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Submit a ProposalNuclear Power
 | Policies, Practices, and the Future By Darryl Siemer Copyright: 2020 | Status: Published ISBN: 9781119657781 | Hardcover | 286 pages Price: $195 USD  |
One Line Description
Written from an engineer's perspective, this is a treatise on the state of nuclear power today, its benefits, and its future, focusing on both policy and technological issues.
Audience
Nuclear engineers and scientists, chemical engineers, chemists, environmental engineers, scientists and engineers working with radioactive waste issues, students studying nuclear, environmental, or chemical engineering, engineers interested in working in nuclear power, and anyone with a scientific or engineering background interested in nuclear power
Nuclear engineers and scientists, chemical engineers, chemists, environmental engineers, scientists and engineers working with radioactive waste issues, students studying nuclear, environmental, or chemical engineering, engineers interested in working in nuclear power, and anyone with a scientific or engineering background interested in nuclear power
Description
As the world’s energy sources continue to develop, with less reliance on traditional fossil fuels and more reliance on cleaner, more efficient, alternative energy sources, nuclear power continues to be a dividing point for many people. Some believe it is the answer to our energy problems for the future, while others warn of the risks. Written by a retired scientist who spent most of his career at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), this book aims to delve into the issues surrounding nuclear power and dispel its myths, while building an argument for why the United States should develop a nuclear power plan for the future.
As a “whistleblower,” the author spent much of the last ten years of his career at the INL raising concerns about how its mission of serving as the Department of Energy’s lead laboratory in radioactive waste management was not being properly managed. While the United States continues to tread water on the issue of nuclear energy, the author believes that a nuclear “renaissance” is not only possible but is necessary for meeting the world’s growing demand for energy, especially clean energy.
With fossil fuels slowly dying out and renewable energy sources not able to handle the demand for a continuously growing energy-consuming public, nuclear is an obvious solution. This book is a must-have for any engineer working in nuclear power, students hoping to go into that industry, and other engineers and scientists interested in the subject. This book is both “technical” and “political” because they’re equally important in determining what actually happens in institutions dealing with technical problems.
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As the world’s energy sources continue to develop, with less reliance on traditional fossil fuels and more reliance on cleaner, more efficient, alternative energy sources, nuclear power continues to be a dividing point for many people. Some believe it is the answer to our energy problems for the future, while others warn of the risks. Written by a retired scientist who spent most of his career at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL), this book aims to delve into the issues surrounding nuclear power and dispel its myths, while building an argument for why the United States should develop a nuclear power plan for the future.
As a “whistleblower,” the author spent much of the last ten years of his career at the INL raising concerns about how its mission of serving as the Department of Energy’s lead laboratory in radioactive waste management was not being properly managed. While the United States continues to tread water on the issue of nuclear energy, the author believes that a nuclear “renaissance” is not only possible but is necessary for meeting the world’s growing demand for energy, especially clean energy.
With fossil fuels slowly dying out and renewable energy sources not able to handle the demand for a continuously growing energy-consuming public, nuclear is an obvious solution. This book is a must-have for any engineer working in nuclear power, students hoping to go into that industry, and other engineers and scientists interested in the subject. This book is both “technical” and “political” because they’re equally important in determining what actually happens in institutions dealing with technical problems.
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Supplementary Data
• Explains why a nuclear renaissance is needed
• Identifies the characteristics that can make nuclear power a viable option
• Identifies the cultural foibles responsible for the USA’s failure to develop a nuclear fuel cycle and deal with the waste issues generated by the one that it had implemented
• Presents real-world examples of the consequences of the US Department of Energy’s approach to addressing both those issues and the others affected by them, such as the environmental effects of anthropogenic GHG emissions and the world’s long-term economic and political vulnerabilities
• Explains why a nuclear renaissance is needed
• Identifies the characteristics that can make nuclear power a viable option
• Identifies the cultural foibles responsible for the USA’s failure to develop a nuclear fuel cycle and deal with the waste issues generated by the one that it had implemented
• Presents real-world examples of the consequences of the US Department of Energy’s approach to addressing both those issues and the others affected by them, such as the environmental effects of anthropogenic GHG emissions and the world’s long-term economic and political vulnerabilities
Author / Editor Details
Darryl Siemer, PhD, is a retired engineer who worked for the majority of his career at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in their nuclear fuel processing facility. He moved to INL after four years of teaching at Marquette University. Now a consulting scientist, he has taken on a mission to tell his story of his years working in nuclear energy as a means to educate engineers and scientists on the technological and policy-related issues surrounding nuclear power. He has dozens of book chapters to his credit as an author.
Darryl Siemer, PhD, is a retired engineer who worked for the majority of his career at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in their nuclear fuel processing facility. He moved to INL after four years of teaching at Marquette University. Now a consulting scientist, he has taken on a mission to tell his story of his years working in nuclear energy as a means to educate engineers and scientists on the technological and policy-related issues surrounding nuclear power. He has dozens of book chapters to his credit as an author.
