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Nuclear Energy
RAKESH KR. ATRI
Department of Environmental Sciences
University of Jammu

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Nuclear Energy Nuclear Energy

Nuclear energy is energy that can be released from the nucleus of an atom. There are  Civilian nuclear power supplied 2,586 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2019,
two ways to produce this energy, either by fission or fusion. equivalent to about 10% of global electricity generation, and was the second-largest
 Fission occurs when the atomic nucleus is split apart. low-carbon power source after hydroelectricity.
 Fusion is the result of combining two or more light nuclei into one heavier  As of January 2021, there are 442 civilian fission reactors in the world, with a
nucleus. combined electrical capacity of 392 gigawatt (GW).
 There are also 53 nuclear power reactors under construction and 98 reactors
At present Nuclear fission reaction can be controlled and are widely used for the planned, with a combined capacity of 60 GW and 103 GW, respectively.
electricity production world over. Nuclear fusion is still under experimental mode,
when controlled could be another abundant source for world primary energy supplies.  The United States has the largest fleet of nuclear reactors, generating over 800 TWh
zero-emissions electricity per year with an average capacity factor of 92%. Most
reactors under construction are generation III reactors in Asia.
 U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated
electricity worldover.
 Besides, more than 150 naval vessels using nuclear propulsion have been built.

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Nuclear power plant

 China has 25 nuclear power reactors under construction, with plans to build many  A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear
reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a
more, while in the US the licenses of almost half its reactors have been extended to steam turbine connected to a generator that produces electricity.
60 years, and plans to build another dozen are under serious consideration.  As of 2018, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported there were 450 nuclear
 However, Japan's 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster prompted a rethink of power reactors in operation in 30 countries around the world.
 Nuclear plants are usually considered to be base load stations since fuel is a small part of
nuclear energy policy in many countries. the cost of production and because they cannot be easily or quickly dispatched.
 Germany decided to close all its reactors by 2022, and Italy has banned nuclear  Their operations, maintenance, and fuel costs are at the low end of the spectrum, making
power. them suitable as base-load power suppliers. However, the cost of proper long term
radioactive waste storage is uncertain.
 Following Fukushima, the International Energy Agency halved its estimate of  Electricity was generated by a nuclear reactor for the first time ever on September 3, 1948,
additional nuclear generating capacity to be built by 2035. at the X-10 Graphite Reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, US which was the first nuclear power
station to power a light bulb. The second, rather larger experiment occurred on December
 As of June 2011, Germany and Switzerland are phasing-out nuclear power 20, 1951, at the EBR-I experimental station near Arco, Idaho.
 As of June 2011, countries such as Australia, Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy,  On June 27, 1954, the world's first nuclear power station to generate electricity for a power
Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand, grid, the Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, started operations in Obninsk of the Soviet Union.
 The world's first full scale power station, Calder Hall in the United Kingdom, opened on
and Norway remain opposed to nuclear power. October 17, 1956.

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Working of a Nuclear Power Plant Working of a Nuclear Power Plant

 The conversion to electrical energy takes place indirectly, as in conventional thermal power  Different isotopes have different behaviors. For instance, U-235 is fissile which means that
stations. it is easily split and gives off a lot of energy making it ideal for nuclear energy.
 The nuclear reactor is the heart of the station. In its central part, the reactor's core  On the other hand, U-238 does not have that property despite it being the same element.
produces heat due to nuclear fission which in turn heats the coolent. The coolant may be Different isotopes also have different half-lives.
water or gas, or even liquid metal, depending on the type of reactor.
 The reactor coolant then goes to a steam generator and heats water to produce steam. The  A half-life is the amount of time it takes for half of a sample of a radioactive element to
pressurized steam is then usually fed to a multi-stage steam turbine. After the steam decay. U-238 has a longer half-life than U-235, so it takes longer to decay over time. This
turbine has expanded and partially condensed the steam, the remaining vapor is condensed also means that U-238 is less radioactive than U-235.
in a condenser.  Since nuclear fission creates radioactivity, the reactor core is surrounded by a protective
 The condenser is a heat exchanger which is connected to a secondary side such as a river or shield. This containment absorbs radiation and prevents radioactive material from being
a cooling tower. The water is then pumped back into the steam generator and the cycle released into the environment.
begins again.
 In addition, many reactors are equipped with a dome of concrete to protect the reactor
 Nuclear reactors usually rely on uranium to fuel the chain reaction. Uranium is a very heavy against both internal casualties and external impacts.
metal that is abundant on Earth and is found in sea water as well as most rocks.
 Naturally occurring uranium is found in two different isotopes: uranium-238 (U-238),  The purpose of the steam turbine is to convert the heat contained in steam into mechanical
accounting for 99.3% and uranium-235 (U-235) accounting for about 0.7%. Isotopes are energy. The engine house with the steam turbine is usually structurally separated from the
atoms of the same element with a different number of neutrons. Thus, U-238 has 146 main reactor building. It is aligned so as to prevent debris from the destruction of a turbine
neutrons and U-235 has 143 neutrons. in operation from flying towards the reactor.

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Proportions of the isotopes uranium-238 (blue) and uranium-235 (red) found in

The nuclear fuel cycle begins when uranium is mined, enriched, and natural uranium and in enriched uranium for different applications. Light water
manufactured into nuclear fuel (1), which is delivered to a nuclear power reactors use 3-5% enriched uranium, while CANDU reactors work with natural
plant. After use, the spent fuel is delivered to a reprocessing plant (2) or to a
final repository (3). In nuclear reprocessing 95% of spent fuel can potentially uranium.
be recycled to be returned to use in a power plant (4).

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Working of a Nuclear Power Plant Boiling water reactor

 In the case of a pressurized water reactor, the steam turbine is separated from the nuclear system. To  A boiling water reactor (BWR) is a type of
detect a leak in the steam generator and thus the passage of radioactive water at an early stage, an light water nuclear reactor used for the
activity meter is mounted to track the outlet steam of the steam generator. generation of electrical power.
 It is the second most common type of
 In contrast, boiling water reactors pass radioactive water through the steam turbine, so the turbine is electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the
kept as part of the radiologically controlled area of the nuclear power station. pressurized water reactor (PWR), which is
 The electric generator converts mechanical power supplied by the turbine into electrical power. also a type of light water nuclear reactor.
Low-pole AC synchronous generators of high rated power are used. A cooling system removes heat  The main difference between a BWR and PWR
from the reactor core and transports it to another area of the station, where the thermal energy can is that in a BWR, the reactor core heats water,
be harnessed to produce electricity or to do other useful work. Typically the hot coolant is used as a which turns to steam and then drives a steam
heat source for a boiler, and the pressurized steam from that drives one or more steam turbine turbine.
driven electrical generators.  In a PWR, the reactor core heats water, which
 In the event of an emergency, safety valves can be used to prevent pipes from bursting or the reactor does not boil. This hot water then exchanges
from exploding. The valves are designed so that they can derive all of the supplied flow rates with heat with a lower pressure water system,
little increase in pressure. In the case of the BWR, the steam is directed into the suppression chamber which turns to steam and drives the turbine.
and condenses there. The chambers on a heat exchanger are connected to the intermediate cooling  The BWR was developed by the Argonne
circuit. National Laboratory and General Electric (GE)
 The main condenser is a large cross-flow shell and tube heat exchanger that takes wet vapor, a in the mid-1950s. The main present
mixture of liquid water and steam at saturation conditions, from the turbine-generator exhaust and manufacturer is GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy,
condenses it back into sub-cooled liquid water so it can be pumped back to the reactor by the which specializes in the design and
condensate and feedwater pumps. construction of this type of reactor.

