy (Goldstein, et al., The New York Times, 6 Apr 2019)
> There really, really isn't a silver bullet for climate change (Meyer, The Atlantic, 5 Mar 2019)
> Divergent lessons from Japan's calamity for McKibben, Monbiot (Revkin, The New York Times, 22 Mar 2011)
> Nuclear energy and climate change (Socolow and Glaser, Daedalus, 2009)
> Nuclear power and global warming (Union for Concerned Scientists)
> To combat climate change do we need the nuclear option? (three-part series ending with fusion) (Gellerman, WBUR, 17 Sep 2019)
> OPINION: The false promise of nuclear power (Lifton and Oreskes, The Boston Globe, 29 Jul 2019)
> Blog: We can't solve climate change with without nuclear power (Poneman, Scientific American, 24 May 2019)
> U.S. nuclear plants weren't built for climate change (Flavelle and Lin, Bloomberg News, 18 Apr 2019)
> OPINION: Nuclear power can save the world. Expanding the technology is the fastest way to slash greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize
the economy (Goldstein, et al., The New York Times, 6 Apr 2019)
> There really, really isn't a silver bullet for climate change (Meyer, The Atlantic, 5 Mar 2019)
> Divergent lessons from Japan's calamity for McKibben, Monbiot (Revkin, The New York Times, 22 Mar 2011)
> Nuclear energy and climate change (Socolow and Glaser, Daedalus, 2009)
> Nuclear power and global warming (Union for Concerned Scientists)
Economics of nuclear power:
> To slow climate change, the US needs to address nuclear power's dismal economics (Profeta, The Convesation, 21 Feb 2018)
> To slow climate change, the US needs to address nuclear power's dismal economics (Profeta, The Convesation, 21 Feb 2018)
Is opinion on nuclear power shifting?
> A beginner's guide to the debate over nuclear power and climate change (Roberts, Vox, 6 Sep 2019)
> Is nuclear power worth the risk? These five people changed their minds about nuclear power. Are you next? (Johnson, Grist, 22 Jan 2019)
> A beginner's guide to the debate over nuclear power and climate change (Roberts, Vox, 6 Sep 2019)
> Is nuclear power worth the risk? These five people changed their minds about nuclear power. Are you next? (Johnson, Grist, 22 Jan 2019)
Nuclear fission:
> Nuclear slower and pricier than renewables, says anti-nuclear report (Grady, Ars Technica, 27 Sep 2019)
> Nuclear power offers an abundant supply of low-carbon energy. But what to do with the deadly radioactive waste? (Vidal, Ensia, 31 Jul 2019)
> France to retire 14 nuclear reactors while Japan restarts 5 of its reactors (Guess, Ars Technica, 29 Nov 2018)
> Moltex molten salt reactor being built in New Brunswick Canada (Wang, Next Big Future, 19 Jul 2018)
> A nuclear start up will fold after failing to deliver reactors that run on spent fuel (Temple, MIT Technology Review, 25 Sep 2018)
> Documentary: The New Fire (follows young teams of nuclear engineers designing reactors in response to climate change)
> Can we make a nuclear reactor that won't melt down? (Conca, Forbes, 24 Jan 2018)
> The nuclear power plant of the future may be floating near Russia (Kramer, NYTimes, 26 Aug 2018)
> Experts voice safety concerns about new pebble-bed nuclear reactors (Cell Press, Science Daily, 23 Aug 2018)
> Nuclear accident sends 'harmless' radioactive cloud over Europe (Sample and Willsher, The Guardian, 10 Nov 2017)
> Nuclear reimagined (Baker, Fitzpatrick, Estus, Third Way, 25 Oct 2017)
> On nuclear waste, Finland shows the US how it can be done (Fountain, NYTImes, 9 Jun 2017)
> ITER: A dream of clean energy at a very high price (Fountain, NYTimes, 27 Mar 2017)
> Dying robots and failed hope: Fukushima cleanup falters six years after tsunami (McCurry, The Guardian, 9 Mar 2017)
> The murky future of nuclear energy in the US (Cardwell, NYTimes, 18 Feb 2017)
> This new technology could save the troubled nuclear power industry (Carlson, The Guardian, 16 Oct 2016)
> VIDEO: Into eternity (Finland's underground nuclear storage, 2016)
> Could next-gen reactors spark revival in nuclear power (Kock, National Geographic, 24 Jul 2015)
> France loses enthusiasm for nuclear power (Irfan, Scientific American, 29 Jun 2015)
> MOVIE: Pandora's Promise (2014)
> Pandora's false promises: busting the pro-nuclear propaganda (Gunter, Beyond Nuclear, Aug 2013)
> A new way to do nuclear (Cook, New Yorker, 13 Jun 2013)
> The French connection: comparing French and American civilian nuclear energy programs (Sastry and Siegel, Stanford Journal of International
Relations, Spring 2010)
> Why the French like nuclear power (Palfreman, Frontline, PBS)
> NuScale Design Innovations
