Nuclear, Solution, or Problem?
Everyone has the right to make their own opinion on the matter. But I think it’s important to know what it means to use nuclear energy.
Using nuclear energy creates as it said energy. Energy is the lifeblood of our civilization. It’s what allows our development/growth and the thriving of humanity.
The problem with these words (which sound like those of a politician in search of voters) is that, as you already know, energy consumes resources. And these resources are either exhaustible, polluting, or both.
Nuclear energy is a resource that is demonstrated to be less polluting
(0 pollution does not exist, even on wind turbines or solar panels), and very efficient. This doesn’t mean that it’s not dangerous. We will come back to this.
Nuclear energy can be seen as a renewable energy because its quantity (with the current demand for electricity) would allow us to last several thousand years.
The Electricity from … nothing?
Nuclear energy generally uses uranium-235 atoms. Atoms are the (spherical) elements that compose matter. It’s known to emit radioactive rays when it’s broken up (this is called fission).
Creating energy through nuclear fission:
To break the uranium atoms, it is necessary to bombard them with neutrons (an element of the atom, along with protons). These two elements are present in equivalent quantities in the atom, which guarantees its stability. By adding neutrons to the atom, it becomes unstable and splits.
During fission, 3 things happen :
- Radioactive rays: which dissipate in the water and are stopped by the tank walls.
- Heat release: which allows to warm up the water of the pool to very important T° (350°C/662°F). Water becomes steam from 100°C/212°F, but not when it’s under pressure. In our case, it remains liquid.
- Release of neutrons from the old atom: these atoms will go off in all directions, and end up meeting other uranium atoms, and splitting them in the same way. It’s this fission chain reaction that produces enough heat to warm water to these temperatures.
What’s next:
(1) The high-temperature water is sent through pipes (still under pressure) into a second loop filled with water at an ambient temperature without any particular pressure. When it comes into contact with the tubes, it starts to be warmed up and turns into steam (because no pressure).
(2) Steam is led to a turbine (an alternator) which allows it to turn and create electricity.
(3) Cold water is recovered from a nearby river or sea, which cools the previously used steam and turns it back into liquid. Still inside the pipes, there is no direct contact between the different waters of the loops. The water of the river or the sea is then restored because not polluted.
(4) Once the steam is liquefied, it returns to be warmed up to become steam again and turn the turbine again.
The large chimneys that we see are also a way to cool the steam with the wind. This avoids using water from rivers when their flow is too low or when the resource becomes too rare (How Avoid A Water Crise ?). The white fumes we see are only water vapor, nothing radioactive.
What about nuclear waste?
One of the main problems is the post-use of nuclear waste.
There are two types of waste :
- Type A: very low-level radioactive: equipment (suits, materials).
- Type B: highly radioactive: spent nuclear fuel.
Post-use of type A:
There are thrown into sealing tanks made of lead or concrete, and then into large concrete-filled pools, which will then be buried at a shallow depth when they are no longer radioactive (about thirty years).
Post-use of type B:
They are left submerged in water pools for 3 to 5 years. Then there are transported in tanks (tested to withstand the biggest accidents) and sent to treatment centers.
The centers will recycle what can be recycled. The rest is vitrified (melted with glass and cooled) so that the waste and the glass become one. In this case, if the glass breaks, there will be no release of radioactive elements, only stable elements vitrified.
The waste is then placed in capsules to be buried underground (at a depth of 400m) in studied and specialized sites.
The post-use of nuclear waste is no longer a problem since the techniques for burying it have been found.
Why Chernobyl and Fukushima can’t happen again
2 points of view on this question:
- The safety of nuclear power plants:
In safety, everything is technically feasible, everything is only a question of financial means.
A nuclear reactor stops in 1.20 seconds thanks to a lead rod which stops the chain reaction of uranium.
It’s by lowering this system more or less than the power of the plant is regulated.
Nuclear power plants are also composed of two concrete domes (2m thick). The first one can contain the crash of an airliner. In case of a reactor explosion, one dome can give way, but not the second. This is what was missing at the Chernobyl plant, which had only one dome.
The “Heart catcher”: Set up after the Fukushima accident. It’s an underground bunker installed under the reactor, in case the reactor becomes uncontrollable, the core of the reactor would fall into this bunker and contain the explosion and the diffusion of radioactive elements.
2. The airplane/car bias:
We tend to be more afraid of airplanes than of cars, yet airplanes are by far the safest means of transportation (0.01% of deaths in transportation).
The same effect can be observed in power plants. We are afraid of accidents, while the risks are even lower (and becoming lower with the progress made).
The main risk:
There is one risk we can’t control, the Human one.
Yes, nuclear power plants are always a way to make money by selling electricity. Human greed may lead some people to neglect some maintenance work, to shorten the repair time to increase profit.
Plant managers should be carefully chosen (or decentralized?) so that money never takes precedence over safety.
Speaking of money, the problem today is mainly the renovation of old plants, as they are not equipped with the latest safety systems.
But then again, it is more expensive to create a new plant, dismantle the old one and process the waste, than to renovate an old plant.
I hope this article has taught you some things.
Thank you for your time!
The links above are not affiliated.
Article related to the topic:
Save on Your Medium Membership Now! ⬅️
⬇️ If you enjoyed this article, feel free to check out the list below. ⬇️