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BWR Pressurized water reactor

 A boiling water reactor uses
demineralized water as a coolant and
 A pressurized water reactor
neutron moderator. Heat is produced (PWR) is a type of light-
by nuclear fission in the reactor core, water nuclear reactor. PWRs
and this causes the cooling water to constitute the large majority
boil, producing steam. of the world's nuclear power
 The steam is directly used to drive a plants (with notable
turbine, after which it is cooled in a exceptions being the UK,
condenser and converted back to Japan and Canada).
liquid water. This water is then
 In a PWR, the primary
returned to the reactor core,
coolant (water) is pumped
completing the loop.
under high pressure to the
 The cooling water is maintained at about 75 atm (7.6 MPa, 1000–1100 psi) so that it boils in the core at reactor core where it is
about 285 °C (550 °F). In comparison, there is no significant boiling allowed in a pressurized water
reactor (PWR) because of the high pressure maintained in its primary loop—approximately 158 atm heated by the energy
(16 MPa, 2300 psi). released by the fission of
 The core damage frequency of the reactor was estimated to be between 10−4 and 10−7 (i.e., one core atoms.
damage accident per every 10,000 to 10,000,000 reactor years)

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Pressurized water reactor Pressurized water reactor

 The heated, high pressure water  PWRs were originally designed to serve as nuclear marine propulsion for nuclear
then flows to a steam generator,
where it transfers its thermal submarines and were used in the original design of the second commercial power
energy to lower pressure water of a plant at Shipping port Atomic Power Station.
secondary system where steam is  Several hundred PWRs are used for marine propulsion in aircraft carriers, nuclear
generated.
submarines and ice breakers. In the US, they were originally designed at the Oak
 The steam then drives turbines,
which spin an electric generator. In
Ridge National Laboratory for use as a nuclear submarine power plant with a fully
contrast to a boiling water reactor operational submarine power plant located at the Idaho National Laboratory.
(BWR), pressure in the primary  The United States Army Nuclear Power Program operated pressurized water
coolant loop prevents the water reactors from 1954 to 1974.
from boiling within the reactor.
 All light-water reactors use  The steam generated has other uses besides power generation. In nuclear ships and
ordinary water as both coolant and submarines, the steam is fed through a steam turbine connected to a set of speed
neutron moderator. Most use reduction gears to a shaft used for propulsion.
anywhere from two to four  Direct mechanical action by expansion of the steam can be used for a steam-
vertically mounted steam
generators; VVER reactors use powered aircraft catapult or similar applications. District heating by the steam is
horizontal steam generators. used in some countries and direct heating is applied to internal plant applications.

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Pressurized heavy-water reactor Breeder reactor

 A pressurized heavy-water reactor (PHWR) is a nuclear reactor that uses heavy  A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes.
water (deuterium oxide D2O) as its coolant and neutron moderator. PHWRs  Breeder reactors achieve this because their neutron economy is high enough to create more fissile
frequently use natural uranium as fuel, but sometimes also use very low enriched fuel than they use, by irradiation of a fertile material, such as uranium-238 or thorium-232, that is
loaded into the reactor along with fissile fuel.
uranium.
 Breeders were at first found attractive because they made more complete use of uranium fuel than
 The heavy water coolant is kept under pressure to avoid boiling, allowing it to reach light water reactors, but interest declined after the 1960s as more uranium reserves were found, and
higher temperature (mostly) without forming steam bubbles, exactly as for new methods of uranium enrichment reduced fuel costs.
pressurized water reactor.  A 'breeder' is simply a reactor designed for very high neutron economy with an associated
 While heavy water is very expensive to isolate from ordinary water (often referred conversion rate higher than 1.0. In principle, almost any reactor design could be tweaked to become
a breeder.
to as light water in contrast to heavy water), its low absorption of neutrons greatly
 Two broad categories of breeder designs are:
increases the neutron economy of the reactor, avoiding the need for enriched fuel.
 Fast breeder reactor (FBR) which use fast (i.e.: unmoderated) neutrons to breed fissile plutonium and possibly
 The high cost of the heavy water is offset by the lowered cost of using natural higher transuranics from fertile uranium-238. The fast spectrum is flexible enough that it can also breed fissile
uranium and/or alternative fuel cycles. As of the beginning of 2001, 31 PHWRs were uranium-233 from thorium, if desired.
in operation, having a total capacity of 16.5 GW(e), representing roughly 7.76% by  Thermal breeder reactor which use thermal-spectrum (i.e.: moderated) neutrons to breed fissile uranium-233
from thorium (thorium fuel cycle). Due to the behavior of the various nuclear fuels, a thermal breeder is thought
number and 4.7% by generating capacity of all current operating reactors. commercially feasible only with thorium fuel, which avoids the buildup of the heavier transuranics.

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Nuclear Power in India Nuclear fuel reserves

 Nuclear power is the fifth-largest source of electricity in India after coal, gas, hydroelectricity and  India's domestic uranium reserves are small and the country is dependent on uranium imports to fuel its
wind power. As of March 2018, India has 22 nuclear reactors in operation in 7 nuclear power plants, nuclear power industry. Since early 1990s, Russia has been a major supplier of nuclear fuel to India.
with a total installed capacity of 6,780 MW.  Due to dwindling domestic uranium reserves, electricity generation from nuclear power in India declined
by 12.83% from 2006 to 2008.
 Nuclear power produced a total of 35 TWh and supplied 3.22% of Indian electricity in 2017. 7 more
reactors are under construction with a combined generation capacity of 4,300 MW.  Following a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in September 2008 which allowed it to
commence international nuclear trade, India has signed bilateral deals on civilian nuclear energy
 In October 2010, India drew up a plan to reach a nuclear power capacity of 63 GW in 2032. However, technology cooperation with several other countries, including France, the United States, the United
following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster there have been numerous anti-nuclear protests at Kingdom, Canada, and South Korea. India has also uranium supply agreements with Russia, Mongolia,
proposed nuclear power plant sites. Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia. An Indian private company won a uranium exploration contract in
 There have been mass protests against the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Maharashtra and the Niger.
Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, and a proposed large nuclear power plant near  In March 2011 large deposits of uranium were discovered in the Tummalapalle belt and in the Bhima
Haripur was refused permission by the Government of West Bengal. basin at Gogi in Karnataka by the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) of
 A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has also been filed against the government’s civil nuclear India.
programme at the Supreme Court.  The Tummalapalle belt uranium reserves promises to be one of the world's top 20 uranium reserves
 Nuclear power in India has suffered from generally low capacity factors. As of 2017, the lifetime discoveries. 44,000 tonnes of natural uranium have been discovered in the belt so far, which is estimated
weighted energy availability factor of the Indian fleet is 63.5%. However, capacity factors have been to have three times that amount. The natural uranium deposits of the Bhima basin has better grade of
improving in recent years. The availability factor of Indian reactors was 69.4% in the years 2015- natural uranium ore, even though it is smaller than the Tummalapalle belt.
2017. One of the main reasons for the low capacity factors is lack of nuclear fuel.  In recent years, India has shown increased interest in thorium fuels and fuel cycles because of large
deposits of thorium (518,000 tonnes) in the form of monazite in beach sands as compared to very modest
 India has been making advances in the field of thorium-based fuels, working to design and develop a reserves of low-grade uranium (92,000 tonnes).
prototype for an atomic reactor using thorium and low-enriched uranium, a key part of India's three
stage nuclear power programme done in the fusion power area through the ITER initiative.  Kazakhstan is the largest supplier of uranium to India providing 5,000 tonnes during 2015-19.

