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NUCLEAR ENERGY

NUCLEAR ENERGY. Why nuclear energy?. Energy Conversion: Typical Heat Values of Various Fuels Firewood 16 MJ/kg Brown coal 9 MJ/kg Black coal (low quality) 13-20 MJ/kg Black coal 24-30 MJ/kg Natural Gas 39 MJ/m3 Crude Oil 45-46 MJ/kg

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NUCLEAR ENERGY

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  1. NUCLEAR ENERGY

  2. Why nuclear energy? • Energy Conversion: Typical Heat Values of Various Fuels Firewood 16 MJ/kg • Brown coal 9 MJ/kg • Black coal (low quality) 13-20 MJ/kg • Black coal 24-30 MJ/kg • Natural Gas 39 MJ/m3 • Crude Oil 45-46 MJ/kg • Uranium* - in light water reactor 500,000 MJ/kg • (MJ = Megajoules), * natural U

  3. THE BENEFTS OF NUCLEAR ENERGY • Power from Nuclear Fusion • Cost advantage

  4. Fusion Power • The fuel supply is potentially larger. However, the uranium supply seems to be large enough. • Fission products are not produced, although there will be induced radioactivity in the structures of the plants. • No material useful for bombs is produced.

  5. THE DRAWBACKS TO USING NUCLEAR ENERGY External Costs - Environment, Health And Safety Issues

  6. Environmental effects • Nuclear power stations and reprocessing plants release an amount of radioactive gases

  7. The Greenhouse Effect • Certain trace gases in the earth's atmosphere so that long-wave radiation such as heat from the earth's surface is trapped • Every power station running on black coal means CO2 emissions of about 7 million tonnes per year. If brown coal is used, the amount is about 9 million tonnes. If uranium is used in a nuclear power reactor, these emissions do not occur.

  8. Health effects and radiation • Today, and particularly in relation to nuclear power, there is an increased emphasis on less obvious or delayed effects of exposure to cancer-inducing substances and radiation. • Many occupational accident statistics have been generated over the last 40 years of nuclear reactor operations in USA and UK.

  9. Genetic effects • In a plant or animal cell the material (DNA) which carries genetic information necessary to cell development, maintenance and division is the critical target for radiation

  10. Reactor safety • The situation to date is that in over 10,700 reactor-years of civil operation there has been only one accident to a commercial reactor which was not substantially contained within the design and structure of the reactor

  11. The Market’s Choice Can we expect the market to make the correct choice with respect to nuclear power and accident possibilities?

  12. Because this seems to be a clear case of externalities, we might expect the answer to be no

  13. Would the utility have an incentive to choose the efficent level of precaution?

  14. In the United States full compensation is not paid by the individual utilities for two reasons: 1)the role of the government in sharing the risk and 2)the role of insurance in underwriting the risk

  15. In 1957, with the passage of the Price-Anderson Act, the government underwrote the liability. That act provided for a liability ceiling of $560 million of which the government would bear $500 million

  16. Nuclear Politics • France: 75 percent of electricity is nuclear. • United Kingdom: A substantial continuing nuclear program. They have had to switch to pressurized water reactors, a U.S. invention, from their own earlier designs, and this was politically difficult. 2003: The present Blair government is no longer emphasizing nuclear energy.

  17. Germany: A large nuclear program which as been stalled recently, because the opposition Social Democrats now oppose nuclear energy. • Belgium: More than half its electricity is nuclear.

  18. Japan: About 30 percent nuclear and increasing steadily. • China: A slow nuclear program is now picking up steam. • Taiwan: The nuclear program was stalled after Chernobyl, but is getting going again.

  19. Russia: The RBMK was a bad reactor design which contributed to the Chernobyl disaster, but their newer reactors have used pressurized water. • Ukraine: The Chernobyl disaster has played an important role in Ukrainian politics. They want Western money to close down the plant. 2003 note: They got some money and closed the plant.

  20. In Turkey, in Energy Congress, there are some plans for nuclear energy. • The studies showed that until the year 2010, Turkey needs a great amount of energy capacity. It’s not possible to get this energy from the sources that we have now.So we need new energy soruces.

  21. Conclusion • Overall, nuclear energy has proven to be most beneficial to our There are, however, some major drawbacks to using nuclear energy. • On the other hand, we need government rules to solve the energy problem. The government sould ensure that the costs of energy fully reflect the potential large environmental costs and that fluctuating resource prices and inefficient subsidies do not undermine the transition to appropriate renewable energy resources that make sense in the long run.

  22. Government shoul also oversee nuclear reactor safety and should ensure that communities forced to accept nuclear waste disposal sites are fully compensated.

  23. The potential for an efficient allocation of energy resources by the economis and political institutions clearly exists, even if it has not always occured in the past.

  24. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION

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