A Nuclear Future Cody Rimes IDS 3303 4-9-09

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A Nuclear FutureCody RimesIDS 33034-9-09
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Introduction

• America is facing some tough decisions when it
  comes to our power needs.
• We consume 25 of the world's energy, but account
  for only 5 of the population.
• This can be a little misleading, as we also
  account for 22 of the world's productivity.
• Our energy needs are expanding, while resources
  are limited.

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Timeline

• (1905) Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity.
  E mc2, baby.
• (1932) The first atom is split.
• (1939) The first Uranium atoms are split.
• (1939-1945) The Manhattan Project. The US
  government contracted scientists to build the
  first atom bomb out in New Mexico.
• (1945) Boom. The first, and incidently, the last
  time large scale nuclear weapons are deployed on
  major cities. (Gosling, 1999)?
• (1946) Nuclear technology is first used for
  something other than killing.

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Cont.

• (1946) The Atomic Energy Commission is founded.
• (1951) A usable amount of electricity is
  produced from Nuclear Energy.
• (1954) Atomic Energy Act of 1954.
• (1957) International Atomic Energy Agency is
  founded.
• (1986) Chernobyl (and a few years earlier,
  Three Mile Island.)

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Major Energy Resources

• Petroleum
• Coal
• Natural Gas
• Nuclear

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How our Energy Needs are Met
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Petroleum

• Accounts for 38 of our total power usage.
• US consumption is around 21 million barrels per
  day, while domestic production is only 6 million
  barrels per day.

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Cons of Petroleum (OIL)?

• A large contributor of greenhouse gases in the
  atmosphere.
• Reliance on foreign supplies. America imports the
  vast majority of its oil at great cost.
• Political concerns. Much of the oil we use is
  produced in politically unstable regions. Global
  disruptions in supply are a concern.

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Where is all of the Oil?
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By Country
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Coal

• Most abundant type of fuel in America.
• About half of our electricity is generated using
  coal.
• Accounts for around 26 of our total power usage.

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Cons of Coal

• Extremely dirty. The burning of coal releases
  more carbon dioxide than anything else.
• Lbs of CO2 per M BPUs of energy. ---gt

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Natural Gas

• Accounts for around 22 of our total energy use.

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Cons of Natural Gas

• Even though it is 'better' on the environment, it
  is still a fossil fuel. Once burned, it releases
  carbon dioxide and other dangerous chemicals into
  the atmosphere.
• It takes up a lot of space, making it less
  practical for transportation uses.

Speeding from the scene of the crime, a Chinese
boy tows a floating plastic bag of stolen natural
gas.
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Nuclear

• Accounts for around 8 of our total energy use.
• Has a lot of public outcry against its use within
  our borders.

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Pros of Nuclear

• It doesn't produce the greenhouse gases that are
  present in other forms of energy.
• There is plenty of 'fuel' available to power
  nuclear energy for many years.
• No dependence on unstable foreign supply.
• Safer than many people think.

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Uranium
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How much fuel is out there?

• As a fuel source, it is the cheapest of all,
  producing more power per dollar spent than any of
  the conventional fossil fuels (WNA, 2008).
• Some estimates say that at current technology
  levels and current consumption, we have between
  100-300 years of fuel left to power our nuclear
  plants. (IAEA, 2006).
• Though in actuality, estimates for uranium
  supplies vary widely if breeder reactors and
  fuel reprocessing are assumed, estimates tend to
  be tens of thousands of years or longer. The
  technology for such is available now, but because
  of the availability of Uranium, we don't
  reprocess our waste currently.

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More Fuel on the Way?

• Current estimates put our worldwide reserves of
  Uranium at around 5-6 million tons on land,
  though surveying methods have not been perfected
  because demand isn't that high.
• According to research by the Japanese government,
  the ocean has vast untapped amounts of Uranium.

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Fast Breeder Reactors

• Can harness much more energy from Uranium than
  traditional reactors.
• Can be built to use Thorium, which is 3.5 times
  more common than Uranium. May also use U-238, an
  isotope of Uranium that is far more common than
  the U-235 we currently use. 99.3 of all Uranium
  is U-238.
• Can use reprocessed fuel, multiplying the
  lifetime of fuel by more than 60 (UIC), and
  lowering the volume of waste by 90.

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Breeder Reactor
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How Dangerous is Nuclear Power?

• Not as bad as many people think.
• When people talk about Chernobyl and the lives
  lost from Cancer following it, they often forget
  about the many thousands of people that have died
  in coal mining, for example.
• In general, fears have been overstated. There are
  examples out there of how safe nuclear energy can
  be.

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Cancer Risks near Plants

• A common safety concern that people have is that
  the area around nuclear power plants are
  dangerous because of radiation. The claim is that
  it is not safe to be close to the plants because
  of Cancer concerns.
• The National Cancer Institute performed a study
  to ascertain the dangers of living close to
  nuclear power plants. They found no correlation
  between living proximity to a nuclear plant and
  cancer risks. (Cancer.gov)?

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Cancer Risks in Workers

• If anybody is suffering from radiation, it would
  be the workers at these plants, right?
• An article written by OSHA and posted on the CDC
  website covers a study that was conducted on
  laboratory workers in nuclear energy plants. The
  study concluded that these workers were actually
  LESS likely to die of Cancer than the general
  population (cdc.gov)?

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The Future?

• Our population is booming, and our energy
  production must ramp up to meet the demand. Where
  will we look to solve our power crises? It is
  clear that we cannot continue to wreck our
  atmosphere with the burning of fossil fuels for
  much longer. Because of the implications of
  relying on unstable foreign regions and the fact
  that we must do more to avert global climate
  change, we can not expect to meet the demand with
  fossil fuels.
• There is so much promise in nuclear power that
  growth in the industry seems certain.