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Nuclear agreements with other nations Nuclear agreements with other nations
 As of 2016, India has signed civil nuclear agreements with 14 countries: Argentina, Australia,  The Prime Ministers of India and Canada signed a civil nuclear cooperation agreement in Toronto on 28 June
Canada, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Namibia, Russia, South Korea, the 2010 which when all steps are taken, will provide access for Canada's nuclear industry to India's expanding
United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam. nuclear market and also fuel for India's reactors. Canada is one of the world's largest exporters of uranium
and Canada's heavy water nuclear technology is marketed abroad with CANDU-type units operating in India,
 The 48-nation NSG granted a waiver to India on 6 September 2008 allowing it to access civilian Pakistan, Argentina, South Korea, Romania and China. On 6 November 2012, India and Canada finalised their
nuclear technology and fuel from other countries. India is the only country with known nuclear 2010 nuclear export agreement, opening the way for Canada to begin uranium exports to India.
weapons which is not a party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) but is still allowed to carry out  On 16 April 2011, India and Kazakhstan signed an inter-governmental agreement for Cooperation in Peaceful
nuclear commerce with the rest of the world. Uses of Atomic Energy, that envisages a legal framework for supply of fuel, construction and operation of
 India and Mongolia signed a crucial civil nuclear agreement on 15 June 2009 for supply of Uranium atomic power plants, exploration and joint mining of uranium, exchange of scientific and research
to India, during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Mongolia making it the fifth nation in the information, reactor safety mechanisms and use of radiation technologies for healthcare.
world to seal a civil nuclear pact with India. The MoU on "development of cooperation in the field of  South Korea became the latest country to sign a nuclear agreement with India after it got the waiver from the
peaceful uses of radioactive minerals and nuclear energy" was signed by senior officials in the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) in 2008. On 25 July 2011 India and South Korea signed a nuclear agreement,
department of atomic energy of the two countries. which will allow South Korea with a legal foundation to participate in India’s nuclear expansion programme,
and to bid for constructing nuclear power plants in India.
 On 2 September 2009, India and Namibia signed five agreements, including one on civil nuclear
energy which allows for supply of uranium from the African country.  In 2014, India and Australia signed a civil nuclear agreement which allows the export of uranium to India.
This was signed in New Delhi during Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott's meeting with the Indian Prime
 Namibia is the fifth largest producer of uranium in the world. The Indo-Namibian agreement in Minister Narendra Modi on 4 September 2014. Australia is the third largest producer of uranium in the
peaceful uses of nuclear energy allows for supply of uranium and setting up of nuclear reactors. world. The agreement allows supply of uranium for peaceful generation of power for civil use in India.
 On 14 October 2009, India and Argentina signed an agreement in New Delhi on civil nuclear  India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UK Prime Minister David Cameron signed Civil Nuclear Agreement
cooperation and nine other pacts to establish strategic partnership. on 12 Nov 2015.

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Reactor agreements Nuclear power plans

 After the Nuclear Suppliers Group agreed to allow nuclear exports to India, France was the first country to sign  As of 2009, India envisages to increase the contribution of nuclear power to overall electricity generation capacity from 2.8% to 9%
a civilian nuclear agreement with India, on 30 September 2008. During the December 2010 visit of the French within 25 years.
President Nicolas Sarkozy to India, framework agreements were signed for the setting up two third-generation
EPR reactors of 1650 MW each at Jaitapur, Maharashtra by the French company Areva.  By 2020, India's installed nuclear power generation capacity was expected to increase to 20 GW. But the 2020 capacity will not exceed
 The deal caters for the first set of two of six planned reactors and the supply of nuclear fuel for 25 years. The 7 GW, as the 2018 operating capacity is 6.2 GW, and only one more reactor is expected on line before 2020.
contract and pricing is yet to be finalised. Construction is unlikely to start before 2014 because of regulatory
issues and difficulty in sourcing major components from Japan due to India not being a signatory to the Nuclear  As of 2018, India stands 13th in the world in terms nuclear capacity. Indigenous atomic reactors include TAPS-3, and -4, both of which
Non-Proliferation Treaty. are 540 MW reactors.
 In November 2016 Japan signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with India. Japanese nuclear plant builders  India has already been using imported enriched uranium for light-water reactors that are currently under IAEA safeguards, but it has
saw this as potential lifeline given that domestic orders had ended following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear developed other aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle to support its reactors. Development of select technologies has been strongly affected
disaster, and India is proposing to build about 20 new reactors over the next decade. by limited imports. Use of heavy water reactors has been particularly attractive for the nation because it allows Uranium to be burnt
 Russia has an ongoing agreement of 1988 vintage with India regarding establishing of two VVER 1000 MW with little to no enrichment capabilities.
reactors (water-cooled water-moderated light water power reactors) at Koodankulam in Tamil Nadu.
 India has also done a great amount of work in the development of a thorium centred fuel cycle. While uranium deposits in the nation
 A 2008 agreement caters for provision of an additional four third generation VVER-1200 reactors of capacity are limited there are much greater reserves of thorium and it could provide hundreds of times the energy with the same mass of fuel.
1170 MW each. Russia has assisted in India’s efforts to design a nuclear plant for its nuclear submarine.
 In 2009, the Russians stated that Russia would not agree to curbs on export of sensitive technology to India. A  The fact that thorium can theoretically be utilised in heavy water reactors has tied the development of the two. A prototype reactor
new accord signed in Dec 2009 with Russia gives India freedom to proceed with the closed fuel cycle, which that would burn Uranium-Plutonium fuel while irradiating a thorium blanket is under construction at Kalpakkam by BHAVINI.
includes mining, preparation of the fuel for use in reactors, and reprocessing of spent fuel.  Uranium used for the weapons programme has been separated from the power programme, using uranium from indigenous reserves.
 In October 2018, India and Russia signed an agreement to construct 6 nuclear reactors. Russian state-owned This domestic reserve of 80,000 to 112,000 tons of uranium (approx 1% of global uranium reserves) is large enough to supply all of
reactor manufacturer Rosatom stated that it would offer its third-generation VVER reactors. India's commercial and military reactors as well as supply all the needs of India's nuclear weapons arsenal. Currently, India's nuclear
power reactors consume, at most, 478 tonnes of uranium per year.

