Nuclear power

This article examines how 'safety case' experts working on Finland’s nuclear waste repository project at Olkiluoto summoned, conjured, or channeled memories of Seppo—a deceased colleague whose ‘specter,’ as some put it, still ‘haunts’ their scientific community. For some, Seppo’s postmortem presence manifested as gaps in knowledge left behind by an expert often reluctant to document the methodological assumptions underlying his knowledge-practices. For others, it manifested as anecdotes about Seppo’s stubbornness, irritability, and intellectual intensity as well as his more jovial demeanor during sauna nights, workplace parties, or trips abroad. Still others caught themselves asking ‘What Would Seppo Do?’ while troubleshooting at work. Inspired by anthropological and philosophical work on ancestors and haunting, the article unpacks how the multi-millennial time horizons of nuclear waste risk, the intergenerational time horizons of expert succession, and the everyday time horizons of a single expert life-course shared entwined fates. It focuses less on what knowledge disappeared when an expert’s body died – or how it could have been preventatively backed-up or managed – and more on what has lived on of the expert in and through surviving colleagues. Analysis of 'afterlives of expertise' like these can, it concludes, provide insights for a current moment of intergenerational transition in nuclear energy sectors in Europe, North America, and beyond.

AFTER the optimism which followed the falling of the Berlin Wall, one has found out that the alternative to Cold War wasn't the Global Peace. Regional conflicts have grown stronger, becoming more intense than ever. At several levels, some taken-for-granted evidences were shaken by ...

As of November 1999, you may electronically access NUREG-series publications and other NRC records at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html. Publicly released records include, to name a few, NUREG-series publications; Federal Register ...

An important fraction of the future energy demand may be satisfied by nuclear power. In this context, the possibilities of worldwide nuclear deployment are studied. We are convinced that the Molten Salt Reactors may play a central role in this deployment. The Molten Salt Reactor needs to be coupled to a reprocessing unit in order to extract the Fission Products which poison the core. The efficiency of this reprocessing has a crucial influence on reactor behavior especially for the breeding ratio. The Molten Salt Breeder Reactor project was based on an intensive reprocessing for high breeding purposes. A new concept of Thorium Molten Salt Reactor is presented here. Including this new concept in the worldwide nuclear deployment, to satisfy these power needs, we consider three typical scenarios, based on

This chapter investigates how Japanese citizens collectively engaged with monitorial practices after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. In particular, it examines the Radiation Disaster Alert Network (R-DAN) and shows how the grassroots network evolved and developed over more than 30 years with a particular focus on the monitorial ethic of R-DAN. The findings of this research indicate that R-DAN’s choice of a specific dosimeter imposes not merely a condition in which R-DAN engaged with data production practice, but also necessarily contributes to re-shaping its collective view of health and safety for generating its monitorial ethic.

The objective of this study is to put forward a full analysis of the impact of the difference between the Canadian and American energy realities on the life cycle of fuel cell vehicles and internal combustion engine vehicles. Electricity is a major type of energy used in the transportation sector. Electricity is needed in the production of feedstock of fuel, the production of the fuel, the production of the vehicle material and the assembly of the vehicles. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the impact of the electricity mix difference between Canada and the United States. In the analysis, the life cycle of the fuel consists of obtaining the raw material, extracting the fuel from the raw material, transporting and storing the fuel as well as using the fuel in the vehicle. Four different methods of obtaining hydrogen were analyzed; using coal and nuclear power to produce electricity and extract hydrogen through electrolysis and via steam reforming of natural gas in a natural gas plant and in a hydrogen refueling station. It is found that fuel cell vehicle fuelled by hydrogen has lower energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions than internal combustion engine vehicle fuelled by conventional gasoline except for hydrogen production using coal as the primary energy source in Canada and the United States. Using the Canadian electricity mix will result in lower carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption than using the American electricity mix. For the present vehicles, using the Canadian electricity mix will save up to 215.18 GJ of energy and 20.87 t of CO2 on a per capita basis and 26.53 GJ of energy and 6.8 t of CO2 on a per vehicle basis. Similarly, for the future vehicles, using the Canadian electricity mix will lower the total carbon dioxide emissions by 21.15 t and the energy consumed is reduced by 218.49 GJ on a per capita basis and 26.53 GJ of energy and 7.22 t of CO2 on a per vehicle basis. The well-to-tank efficiencies are higher with the Canadian electricity mix.