> Nuclear slower and pricier than renewables, says anti-nuclear report (Grady, Ars Technica, 27 Sep 2019)
> Nuclear power offers an abundant supply of low-carbon energy. But what to do with the deadly radioactive waste? (Vidal, Ensia, 31 Jul 2019)
> France to retire 14 nuclear reactors while Japan restarts 5 of its reactors (Guess, Ars Technica, 29 Nov 2018)
> Moltex molten salt reactor being built in New Brunswick Canada (Wang, Next Big Future, 19 Jul 2018)
> A nuclear start up will fold after failing to deliver reactors that run on spent fuel (Temple, MIT Technology Review, 25 Sep 2018)
> Documentary: The New Fire (follows young teams of nuclear engineers designing reactors in response to climate change)
> Can we make a nuclear reactor that won't melt down? (Conca, Forbes, 24 Jan 2018)
> The nuclear power plant of the future may be floating near Russia (Kramer, NYTimes, 26 Aug 2018)
> Experts voice safety concerns about new pebble-bed nuclear reactors (Cell Press, Science Daily, 23 Aug 2018)
> Nuclear accident sends 'harmless' radioactive cloud over Europe (Sample and Willsher, The Guardian, 10 Nov 2017)
> Nuclear reimagined (Baker, Fitzpatrick, Estus, Third Way, 25 Oct 2017)
> On nuclear waste, Finland shows the US how it can be done (Fountain, NYTImes, 9 Jun 2017)
> ITER: A dream of clean energy at a very high price (Fountain, NYTimes, 27 Mar 2017)
> Dying robots and failed hope: Fukushima cleanup falters six years after tsunami (McCurry, The Guardian, 9 Mar 2017)
> The murky future of nuclear energy in the US (Cardwell, NYTimes, 18 Feb 2017)
> This new technology could save the troubled nuclear power industry (Carlson, The Guardian, 16 Oct 2016)
> VIDEO: Into eternity (Finland's underground nuclear storage, 2016)
> Could next-gen reactors spark revival in nuclear power (Kock, National Geographic, 24 Jul 2015)
> France loses enthusiasm for nuclear power (Irfan, Scientific American, 29 Jun 2015)
> MOVIE: Pandora's Promise (2014)
> Pandora's false promises: busting the pro-nuclear propaganda (Gunter, Beyond Nuclear, Aug 2013)
> A new way to do nuclear (Cook, New Yorker, 13 Jun 2013)
> The French connection: comparing French and American civilian nuclear energy programs (Sastry and Siegel, Stanford Journal of International
Relations, Spring 2010)
> Why the French like nuclear power (Palfreman, Frontline, PBS)
> NuScale Design Innovations
Nuclear fusion:
> Opinion: The fusion energy dream is inching toward planet-saving reality (Whyte, Washington Post, 8 Nov 2019)
> Scientists just got closer to making nuclear fusion work (Hutt and Breene, World Economic Forum, 14 May 2019)
> Fusion power is attracting private sector interest (The Economist, 4 May 2019)
> Nuclear fusion could rescue the planet from climate change (Asmundsson and Wade, Bloomberg Quint, 1 Oct 2019)
> United States should prepar to build a prototype fusion power plant, panel says (Cho, Science, 18 Dec 2018)
> Nuclear fusion on the brink of being realized, say MIT scientists (Devlin, The Guardian, 9 Mar 2018)
> + VIDEO: MIT achieves breakthrough in nuclear fusion (Bennett, Popular Mechanics, 28 Aug 2017)
> VIDEO: One step closer to nuclear fusion (MIT, 2016)
> TED: Nuclear fusion within reach (Labarge, 28 Aug 2014)
> How ICF (inertial confinement fusion) works (Lawrence Livermore Laboratories)
> VIDEO: How NIF works (30 Jun 2009, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories)
> General fusion: system animation (1 Aug 2013)
> Mousetrap fission (Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demo)
> Opinion: The fusion energy dream is inching toward planet-saving reality (Whyte, Washington Post, 8 Nov 2019)
> Scientists just got closer to making nuclear fusion work (Hutt and Breene, World Economic Forum, 14 May 2019)
> Fusion power is attracting private sector interest (The Economist, 4 May 2019)
> Nuclear fusion could rescue the planet from climate change (Asmundsson and Wade, Bloomberg Quint, 1 Oct 2019)
> United States should prepar to build a prototype fusion power plant, panel says (Cho, Science, 18 Dec 2018)
> Nuclear fusion on the brink of being realized, say MIT scientists (Devlin, The Guardian, 9 Mar 2018)
> + VIDEO: MIT achieves breakthrough in nuclear fusion (Bennett, Popular Mechanics, 28 Aug 2017)
> VIDEO: One step closer to nuclear fusion (MIT, 2016)
> TED: Nuclear fusion within reach (Labarge, 28 Aug 2014)
> How ICF (inertial confinement fusion) works (Lawrence Livermore Laboratories)
> VIDEO: How NIF works (30 Jun 2009, Lawrence Livermore Laboratories)
> General fusion: system animation (1 Aug 2013)
> Mousetrap fission (Harvard Natural Sciences Lecture Demo)