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Nuclear power plans Nuclear power plants in India

 Even if India were quadruple its nuclear power output (and reactor base) to 20 GW by 2020, nuclear power generation would
only consume 2000 tonnes of uranium per annum. Based on India's known commercially viable reserves of 80,000 to 112,000
tons of uranium, this represents a 40–50 years uranium supply for India's nuclear power reactors (note with reprocessing and
breeder reactor technology, this supply could be stretched out many times over).
 Furthermore, the uranium requirements of India's Nuclear Arsenal are only a fifteenth (1/15) of that required for power
generation (approx. 32 tonnes), meaning that India's domestic fissile material supply is more than enough to meet all needs
for it strategic nuclear arsenal. Therefore, India has sufficient uranium resources to meet its strategic and power requirements
for the foreseeable future.
 Former Indian President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam stated while he was in office that, "energy independence is India's first and
highest priority. India has to go for nuclear power generation in a big way using thorium-based reactors. Thorium, a non-
fissile material is available in abundance in our country."
 The long-term goal of India's nuclear program has been to develop an advanced heavy-water thorium cycle.
 The first stage of this employs the pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWR) fueled by natural uranium, and light water reactors, which produce plutonium
incidentally to their prime purpose of electricity generation.
 The second stage uses fast neutron reactors burning the plutonium with the blanket around the core having uranium as well as thorium, so that further plutonium
(ideally high-fissile Pu) is produced as well as U-233. The Atomic Minerals Directorate (AMD) has identified almost 12 million tonnes of monazite resources
(typically with 6-7% thorium).
 In stage 3, Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWR) would burn thorium-plutonium fuels in such a manner that breeds U-233 which can eventually be used as a
self-sustaining fissile driver for a fleet of breeding AHWRs. An alternative stage 3 is molten salt breeder reactors (MSBR), which are believed to be another
possible option for eventual large-scale deployment.

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The possibility of nuclear fusion

 Scientists look forward to the discovery of a power source that is clean, safe,
universally available at all times to all people throughout the world, and that uses a
fuel that is abundant, cheap, and efficient.
 It would not contribute to global warming or air pollution, require large plants that
Nuclear Power would disrupt the natural environment, or produce dangerous by-products.
 To that end, some scientists conduct research into what is called ‘‘cold fusion.’’ Cold
in India fusion uses fuel that is commonly available from the hydrogen in water.
 However, governments have favored a more conventional approach to fusion at
extremely high temperatures.
 In 2005, Cadarache in France was chosen as the site for the International
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. This will be built as a cooperative venture
between the EU, U.S., Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea.
 This is a major step in the development of fusion as a potential large-scale source of
electricity that will not contribute to climate change.

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Nuclear fusion Benefits of Nuclear Energy

 Several experimental nuclear fusion reactors and
The benefits of nuclear energy include the following:
facilities exist. The largest and most ambitious
international nuclear fusion project currently in Nuclear power has one of the lowest levels of fatalities per unit of energy
progress is ITER, a large tokamak under generated compared to other energy sources.
construction in France. Coal, petroleum, natural gas and hydroelectricity each have caused more fatalities
 ITER is planned to pave the way for commercial per unit of energy due to air pollution and accidents.
fusion power by demonstrating self-sustained Since its commercialization in the 1970s, nuclear power has prevented about 1.84
nuclear fusion reactions with positive energy
gain. Construction of the ITER facility began in
million air pollution-related deaths and the emission of about 64 billion tonnes of
2007, but the project has run into many delays carbon dioxide equivalent that would have otherwise resulted from the burning of
and budget overruns. fossil fuels.
 The facility is now not expected to begin A typical nuclear power plant produces 1,000 megawatts, or 1 billion watts, of
operations until the year 2027–11 years after electricity.
initially anticipated. To provide power equivalent to that of nuclear power plants, immense numbers of
 Commercial power production was still believed Schematic of the ITER tokamak
under construction in France. large wind farms would have to be built.
to be unlikely before 2050.

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Nuclear energy is reliable. Cost

 In contrast to most other forms of alternative energy, nuclear energy can be The price of nuclear fuel remains relatively constant, and its sources remain relatively
provided on a consistent, predictable basis nearly anywhere in the world. consistent.
 Uranium is mined extensively in about twenty countries throughout the world.
 It is not subject to weather conditions.
 In contrast, the world’s petroleum reserves are in the hands of a small number of countries.
 In contrast, solar power requires consistent sunshine, so not all areas are suitable  Many of these countries are politically unstable.
for solar power.  As the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s showed, oil supplies to the United States and other
 Wind power has similar limitations. countries can be cut off overnight for political reasons.
Nuclear power plants have a low impact on the environment.
 Hydroelectric dams provide large amounts of power worldwide, but the number of
 A chief advantage of nuclear power is that it does not require the burning of fossil fuels such as
rivers that remain suitable for damming is limited. coal. Thus, it is cleaner than fossil fuels and does not contribute to pollution.
 Such alternatives as ocean wave power and tidal power are likewise limited by
geography and unpredictable weather patterns.

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Fuel supply Safety

The supply of fuel for nuclear power is abundant.  Nuclear power plants are safe.

 Uranium exists throughout the Earth’s crust, although in some places, it can be mined more
 As of late 2005 the only deaths that have ever resulted from a nuclear power plant
easily than in others.
 Scientists estimate that the amount of uranium known to be readily available is enough to last accident occurred at the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine.
fifty years.  Nuclear experts, though, note that the design of the Chernobyl plant was extremely
 Scientists are confident that more intensive searching will yield abundant new reserves of outdated and that the plant was not very well constructed.
uranium.  They believe that the kind of accident that happened at Chernobyl is much less
 While uranium is not renewable, as wind and solar power are, enough probably exists for many likely with more modern and better built plants.
centuries to come.
 Further, nuclear plants produce plutonium as a by-product of the nuclear reaction. This
plutonium can be reprocessed into fuel.

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Fuel reserves and research capability Fuel reserves and research capability
 According to a report issued by the IAEA, India has limited uranium reserves, consisting of approximately  It was further clarified in the country's parliament on 21 March 2012 that, "Out of nearly 100 deposits of the
54,636 tonnes of "reasonably assured resources", 25,245 tonnes of "estimated additional resources", heavy minerals, at present only 17 deposits containing about 4 million tonnes of monazite have been identified
15,488 tonnes of "undiscovered conventional resources, and 17,000 tonnes of "speculative resources". as exploitable. Mine-able reserves are ~70% of identified exploitable resources. Therefore, about 225,000
According to NPCIL, these reserves are only sufficient to generate about 10 GWe for about 40 years. tonnes of thorium metal is available for nuclear power program."
 In July 2011, it was reported that a four-year-long mining survey done at Tummalapalle mine in Kadapa  India is a leader of thorium based research. It is also by far the most committed nation as far as the use of
district near Hyderabad had yielded confirmed reserve figure of 49,000 tonnes with a potential that it thorium fuel is concerned, and no other country has done as much neutron physics work on thorium. The
could rise to 150,000 tonnes. This was a rise from an earlier estimate of 15,000 tonnes for that area. country published about twice the number of papers on thorium as its nearest competitors during each of the
 Although India has only around 1–2% of the global uranium reserves, thorium reserves are bigger; around years from 2002 to 2006.
12–33% of global reserves, according to IAEA and US Geological Survey.
 Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) had the highest number of publications in the thorium area, across all
 Several in-depth independent studies put Indian thorium reserves at 30% of the total world thorium research institutions in the world during the period 1982–2004. During this same period, India ranks an overall
reserves. second behind the United States in the research output on Thorium. Analysis shows that majority of the authors
 Indian uranium production is constrained by government investment decisions rather than by any involved in thorium research publications appear to be from India.
shortage of ore.
 According to Siegfried Hecker, a former director (1986–1997) of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the
 As per official estimates shared in the country's Parliament in August 2011, the country can obtain United States, "India has the most technically ambitious and innovative nuclear energy programme in the world.
846,477 tonnes of thorium from 963,000 tonnes of ThO2, which in turn can be obtained from 10.7 million The extent and functionality of its nuclear experimental facilities are matched only by those in Russia and are
tonnes of monazite occurring in beaches and river sands in association with other heavy metals.
far ahead of what is left in the US."
 Indian monazite contains about 9–10% ThO2. The 846,477 tonne figure compares with the earlier
estimates for India, made by IAEA and US Geological Survey of 319,000 tonnes and 290,000 to 650,000  However, conventional uranium-fueled reactors are much cheaper to operate; so India imports large quantities
tonnes respectively. The 800,000 tonne figure is given by other sources as well. of uranium from abroad. Also, in March 2011, large deposits of uranium were discovered in the Tummalapalle
belt in the southern part of the Kadapa basin in Andhra Pradesh.