Nuclear power accidents repeatedly reveal that the industry has an incomplete understanding of the complex risks involved in its operation. Through analyzing the investigation of a nuclear power incident in Sweden in 2006, I show how the industry’s learning
practices shape recurrent normalization of risk regulation after such surprises. Learning is shaped through institutionalized measures of sufficiency and particular “risk objects” (e.g.
human factors and safety culture) created through learning from previous events. Subsequent regulatory measures are shaped through improvement scripts associated with these risk objects. These learning practices exclude alternative conceptual perspectives to understand and address safety-critical incidents. Latent risks will therefore produce similar events in the future. The article contributes to the literature on organizational learning, policy making, sensemaking and normalization in complex systems. To improve learning from incidents and regulation in high-hazard industries, social scientists and a wider circle of stakeholders should be included in the regulatory and post-incident
examination processes.

Quantification of nuclear liability insurance is difficult without arbitrary liability caps; however, post-mortem calculations can be used to calculate insurance costs. This study analyzes the Fukushima (Daiichi) nuclear power plant disaster to quantify the cost per unit electricity ($/kWh) of nuclear energy from the lifetime of the plant after accounting for the true cost of the liability needed to cover the damages from the nuclear disaster determined from news reports. These costs are then compared to the cost of electricity currently paid by Japanese consumers, and then are aggregated to determine the indirect subsidy for nuclear power providers in both Japan and the USA. The results show that the reported costs of the Fukushima nuclear disaster are $20–525 billion, which results in a real insurance cost from the lifetime of electricity produced at the plants between $0.22–5.78/kWh. These values are far higher than the current insurance costs by Japanese law of $0.01/kWh and even the total costs consumers pay for electricity. Although the spread in the input costs is large and the reported metrics are incomplete, the nuclear insurance subsidy is clearly substantial in Japan and in the USA. Ideally, energy sources should be economically sustainable without the need for a government insurance subsidy. For the electricity market to function effectively and efficiently in all other countries using nuclear power, the insurance costs should be reported accurately and included in nuclear electricity costs without arbitrary government liability caps.

The book chapter is devoted to the peculiarities of European Union's policy in the area of nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful use of nuclear energy on various stages of European integration structures' evolution. The author analyses the subtleties of forming, development and implementation of the EU policy in this sphere in terms of regional context connected with the evolution of nuclear non-proliferation regime in Europe. It is possible to mark out trends in the EU nuclear policy thanks to the use of EU basic documents in the field of security and non-proliferation. The author also pays attention to Brussels' contribution to international nuclear projects. Based on the case study of the EU policy, it is shown that universal and regional norms of nuclear non-proliferation are naturally intertwined. EU position pertaining to the non-proliferation issues appears to be active and unified, regardless of turbulent external environment and certain internal disagreements within the Union. One can single out presence of a sophisticated system of organised structures and high degree of institutionalisation among the characteristic features of this direction in Brussels' policy. It enables one to draw a conclusion about successful functioning of the regional non-proliferation regime in Europe, irrespective of certain challenges. Apart from that, European Union plays a mediating role in this area.

... Darrell Norman Burrell* Virginia International University, USA and Marylhurst University, USA E-mail: darrell.burrell@yahoo.com *Corresponding author Gigi Smith ... 4, No. 2, pp.132–145. Biographical notes: Darrell Norman Burrell is a doctoral student at AT Still University, USA. ...

What happened, in the years leading up to Valentine's Day 2014, that made a canister of nuclear waste burst open and spew out fire underground at a US facility for the long-term disposal of radioactive military waste? According to one widely publicized scenario, a simple run-of-the-mill typo led to organic kitty litter mistakenly being used to soak up liquid in the drum instead of another kind of absorbent material. This ultimately led to a reaction that made heat and pressure build up in the drum, causing it to erupt. But was that "simple" clerical error symptomatic of a much deeper, system-wide problem-- involving a US Energy Department plan to rush the pace of nuclear waste disposal? What were the political, social, and financial elements involved in making Los Alamos' waste drum #68660 erupt that February night? What can be done to prevent similar accidents – which can have price tags of hundreds of millions of dollars or more – from happening again in the future? A cultural anthropologist spent 10 weeks onsite after the event, logging 43 interviews and trying to answer these questions. Here is what he found.

