Nuclear Power

David C HowellRadiation Safety OfficerWake Forest UniversityBaptist Medical Center

1941-42

December 1941: The United States enters World War II when Japan bombs Pearl Harbor

September 1942: The Manhattan Project is formed to secretly build the atomic bomb before the Germans build one

August 1942: The first pure sample of plutonium was isolated

1942

By December, the first nuclear reactor was assembled in a squash court under the stands of Stagg Athletic Field at the University of Chicago; on December 2, 1942, the first atomic reactor was brought to criticality

November 1942: Los Alamos, NMis selected as the site for the

US atomic bomb laboratory

1942-45

1942-45: Oak Ridge National Laboratory is built in Oak Ridge, TN; plutonium production begins

1943-45: Hanford Site is built in Richland, WA; first reactor begins plutonium production in September 1944

April-May 1945: US troops liberate concentration camps; Germany surrenders

1945

July 16, 1945: US explodes

first atomic device near Alamagordo, NM

August 6 & 9, 1945: United States bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan

Late 1940s-50s

1946: Oak Ridge ships first nuclear reactor produced radioisotopes for civilian use to the Barnard Cancer Hospital in St. Louis

Dec. 20, 1951: Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 lighted these four bulbs with the world’s first usable amount of electricity from nuclear energy

1950s

1953: President Eisenhower proposes joint international cooperation to develop peaceful applications of nuclear energy in his “Atoms for Peace” speech

January 1954: The first nuclear powered submarine, USS Nautilus, is launched; was the first boat to visit the North Pole; steamed 500,000 miles in 25 years

Where is Uranium Found?

Canada

USA

Brazil

AustraliaNamibia

South Africa

Russia

MongoliaChina

KazakhstanUzbekistan

Niger

How is Uranium Processed?

World Dependence on Nuclear Power

Nuclear Energy 2001

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

US Nuclear Reactors

Pressurized Water Reactor

Three Mile Island - 1979

A minor reactor malfunction caused the temperature in the primary coolant to rise, automatically shutting down the reactor. Unfortunately, one of the relief valves failed to close and most of the primary coolant drained away, leaving the reactor core at a very high temperature. The fuel rods were damaged and radioactive material was released into the cooling water. No explosion resulted from this. The problem was contained in the reactor building, as designed. However, it did cause a lot of public concern and loss of confidence in the nuclear power industry.

Chernobyl - 1986

A power surge, during a test to determine how long the turbines would spin after a power loss, caused steam to lift the cover plate off the reactor, and an intense fire spread fission products into the atmosphere. This accident was caused by human error and a poorly designed and engineered reactor. The accident caused the deaths of 30 power plant employees and firemen, while another 134 emergency personnel experienced acute radiation sickness.

The Future?

1980 US population: 226,545,8052000 US population: 281,421,906 Increase of 54,876,101 people (~24.2% change)

No new nuclear power plants have been licensed or built since the early 1980s

Brownouts in California, increased electrical usage in Silicon Valley, PCs, warmer summers demand more A/C, etc.

Building gas turbine and fossil fuel plants; limits on solar/hydro/wind power

Politics & public opinion will determine nuclear power’s future in the US