37 38

India's three-stage nuclear power programme Origin and rationale

 India's three-stage nuclear power programme was formulated by Homi Bhabha in the 1950s to secure the  Homi Bhabha conceived of the three-stage
country's long term energy independence, through the use of uranium and thorium reserves found in the
monazite sands of coastal regions of South India. The ultimate focus of the programme is on enabling the nuclear programme as a way to develop
thorium reserves of India to be utilised in meeting the country's energy requirements. nuclear energy by working around India's
 Thorium is particularly attractive for India, as it has only around 1–2% of the global uranium reserves, but limited uranium resources.
one of the largest shares of global thorium reserves at about 25% of the world's known thorium reserves
 Thorium itself is not a fissile material, and
 However, thorium is more difficult to use than uranium as a fuel because it requires breeding, and global
uranium prices remain low enough that breeding is not cost effective. thus cannot undergo fission to produce
 India published about twice the number of papers on thorium as its nearest competitors, during each of energy. Instead, it must be transmuted to
the years from 2002 to 2006. uranium-233 in a reactor fueled by other
 The Indian nuclear establishment estimates that the country could produce 500 GWe for at least four fissile materials.
centuries using just the country's economically extractable thorium reserves.
 The first two stages, natural uranium-fueled
 As of August 2014, India's first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor had been delayed – with first criticality
expected in 2015 – and India continued to import thousands of tonnes of uranium from Russia, heavy water reactors and plutonium-fueled
Kazakhstan, France, and Uzbekistan. fast breeder reactors, are intended to
 The 2005 Indo–US Nuclear Deal and the NSG waiver, which ended more than three decades of generate sufficient fissile material from
international isolation of the Indian civil nuclear programme, have created many hitherto unexplored Homi Jehangir Bhabha, the founding Chairman of
India's limited uranium resources, so that all
alternatives for the success of the three-stage nuclear power programme. India's Atomic Energy Commission and the
its vast thorium reserves can be fully utilised architect of Indian three-stage (thorium)
in the third stage of thermal breeder reactors. programme

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Bhabha summarised the rationale for the three-stage approach as follows: Stage I – Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor
The total reserves of thorium in India amount to over 500,000 tons in the readily extractable form, while the  In the first stage of the programme, natural uranium fueled pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWR) produce electricity while generating plutonium-239
known reserves of uranium are less than a tenth of this. The aim of long range atomic power programme in as by-product. PHWRs was a natural choice for implementing the first stage because it had the most efficient reactor design in terms of uranium utilisation,
and the existing Indian infrastructure in the 1960s allowed for quick adoption of the PHWR technology.
India must therefore be to base the nuclear power generation as soon as possible on thorium rather than  India correctly calculated that it would be easier to create heavy water production facilities (required for PHWRs) than uranium enrichment facilities
uranium… The first generation of atomic power stations based on natural uranium can only be used to start (required for LWRs). Natural uranium contains only 0.7% of the fissile isotope uranium-235. Most of the remaining 99.3% is uranium-238 which is not
fissile but can be converted in a reactor to the fissile isotope plutonium-239. Heavy water (deuterium oxide, D2O) is used as moderator and coolant.
off an atomic power programme… The plutonium produced by the first generation power stations can be  Since the program began, India has developed a series of sequentially larger PHWR's under the IPHWR series derived from the original canadian supplied
CANDU reactors. The IPHWR series consists of three designs of 220 MWe, 540 MWe and 700 MWe capacity under the designations IPHWR-220, IPHWR-
used in a second generation of power stations designed to produce electric power and convert thorium into 540 and IPHWR-700 respectively.
U-233, or depleted uranium into more plutonium with breeding gain… The second generation of power  Indian uranium reserves are capable of generating a total power capacity of 420 GWe-years, but the Indian government limited the number of PHWRs
fueled exclusively by indigenous uranium reserves, in an attempt to ensure that existing plants get a lifetime supply of uranium. US analysts calculate this
stations may be regarded as an intermediate step for the breeder power stations of the third generation all limit as being slightly over 13 GW in capacity. Several other sources estimate that the known reserves of natural uranium in the country permit only about
10 GW of capacity to be built through indigenously fueled PHWRs.
of which would produce more U-233 than they burn in the course of producing power.  The three-stage programme explicitly incorporates this limit as the upper cut off of the first stage, beyond which PHWRs are not planned to be built.
 Almost the entire existing base of Indian nuclear power (4780 MW) is composed of first stage PHWRs of the IPHWR series, with the exception of the two
Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) units at Tarapur. The installed capacity of Kaiga station is now 880 MW consisting of four 220 MWe IPHWR-220 reactors,
making it the third largest after Tarapur (1400 MW) (2 x BWR Mark-1, 2 x IPHWR-540) and Rawatbhata (1180 MW) (2 x CANDU, 2 x IPHWR-220).[
Energy resource type Amount (tonnes) Power potential (TWe-year)  The remaining three power stations at Kakrapar, Kalpakkam and Narora all have 2 units of 220 MWe, thus contributing 440 MW each to the grid. The 2
units of 700 MWe each (IPHWR-700) that are under construction at both Kakrapar and Rawatbhata, and the one planned for Banswara would also come
Coal 54 billion 11 under the first stage of the programme, totalling a further addition of 4200 MW. These additions will bring the total power capacity from the first stage
PHWRs to near the total planned capacity of 10 GW called for by the three-stage power programme.
Hydrocarbons 12 billion 6  Capital costs of PHWRs is in the range of Rs. 6 to 7 crore ($1.2 to $1.4 million) per MW, coupled with a designed plant life of 40 years. Time required for
construction has improved over time and is now at about 5 years. Tariffs of the operating plants are in the range of Rs. 1.75 to 2.80 per unit, depending on
the life of the reactor. In the year 2007–08 the average tariff was Rs. 2.28.
Uranium (in PHWR) 61,000 0.3–0.42  India is also working on the design of reactors based on the more efficient Pressurized Water Reactor technology derived from the work on the Arihant-
class submarine program to develop a 900 MWe IPWR-900 reactor platform to supplement the currently deployed PHWR's of the IPHWR series
Uranium (in FBR) 61,000 16–54
Thorium ~300,000 155–168 or 358

