{"id":89080,"date":"2015-05-31T11:00:10","date_gmt":"2015-05-31T09:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=89080"},"modified":"2015-05-29T17:41:08","modified_gmt":"2015-05-29T15:41:08","slug":"the-evolution-of-nuclear-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/energy\/89080\/the-evolution-of-nuclear-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"The evolution of nuclear technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is no credible path to climate stabilization that does not include a substantial role for nuclear power.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Four internationally recognized climate scientists<\/a> issued this plea to fellow environmentalists in November 2013, arguing that nuclear energy needs to be a part of the global climate change solution.<\/p>\n

We need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels. Nuclear power is the best option<\/a> today; it can deliver electric power in a sufficiently safe, economical, continuous and secure manner synergistic with supply from other carbon-free sources such as solar and wind.<\/p>\n

And the technology has been evolving since its birth during World War II.<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Closeup<\/a>

Closeup of scale model (1\/2 in. = 1 ft.) of CP-1 reactor temporarily removed from its West Stands racquets court environment.
Credit: U.S. Department of Energy, Historian’s Office.
This image is in the Public Domain.<\/p><\/div>\n

Nuclear energy\u2019s origin story<\/h3>\n

Nuclear energy started beneath the football stands at the University of Chicago. That\u2019s where, in late 1942, a group of scientists under Enrico Fermi created the first nuclear reactor.<\/p>\n

Like all reactors that followed, this one split fuel atoms into lighter elements \u2013 a process called fission that releases large amounts of energy, more than a million times as large as an ordinary chemical reaction.<\/p>\n

Fermi\u2019s group assembled fissionable uranium fuel within an array of graphite blocks. This configuration slowed the speed of the first neutrons created by fission sufficiently to continue the reaction.<\/p>\n

The Fermi reactor proved that a sustainable yet controlled chain reaction could be produced, thus ushering the way to much larger reactors capable of supplying cities and whole regions with electrical power.<\/p>\n

\"Rear<\/a>

Rear Admiral Rickover inspecting the USS Nautilus. United States Navy<\/p><\/div>\n

By early 1955, Admiral Hyman Rickover had overseen the construction and successful launch of the submarine Nautilus.<\/p>\n

To propel the vessel, it used light water coolant to extract the energy released via fission of its highly enriched uranium-fueled core. The pressurized coolant had sufficient density to slow the neutrons down enough such that the chain reaction could be maintained.<\/p>\n

Based on its successful use for submarine and surface naval vessel propulsion, this pressurized light water cooled design was subsequently adopted for commercial nuclear power in the US and is used today worldwide for electricity production, along with its close relative, the boiling light water reactor.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The heat from pressurized water reactors makes steam that turns turbines that generate electricity. US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, CC BY-NC-SA<\/p><\/div>\n

Reactor concepts have evolved since then over the 60-year period of nuclear power reactor development, using other coolants such as gas, molten salt and liquid metals including sodium and lead that allow operation at higher temperatures and hence more efficient power cycles.<\/p>\n

Extensive attention to reactor safety, construction and maintenance costs, and control of spent used fuel have led to the reactors deployed today \u2013 about 100 in the US and over 400 worldwide.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re overwhelmingly of the light water type of the Nautilus design that uses pressurized water as the coolant to capture the heat released by fission and transfer it to electrical generators.<\/p>\n

\"Vogtle<\/a>

Vogtle nuclear plant currently under construction in Georgia. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, CC BY<\/p><\/div>\n

Nuclear power\u2019s next generation<\/h3>\n

Nuclear energy has the potential to supply electricity to countries without alternate fuel resources, to contribute to climate stabilization by producing electricity without CO2 emissions, and to displace fuels that lead to air pollution.<\/p>\n

In light of these advantages, engineers in national laboratories and universities and in the private sector are actively pursuing innovation in nuclear power reactors.<\/p>\n