It is clear that probabilistic risk assessment or probabilistic safety assessment is embedded in the safety culture of the nuclear power industry, worldwide. Risk assessment applications are in transition in the sense that the regulatory apparatus is not yet in place, at least in the United States of America (USA), to fully support a risk-based licensing process. There is progress on the regulatory front, but it is tedious and not without its frustrations. Currently, the strategy in the USA is a “risk-informed” approach that tends to be “business as usual”, but while you're at it, “do a risk assessment”. The result is added burden (and costs) at a time of increased competition in the power field as a result of deregulation. There is hope in that some steps are finally being taken to modify the regulations to allow risk assessment to be more of a part of the licensing process. For example, the regulations having to do with maintenance, plant changes, and technical specifications have been modified to allow insights from risk assessment to be part of the basis for licensing amendments. On the matter of standards there is strong support that is scientifically based and addresses such issues as health effects and environmental impacts. There appears to be less support for standards on such matters as definition of terms, methodology, and data requirements.

The world's progress towards net-zero ambitions will bring down fossil fuel utilization and imports over time. However, crises such as COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have raised questions about the reliability of nonrenewables and what actions could be taken by policymakers to immediately mitigate reliance on fossil fuels for vulnerable importers. The responses to the recent crises could reorient energy geopolitics by the decentralization of the global energy system and speeding up renewables deployment. These superb targets require a concerted and sustained energy policy effort across multiple industries, alongside strong international communication on energy security. Clear dialogue between governments, the green power generation industries, and consumers is also a crucial element for successful renewable energy implementation. The world's energy crisis has unveiled that the transition to renewable energy has been too slow, and serious efforts are required to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels toward renewables.

Abstract. A generation ago, rampant economic problems and perceived risk of nuclear power brought the industry to a halt on applying for new construction permits. Because of the military history of nuclear technology, development of the existing nuclear power infrastructure during the Cold War, and contemporary discussion about nuclear power offering a reduced carbon footprint, it has emerged as a force within the global climate debate. The amalgam of associated nuclear technologies and activity has created a nuclear doctrine, or a set of conditions about the culture and politics of our energy needs and production options. However, questions remain as to the safety and environmental impact of next generation nuclear technologies, which have yet to be deployed into operation. Economic change with federal incentives along with popular news media describing a renaissance,of the industry have sparked renewed ,questions about the nuclear technology ,options and impacts. The article uses ...

W hile it is unmistakable that climate change mitigation must occur, it is less clear which particular strategies, infrastructures and practices offer the greatest potential in the energy sector. Pacala and Socolow argued more than a decade ago that a series of 'stabilization wedges' would enable humanity to maintain quality of life while avoiding catastrophic climate change 1. They discussed more than a dozen such potential wedges ranging from energy efficiency and fuel switching from coal to natural gas to the advanced deployment of renewable electricity, nuclear power, and carbon capture and storage 1. Other studies similarly note the importance of renewable energy and nuclear power in climate miti-gation pathways and/or for achieving energy systems with net-zero emissions 2-5. As we near three decades of dedicated climate protection interventions in many countries' energy strategies, we closely examine in this paper the extent to which scales of national attachments to either nuclear power or renewables associate with each other, and with effective aggregate reductions in national carbon emissions. Despite many contingencies and complexities, this offers a first-order test of conventional background assumptions that each strategy is comparably effective, and without notable opportunity costs or antagonistic effects on other strategies. Accordingly, this paper uses regression analyses to interrogate relevant and consistent global datasets extending over 25 years and 123 countries, and to test interconnected hypotheses related to carbon emissions reduction with nuclear power and renewable energy, as well as one about crowding out and technological lock-in. One core finding is that countries with nuclear power attachments do not tend to have significantly lower levels of national carbon emissions. A second core finding is that lower levels of carbon emissions do associate more strongly with the relative scales of national attachments to renewable energy than with nuclear attachments. In other words, it is renewable (more than nuclear) attachments that tend to be associated in practice with significantly lower levels of carbon emissions. This is in line with recent work such as that of Jin and Kim, who find, using data from a sample of 30 countries, that "nuclear energy does not contribute to carbon reduction unlike renewable energy" 6. A third core finding is that the scales of nuclear and renewable attachments tend to vary negatively with each other. This is broadly consistent with a finding that nuclear and renewables commitments crowd each other out. We then rigorously test and seek to validate these findings through further multiple regression analyses as well as an investigation of possible moderating effects. Note that the carbon-emission trends observed may not occur because of the choice between renewable or nuclear energy; the choice might be one result of a broader policy programme that leads to less carbon emissions (or does not). The nuclear climate mitigation hypothesis Emphasizing the widely discussed carbon emissions abatement potential of nuclear power, the nuclear climate mitigation hypothesis holds that the relative scale of national attachments to nuclear electricity production will vary negatively with carbon emissions. In simpler terms, emissions are expected to decline the more a country adopts nuclear electricity supply. Elements of this proposition are prominent in both energy policy and the academic literature 7-12. For instance, the International Energy Agency includes nuclear power as one of its select 'low-carbon technologies' and argues that if the world is to see a 50% drop in energy-related CO 2 emissions, then nuclear energy must expand rapidly to where it reaches 1,200 gigawatt electrical (GWe) of installed capacity in 2050, when it also becomes the single largest source of electricity that year 13. Achieving this level of nuclear capacity would require about US$4 trillion of additional investment, larger than any other source of electricity 13. Two of the most widely emphasized contenders for carbon emissions reduction in the electricity sector are nuclear power and renewable energy. While scenarios regularly question the potential impacts of adoption of various technology mixes in the future, it is less clear which technology has been associated with greater historical emission reductions. Here, we use multiple regression analyses on global datasets of national carbon emissions and renewable and nuclear electricity production across 123 countries over 25 years to examine systematically patterns in how countries variously using nuclear power and renew-ables contrastingly show higher or lower carbon emissions. We find that larger-scale national nuclear attachments do not tend to associate with significantly lower carbon emissions while renewables do. We also find a negative association between the scales of national nuclear and renewables attachments. This suggests nuclear and renewables attachments tend to crowd each other out. NATure eNerGy | www.nature.com/natureenergy