41 42

Stage II – Fast Breeder Reactor Doubling time

 In the second stage, fast breeder reactors (FBRs) would use a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel made from  Doubling time refers to the time required to extract as output, double the amount of fissile fuel,
plutonium-239, recovered by reprocessing spent fuel from the first stage, and natural uranium. In which was fed as input into the breeder reactors. This metric is critical for understanding the time
FBRs, plutonium-239 undergoes fission to produce energy, while the uranium-238 present in the durations that are unavoidable while transitioning from the second stage to the third stage of
mixed oxide fuel transmutes to additional plutonium-239. Thus, the Stage II FBRs are designed to Bhabha's plan, because building up a sufficiently large fissile stock is essential to the large
"breed" more fuel than they consume. Once the inventory of plutonium-239 is built up thorium can deployment of the third stage. In Bhabha's 1958 papers on role of thorium, he pictured a doubling
be introduced as a blanket material in the reactor and transmuted to uranium-233 for use in the time of 5–6 years for breeding U-233 in the Th–U233 cycle. This estimate has now been revised to 70
third stage. years due to technical difficulties that were unforeseen at the time.
 The surplus plutonium bred in each fast reactor can be used to set up more such reactors, and might  Despite such setbacks, according to publications done by DAE scientists, the doubling time of fissile
thus grow the Indian civil nuclear power capacity till the point where the third stage reactors using material in the fast breeder reactors can be brought down to about 10 years by choosing appropriate
thorium as fuel can be brought online, which is forecasted as being possible once 50 GW of nuclear technologies with short doubling time.
power capacity has been achieved.
 The uranium in the first stage PHWRs that yield 29 EJ of energy in the once-through fuel cycle, can be  Another report prepared for U.S. Department of Energy suggests a doubling time of 22 years for
made to yield between 65 and 128 times more energy through multiple cycles in fast breeder oxide fuel, 13 years for carbide fuel and 10 years for metal fuel.
reactors.
 The design of the country's first fast breeder, called Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR), was Fuel Type U238–Pu cycle Th–U233 cycle
done by Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR). Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Ltd
(Bhavini), a public sector company under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), has been given oxide 17.8 108
the responsibility to build the fast breeder reactors in India.[46][62] The construction of this PFBR at carbide-Lee[clarification needed] 10 50
Kalpakkam was due to be completed in 2012. It is not yet complete. A start date in 2019 has been
suggested. metal 8.5 75.1
carbide 10.2 70

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Stage III – Thorium Based Reactors Parallel approaches

 A Stage III reactor or an Advanced nuclear power system involves a self-sustaining series of thorium-  As there is a long delay before direct thorium utilisation in the three-stage
232–uranium-233 fuelled reactors.
programme, the country is looking at reactor designs that allow more direct use of
 This would be a thermal breeder reactor, which in principle can be refueled – after its initial fuel
charge – using only naturally occurring thorium. thorium in parallel with the sequential three-stage programme.
 According to the three-stage programme, Indian nuclear energy could grow to about 10 GW through  Three options under consideration are the Indian Accelerator Driven Systems
PHWRs fueled by domestic uranium, and the growth above that would have to come from FBRs till (IADS), Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) and Compact High Temperature
about 50GW. The third stage is to be deployed only after this capacity has been achieved. Reactor. Molten Salt Reactor may also be under consideration based on some recent
 According to replies given in Q&A in the Indian Parliament on two separate occasions, 19 August reports and is under development.
2010 and 21 March 2012, large scale thorium deployment is only to be expected "3–4 decades after
 Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)
the commercial operation of fast breeder reactors with short doubling time". Full exploitation of
India's domestic thorium reserves will likely not occur until after the year 2050.  Accelerator Driven System
 Indian Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (IMSBR)

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Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR)

Accelerator Driven System
 Of the options, the design for AHWR is ready for deployment. AHWR is a 300 MWe vertical pressure • India's Department of Atomic Energy and US's Fermilab are designing unique first-
tube type, boiling light water cooled and heavy water moderated reactor, using uranium233–thorium of-its-kind accelerator driven systems. No country has yet built an Accelerator
MOX and plutonium–thorium MOX.[80] It is expected to generate 65% of its power from thorium and
can also be configured to accept other fuel types in full core including enriched uranium and Driven System for power generation. Dr Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of the
uranium–plutonium MOX. Atomic Energy Commission called this a mega science project and a "necessity" for
 There was a plan for constructing such an AHWR with a plutonium–thorium core combination in humankind.
2007. This AHWR design was sent for an independent pre-licensing design safety review by the
Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), the results of which were deemed satisfactory. Indian Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (IMSBR)
 AHWR would offer very little growth for the fuel build up that is essential for wide deployment of the
third stage, and perhaps the impact on the accumulated fissile material could even be negative.
 The AHWR design that will be taken up for construction is to be fueled with 20% low enriched
• The Indian Molten Salt Breeder Reactor (IMSBR) is under development. Studies on
uranium (LEU) and 80% thorium. conceptual design of the Indian Molten Salt Breeder Reactors (IMSBR) have been
 The low enriched uranium (LEU) for this AHWR design is readily available on the world market. initiated.
 As of November 2011, construction will start after the site is identified in 6 months time. It will take
another 18 months to get clearances on regulatory and environmental grounds. Construction is
estimated to take six years.

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Linkages with the Indo–US nuclear deal Indian nuclear energy forecasts
 On the basis of the three-stage plan and assuming optimistic development times, some extravagant predictions about
 In spite of the overall adequacy of its uranium reserves, Indian power plants could nuclear power have been made over the years:
not get the necessary amount of uranium to function at full capacity in the late  Bhabha announced that there would be 8,000 MW of nuclear power in the country by 1980. As the years progressed,
these predictions were to increase. By 1962, the prediction was that nuclear energy would generate 20,000–25,000
2000s, primarily due to inadequate investments made in the uranium mining and MW by 1987, and by 1969, the AEC predicted that by 2000 there would be 43,500 MW of nuclear generating capacity.
All of this was before a single unit of nuclear electricity was produced in the country. Reality was quite different.
milling capacity resulting from fiscal austerity in the early 1990s. Installed capacity in 1979–80 was about 600 MW, about 950 MW in 1987, and 2720 MW in 2000.
 One study done for U.S. Congress in that time period reaches the conclusion, "India’s  In 2007, after five decades of sustained and generous government financial support, nuclear power's capacity was just
3,310 MW, less than 3% of India's total power generation capacity.
current fuel situation means that New Delhi cannot produce sufficient fuel for both  The Integrated Energy Policy of India estimates the share of nuclear power in the total primary energy mix to be
its nuclear weapons programme and its projected civil nuclear programme.“ between 4% to 6.4% in various scenarios by the year 2031–32. A study by the DAE, estimates that the nuclear energy
share will be about 8.6% by the year 2032 and 16.6% by the year 2052.
 An independent study arrives at roughly the same conclusion, "India’s current  The possible nuclear power capacity beyond the year 2020 has been estimated by DAE is shown in the table. The 63
GW expected by 2032 will be achieved by setting up 16 indigenous Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR), of
uranium production of less than 300 tons/year can meet at most, two-thirds of its which ten is to be based on reprocessed uranium. Out of the 63 GW, about 40 GW will be generated through the
needs for civil and military nuclear fuel.“ imported Light Water Reactors (LWR), made possible after the NSG waiver.
 Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated in 2009 that the nation could generate up to 470 GW of power by 2050
 This uranium shortfall during the deal negotiations was understood by both players if it managed the three-stage program well. "This will sharply reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and will be a
major contribution to global efforts to combat climate change", he reportedly said.
to be a temporary aberration that was poised to be resolved with requisite
 According to plan, 30% of the Indian electricity in 2050 will be generated from thorium based reactors. Indian nuclear
investments in India's uranium milling infrastructure scientists estimate that the country could produce 500 GWe for at least four centuries using just the country's
economically extractable thorium reserves.

49 50

Radiation
Drawbacks
 The average dose from natural background radiation is 2.4 millisievert per year
 Despite its many benefits, nuclear power has significant drawbacks as well. (mSv/a) globally. It varies between 1 mSv/a and 13 mSv/a, depending mostly on the
 Throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium, scientists, environmentalists, and the public geology of the location. According to the United Nations (UNSCEAR), regular
have focused more of their attention on these drawbacks. nuclear power plant operations, including the nuclear fuel cycle, increases this
 As a result, nuclear power has become an emotional political issue. Its opponents are passionate amount by 0.0002 mSv/a of public exposure as a global average.
in their belief that nuclear power poses a significant danger to the world. Some of their concerns  The average dose from operating nuclear power plants to the local populations
include the following. around them is less than 0.0001 mSv/a. For comparison, the average dose to those
living within 50 miles of a coal power plant is over three times this dose, at 0.0003
mSv/a.
 Chernobyl resulted in the most affected surrounding populations and male recovery
personnel receiving an average initial 50 to 100 mSv over a few hours to weeks,
while the remaining global legacy of the worst nuclear power plant accident in
average exposure is 0.002 mSv/a and is continually dropping at the decaying rate,
from the initial high of 0.04 mSv per person averaged over the entire populace of
the Northern Hemisphere in the year of the accident in 1986.

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Catastrophic accident Three Mile Island

 Occurred March 28, 1979, malfunction of a valve resulted in partial core meltdown,
 The potential for a catastrophic accident continues to exist. The world’s nuclear Intense radiation released to interior of containment structure, small amount of
power plants have accumulated a total of about twelve thousand years of operation. radiation released into environment
 The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown which occurred at
 Supporters of nuclear power point out that far more people lose their lives in the Three Mile Island power plant in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States
accidents at conventional power plants in one year than have lost their lives in on March 28, 1979.
nuclear accidents.  It was the worst accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history, and
resulted in the release of small amounts of radioactive gases and radioactive iodine
into the environment.
 Early scientific publications on the health effects of the fallout estimated one or two
additional cancer deaths in the 10 mi (16 km) area around TMI.
 A variety of studies have been unable to conclude that the accident had substantial
health effects.

53 54

Chernobyl Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

 The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear  The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is a series of equipment failures, nuclear
accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. It is the
USSR), which was under the direct jurisdiction of largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.
the central authorities in Moscow.  A few of the plant's workers were severely injured or killed by the disaster
 An explosion and fire released large quantities of conditions resulting from the earthquake.
radioactive contamination into the atmosphere,
which spread over much of Western USSR and  There were no immediate deaths due to direct radiation exposures, but at least six
Europe. workers have exceeded lifetime legal limits for radiation and more than 300 have
received significant radiation doses.
 It is widely considered to have been the worst nuclear power plant accident in history, and  Future cancer deaths due to accumulated radiation exposures in the population
is one of only two classified as a level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale (the
other being the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster). living near Fukushima have ranged from none to 100 to a non-peer-reviewed
 30 km zone surrounding Chernobyl evacuated "guesstimate“ of 1,000.
 City of Prypyat, pop. 48,000 at time of accident, now a ghost city.  Fear of ionizing radiation could have long-term psychological effects on a large
 Thyroid cancer increased in Belarus, Ukraine and the Russian Federation, Trees and portion of the population in the contaminated areas.
vegetation damaged, Ultimately be responsible for 16,000 deaths

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Nuclear waste High-Level Radioactive Waste

 The normal operation of nuclear power plants and facilities produce radioactive • Consists of commercial and military spent nuclear fuel
waste, or nuclear waste. This type of waste is also produced during plant – Uranium and plutonium derived from military reprocessing
decommissioning. – Other nuclear weapons material
 The most important waste stream from nuclear power plants is spent nuclear fuel.
It is primarily composed of unconverted uranium as well as significant quantities of • Extremely toxic
transuranic actinides (plutonium and curium, mostly). In addition, about 3% of it is – Sense of urgency surround its disposal
fission products from nuclear reactions. – Total volume of spent fuel accumulating
 The actinides (uranium, plutonium, and curium) are responsible for the bulk of the • A comprehensive geologic disposal development program should have the following
long-term radioactivity, whereas the fission products are responsible for the bulk of objectives.
the short-term radioactivity – Identification of sites that meet broad geologic criteria.
 There are two broad categories of nuclear waste: low-level waste and high-level – Intense subsurface exploration of possible sites.
waste. The first has low radioactivity and includes contaminated items such as – Predictions of future changes to sites
clothing, which poses limited threat. High-level waste is mainly the spent fuel from – Evaluation of risk associated with various predictions.
nuclear reactors, which is very radioactive and must be cooled and then safely – Political decision making based on risks acceptable to society.
disposed of or reprocessed.

57 58

High-level waste High-level waste

 The most important waste stream from nuclear power reactors is spent nuclear fuel, which  Thermal-neutron reactors, which presently constitute the majority of the world fleet,
is considered high-level waste. For LWRs, spent fuel is typically composed of 95% uranium, cannot burn up the reactor grade plutonium that is generated during the reactor operation.
4% fission products, and about 1% transuranic actinides (mostly plutonium, neptunium This limits the life of nuclear fuel to a few years. In some countries, such as the United
and americium). States, spent fuel is classified in its entirety as a nuclear waste.
 The plutonium and other transuranics are responsible for the bulk of the long-term  In other countries, such as France, it is largely reprocessed to produce a partially recycled
radioactivity, whereas the fission products are responsible for the bulk of the short-term fuel, known as mixed oxide fuel or MOX. For spent fuel that does not undergo reprocessing,
radioactivity. the most concerning isotopes are the medium-lived transuranic elements, which are led by
 High-level waste requires treatment, management, and isolation from the environment. reactor-grade plutonium (half-life 24,000 years).
These operations present considerable challenges due to the extremely long periods these  Some proposed reactor designs, such as the Integral Fast Reactor and molten salt reactors,
materials remain potentially hazardous to living organisms. can use as fuel the plutonium and other actinides in spent fuel from light water reactors,
 This is due to long-lived fission products (LLFP), such as technetium-99 (half-life 220,000 thanks to their fast fission spectrum. This offers a potentially more attractive alternative to
years) and iodine-129 (half-life 15.7 million years). LLFP dominate the waste stream in deep geological disposal.
terms of radioactivity, after the more intensely radioactive short-lived fission products  The thorium fuel cycle results in similar fission products, though creates a much smaller
(SLFPs) have decayed into stable elements, which takes approximately 300 years. proportion of transuranic elements from neutron capture events within a reactor. Spent
 After about 500 years, the waste becomes less radioactive than natural uranium ore. thorium fuel, although more difficult to handle than spent uranium fuel, may present
Commonly suggested methods to isolate LLFP waste from the biosphere include separation somewhat lower proliferation risks
and transmutation, synroc treatments, or deep geological storage.