Nükleer santral kazaları tüm gezegeni tehdit ediyor. Gelişmiş geçinen Rusya’sından, Japonyası’na, ABD’sinden Fransa’sına kadar,  herhangi bir kaza sonrası santralde çalıştırılan işçiden, bölge halkına ve hem o ülkenin hem yakın coğrafyadaki ülkelerin vatandaşlarının hem de kontamine olmuş ürünleri satın olmak zorunda bırakılan çok uzak ülkelerin tüketicilerine kadar herkes büyük yalanlar, bilgi saklamaları ve en temel sağlık haklarından dahi mahrum bırakılmaktadır.
Bütün bunları değerlendirmek için, üzerinden geçen makul sürelerle verilerin daha belirginleştiği Çernobil ve Fukişima kazalarında nasıl uygulandığını bu kitapta okuyacaksınız. Öylesine ki Japonya gibi bir ülkede, nükleer kazadan sonra yapılacak ilk iş olan iyot tabletlerin dağıtımı bile yapılmamıştır ve sonuçları daha şimdiden çok ağır olmuştur.

Peki Çernobil’de yaşananlar, Fukişima’da başarıya alışmış ve teknolojiye belki de dünyada en çok inanan Japonlara ders oldu mu? Kitap bu karşılaştırmanın da izini sürerek, bir yanıyla da güç sahiplerinin eğilimlerinin, sivil toplumun etkililiğinin, tıp camiasının örgütlüğünün, bilim insanlarının bağımsızlığının ve gazetecilerin cesaretinin önemini sorguluyor. Biz özellikle Türkiye’de artık çok iyi biliyoruz ki vatan hainliği ile sevgisi arasındaki çizgi, iktidarın tercihine kalmıştır. Bir şekilde her iki kazadan da en çok zararı görme ihtimali olan insanların, örtbas etmelere değil, sonuçlarıyla oynanmış raporlara değil, nükleer lobisinin finanse ettiği araştırmalara ve boş umutlara değil, güvenilir bilgilere ve desteğe ihtiyacı vardır. Kaldı ki bütün kazanın 300 yıla kadar sürecek etkilerini ortadan kaldırmak için, yine bu en çok zarar gören yurttaşların vergileri kullanılıyor.

Nükleer serpintinin cinsi, yarılanma ömrü ve bunların bitkiler, hayvanlar genel olarak doğal ekosistem üzerindeki etkileri ise insan merkezli düşünenlerin dahi ihmal edemeyeceği düzeydedir çünkü bunların çoğu dönüp dolaşıp besin ya da su olarak insanlar tarafından tüketilmektedir. Ancak dünyaya başka bir gözlükle bakmayı becerebilenler için, ömürleri çok kısa olan mavi kelebeklerin nasıl etkilendiği de önem taşır. Ömürlerinin kısalması, kanat uzunlukların azalmasının yanı sıra yeni nesillerdeki mutasyonlar, gelecek için çok kaygı vericidir.