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Low-level waste
Dry cask storage vessels storing
spent nuclear fuel assemblies
 Contains sufficiently low concentrations that it does not present a significant
environmental hazard, If handled properly, and includes
(a) a variety of residual and solutions from processing, solid and liquid plant waste, sledges, and
acids, slightly contaminated equipment
(b) contaminated items like clothing, hand tools, water purifier resins, and (upon decommissioning)
the materials of which the reactor itself is built.

 Low-level waste can be stored on-site until radiation levels are low enough to be
disposed of as ordinary waste, or it can be sent to a low-level waste disposal site
where it is buried in near surface burial areas
 Where geologic and hydrologic conditions thought to limit migration
Nuclear waste flasks generated by the United States
during the Cold War are stored underground at the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The facility is
seen as a potential demonstration for storing spent fuel
from civilian reactors.

61 62

Depleted uranium
 Depleted uranium is uranium with a lower content of the fissile isotope U-235 than natural
uranium. (Natural uranium is about 99.27% U-238, 0.72% U-235—the fissle isotope, and
0.0055% U-234).
 Uses of DU take advantage of its very high density of 19.1 g/cm3 (68.4% denser than lead).
 Civilian uses include: counterweights in aircraft, radiation shielding in medical radiation
therapy and industrial radiography equipment and containers used to transport radioactive
materials.
 Military uses include defensive armor plating and armor-piercing projectiles.

Thank You
 Most depleted uranium arises as a byproduct of the production of enriched uranium for use
in nuclear reactors and in the manufacture of nuclear weapons.
 A 1999 literature review conducted by the Rand Corporation stated: "No evidence is
documented in the literature of cancer or any other negative health effect related to the
radiation received from exposure to depleted or natural uranium, whether inhaled or
ingested, even at very high doses

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Life cycle CO2 equivalent (including albedo effect) from selected electricity supply technologies according to
IPCC 2014.[3][4] Arranged by decreasing median (gCO2eq/kWh) values.
Technology Min. Median Max.
Currently commercially available technologies
Coal – PC 740 820 910
Gas – combined cycle 410 490 650
Biomass – Dedicated 130 230 420
Solar PV – Utility scale 18 48 180
Solar PV – rooftop 26 41 60
Geothermal 6.0 38 79
Concentrated solar power 8.8 27 63
Hydropower 1.0 24 22001
Wind Offshore 8.0 12 35
Nuclear 3.7 12 110
Wind Onshore 7.0 11 56
Pre-commercial technologies
Ocean (Tidal and wave) 5.6 17 28

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Brief History HOW NUCLEAR ENERGY WORKS

 Nuclear energy was first discovered in 1934 by Enrico Fermi.  Generating electricity through nuclear power is an enormously complex technical feat. It
 The first nuclear bombs were built in 1945 as a result of the infamous Manhattan Project. takes the combined skills of geologists (scientists who study Earth’s structure, especially
 The first plutonium bomb, code-named Trinity, was detonated on July 16, 1945 in New Mexico. rocks), mine operators, engineers, and scientists, as well as large numbers of highly trained
 On August 6th 1945 the first uranium bomb was detonated over Hiroshima. and skilled plant operators.
 Three days later a plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
 There is over 200,000 deaths associated with these detonations. Electricity wasn’t produced  Uranium
with nuclear energy until 1951.
 Producing nuclear power begins with the fuel, uranium. Uranium was discovered in 1789
by a German chemist, Martin Klaproth (1743–1817).
 He discovered uranium in a mineral called pitchblende. The element was named after the
planet Uranus, which had been discovered just eight years earlier.
 Scientists’ best guess is that uranium was formed in supernovas (or exploding stars) about
6.6 billion years ago. In the Earth, radioactive decay of uranium is the planet’s main source
of internal heat.
 Its density also makes it useful as a counterweight in such applications as airplane
rudders, and it makes a good radiation shield.

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Fission Reactors

 Split U-235 by neutron  First demonstrated in 1942 Led to development of nuclear energy to produce
bombardment electricity.
 Reaction produces neutrons, fission  Also power submarines, aircraft carriers, and icebreaker ships.
fragments and heat.  Nuclear fission produces much more energy than fossil fuels 1 kilogram of uranium
 Starts a chain reaction oxide produces heat equivalent to 16 metric tons of coal
 Steam produced runs a turbine that
generates electricity.
 Similar to coal or oil burning power Three types (isotopes) of uranium occur in nature
plants Uranium-238
Uranium-235 (only naturally occurring fissionable material)
Uranium-234
Enrichment necessary
Processing to increase concentration of U235

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Fast Breeder Reactors Current And Future Technology

 As opposed to current light water reactors which use uranium-235 (0.7% of all natural  Nuclear power plants come in many different shapes and designs. Many of the first
uranium), fast breeder reactors use uranium-238 (99.3% of all natural uranium). plants to be constructed were huge, enabling them to produce the greatest amount
 It has been estimated that there is up to five billion years' worth of uranium-238 for use in of power possible.
these power plants.
 Another alternative would be to use uranium-233 bred from thorium as fission fuel in the
 More recent designs are smaller, making them less costly and easier to build. But
thorium fuel cycle. despite their many technical and engineering differences, nuclear reactors come in
 Thorium is about 3.5 times more common than uranium in the Earth's crust, and has two basic types:
different geographic characteristics. This would extend the total practical fissionable  Pressurized water systems and
resource base by 450%.  Boiling water systems.
 Unlike the breeding of U-238 into plutonium, fast breeder reactors are not necessary — it
can be performed satisfactorily in more conventional plants. India has looked into this
technology, as it has abundant thorium reserves but little uranium.

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Pressurized water reactor system

 It relies on water under pressure to produce the heat needed to produce electricity.  The steam drives a turbine
generator that is little
 In such a system, the fuel rods are inserted into a steel pressure tank that contains
different in principle from a
ordinary water. The water acts as a coolant, but it also moderates the reaction
turbine used in a windmill
because it can absorb neutrons.
or a hydroelectric dam.
 As the control rods are slowly pulled out, the chain reaction begins.
 As the generator turns, it
 The reaction produces heat, which heats the water in the pressure tank. The water produces electricity.
heats to 518 Fahrenheit (270 Celsius).
 Meanwhile, the steam is
 The water does not boil, though, because it is under intense pressure. condensed, usually by cool
 The heated water is then channeled to a heat exchanger in a closed circuit. water from a lake or river,
 The water in the heat exchanger is then heated up, producing steam. and returned to the heat
exchanger.

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Boiling water reactor system Boiling water reactor system

 The other major system, the boiling water  The other major system, the boiling water reactor system, is more efficient than the
reactor system, is more efficient than the
pressurized water system. pressurized water system.
 One noticeable difference is that with a  One noticeable difference is that with a boiling water system, the control rods
boiling water system, the control rods protrude from the bottom of the containment chamber. Inside the chamber is the
protrude from the bottom of the
containment chamber. Inside the chamber is reactor core.
the reactor core.  The control rods are at the bottom because the water inside the chamber is allowed
 The control rods are at the bottom because to boil. The steam created by the boiling water is allowed to rise to the top of the
the water inside the chamber is allowed to
boil. The steam created by the boiling water chamber.
is allowed to rise to the top of the chamber.  Pipelines carry the steam directly to the turbines, where its heat causes them to
 Pipelines carry the steam directly to the turn to create electricity.
turbines, where its heat causes them to turn
to create electricity.  The steam then condenses and is channeled back into the containment chamber.
 The steam then condenses and is channeled
back into the containment chamber.

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