İronik bir gelişme ise, nükleerden elde edeceğimiz enerji olmazsa yaşam durur sloganları atan lobicilerin söylediklerin tam tersine, kazadan sonra 17 adet nükleer güç santralini (toplam reaktör sayısı 48) kapatan, hem de bu kadar teknoloji ve elektrik bağımlısı bir ülke olan Japonya o zamandan beri nükleer enerjiye muhtaç olmadan yaşamıştır ve bugün de tekrar çalıştırılan 2 reaktör dışında nükleersiz yaşamaktadır.                     

Bütün bu kazaların bize öğrettiği bir önemli unsur ise, tıpkı küresel iklim değişikliği gibi, nükleer santraller de bulundukları devletlerin sorumluluğundan fazlasını, yani bütün gezegende yaşayanları ilgilendiriyor. Bu nedenle hangi ülkede yapılırsa yapılsın, yarın onun olumsuz etkilerine maruz kalacak tüm insanların bunlara direnmeye hakkı vardır.

ABSTRACT Adequate supply of cleaner, affordable, and reliable electricity is critical for the growth and prosperity of any economy. The Government of Ontario, Canada's largest province both by population and by electricity generation capacity, has enacted a long-term energy plan in 2007 to ensure reliable, sustainable and cost-effective supply of electricity. To better understand the long-term dynamics of Ontario's electricity system in socio-economic and CO2 emissions dimensions, this research develops, validates, and applies a dynamic simulation model. The dynamic model endogenously represents Ontario's supply mix and demand side initiatives, and their interactions with pricing, profitability, investments, and electricity intensity sectors. Model-based results show that the current plan (i) will continue to increase the share of “green power” but Ontarians, even with “excess capacity” at hand, will continue to face rising rates of electricity for a long time, and (ii) is not likely to achieve the expected improvements in electricity consumption intensity and level of imports of electricity in the next decade. On the other hand, model based results point to an alternative plan, focused on the reduction of thermal generation, addition of renewable generation, and investments in research and development of electricity system, which can lead Ontario towards a future with “more” and affordable “green power”.

Facing global climate change and scarce petroleum supplies, the world must switch to sustainable energy systems. While historical transitions between major energy sources have occurred, most of these shifts lasted over a century or longer and were stimulated by resource scarcity, high labor costs, and technological innovations. The energy transition of the 21st century will need to be more rapid. Unfortunately, little is known about how to accelerate energy transitions. This article reviews past transitions and factors behind them, along with their time frames. Three modern case studies are discussed: Brazil, which shifted from an oil-based transportation system to one based on sugarcane-ethanol (success); France, which shifted from oil-fired electric power to nuclear power (success); and the United States, which attempted to shift from foreign oil to a mix of domestic energy resources (failure). Lessons from these attempts to govern energy transitions are discussed. Several policy instruments to accelerate a transition are identified, though even under ideal circumstances a global energy supply transition will be very slow. Given the need to simultaneously implement programs in countries with different political economies, a greater focus on energy efficiency, promotion of Smart Grids, and possibly a new treaty should yield more timely results.► We review the historical evidence on major energy transitions worldwide. ► Case studies are presented of successful energy transitions in Brazil and France. ► The United States provides an example of an unsuccessful energy transition. ► We argue that a transition focused on energy efficiency can occur much more rapidly.

This book presents the universal issue of radioactive waste management from the perspective of the German legal system, analysing how lawmakers have responded to the problem of nuclear waste over the course of the last 70 years. In this book, Robert Rybski unwraps and explains the perplexing legal and social issues related to radioactive waste. He takes readers through the entire "life-cycle" of radioactive waste: from the moment that radioactive material is classified as radioactive waste, through the period of interim storage, and right up to its final disposal. However, this last step in radioactive waste management (that of final disposal) has not yet been achieved in Germany, or anywhere in the world, and has been the subject of hefty public debate for dozens of years. As a result, the book analyses the most recent regulations in place to enable final disposal. This book will be of interest to energy policy experts, academics and professionals who work in the area of nuclear energy.

We examine the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the cost of equity capital for a large sample of U.S. firms. Using several approaches to estimate firms' ex ante cost of equity, we find that firms with better CSR scores exhibit cheaper equity financing. In particular, our findings suggest that investment in improving responsible employee relations, environmental policies, and