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Table of Contents
Introduction ix
1 Africa-- Especially Special Issues 1
2 Why Everything Boils Down to Energy Inputs 7
2.1 How Much Clean Sustainable Energy Will Our
Descendants Need? 12
2.2 This Book-- Technological Fix-- Specifics 18
2.3 Why Politically Correct Renewables Couldn--‚¬â„¢t Save the World 19
2.3.1 Which Food Crops should our Descendants Raise
and How much Land would that Take? 22
2.3.2 The Whys and Costs of Desalination 24
2.3.3 Fertilizers 27
2.3.3.1 Nitrogen and the Cost of Fixing
Enough of it to Feed Everyone 28
2.3.3.2 The Reasons Why Powdered Basalt should
Supply the Phosphorous and Potassium
Required to Feed Everyone 28
3 A Sustainable Nuclear Renaissance-- Other Killer Apps -- 33
3.1 Atmospheric Carbon Sequestration 33
3.2 Nuclear-Powered Transportation 37
3.2.1 Direct Electrical 37
3.2.2 Nuclear Powered Transportation Fuel Synthesis 39
3.2.3 The Age of Substitutability 44
3.2.4 More Killer Apps 47
4 Why Sustainability Means Breeder Reactors 49
5 Today-- More Promising Breeder Reactor Concepts 55
5.1 Heavy Water Thorium Breeders 55
5.2 Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs) 56
5.3 Molten Salt Reactors 57
5.3.1 MSFR 59
5.3.2 MCFR 61
5.3.3 MOLTEX 66
5.3.4 Tube in Shell Thorium Breeder 68
5.3.5 LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) 70
5.3.6 THORCON and IMSR 71
6 The Whys, Hows, and History of Sustainable Reactors 75
7 A Nuclear Green New Deal-- -- Costs 81
7.1 Economics: The Main Reason the USA-- Nuclear Power
Industry is Now on the Ropes 81
7.2 Generic Reactor Build Costs 91
7.3 Sustainable Reactor Build Costs 92
7.3.1 Materials 95
7.3.1.1 Concrete, Steel, etc. 95
7.3.1.2 Other Metals 97
7.3.1.3 Isotopically Pure Salts 97
7.3.1.4 Other Materials 98
7.3.1.5 Startup Fissile 98
7.4 Waste Management Costs 102
7.5 Raising the Money 110
8 The Nuclear Establishment-- Self-Inflicted Wounds 113
8.1 Refusal to Choose/Set Rational Goals 114
8.1.1 NGNP 115
8.1.2 DOE-- Savannah River Site-- MOX Boondoggling 117
8.1.3 DOE Hanford-- Reprocessing Waste Treatment
Project-- Boondoggling 118
8.1.4 DOE-- Lead Nuclear Engineering Lab-- -- Radwaste
Boondoggling 123
8.2 Fukushima-- Nuclear Disaster -- 128
8.3 The Nuclear Industry-- LNT-Based Radiation
Dose Assumptions 131
8.4 ALARA (As Low Reasonably Achievable) 133
8.5 Overblown Proliferation Concerns 134
9 The Damned Human Race -- [208] 137
9.1 Greed 139
9.2 Tribalism 140
9.3 Gullibility 143
9.4 Laziness 145
9.5 Deviousness 146
9.6 Bullheadedness 147
9.6.1 Anti-Nuclear Environmentalists 147
9.6.2 Hyper Secrecy 148
9.6.3 My Own Bullheadedness 150
9.7 Bullheadedness--‚¬â„¢ Consequences 150
9.7.1 INEL-- Calciner-- Off Gas Opacity Issue -- 150
9.7.2 Argonne Idaho-- IFR Waste Management Scheme 152
9.7.3 The DOE-- Radwaste Classification System 153
10 Why the Western World-- Erstwhile Leader in
Nuclear Energy must Embrace Change -- 155
11 Suggestions for Improvement 169
12 Conclusions 175
References 183
Appendix I: Reprocessing 201
Appendix II: MSFR Isobreeder Fuel Salt Reprocessing 209
Appendix III: More Opinions about TERRAPOWER--
Reactor Concepts 211
Appendix IV: Example Additive Molar Volume Calculation 215
Appendix V: QBASIC Startup Fissile Program 217
Appendix VI: A More Realistic Tube-in-Shell Thorium
Breeder Reactor Startup Scenario 219
Appendix VII: Letter Sent to INEEL-- Director (2001)
(after separations & before steam reforming was the Site--
preferred alternative) 221
Appendix VIII: Letter Sent to Two of the DOE-- Inspector
General-- Lawyers Just after My Job Had Been Downsized
for the Last Time 227
Appendix IX: Suggestions for Improving INL Reprocessing
Waste Management 233
Appendix X: Greater Confinement Disposal 239
Appendix XI: How Hot Are the DOE-- High Level Wastes? 245s
Appendix XII: How the Nuclear Industry-- Experts
Can Mislead 247
Appendix XIII: Example of a Promising Concept
that Needs Experimental Verification as Soon as Possible 251
Appendix XIV: INL-- Steam Reforming Process 255
Index 265
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Introduction ix
1 Africa-- Especially Special Issues 1
2 Why Everything Boils Down to Energy Inputs 7
2.1 How Much Clean Sustainable Energy Will Our
Descendants Need? 12
2.2 This Book-- Technological Fix-- Specifics 18
2.3 Why Politically Correct Renewables Couldn--‚¬â„¢t Save the World 19
2.3.1 Which Food Crops should our Descendants Raise
and How much Land would that Take? 22
2.3.2 The Whys and Costs of Desalination 24
2.3.3 Fertilizers 27
2.3.3.1 Nitrogen and the Cost of Fixing
Enough of it to Feed Everyone 28
2.3.3.2 The Reasons Why Powdered Basalt should
Supply the Phosphorous and Potassium
Required to Feed Everyone 28
3 A Sustainable Nuclear Renaissance-- Other Killer Apps -- 33
3.1 Atmospheric Carbon Sequestration 33
3.2 Nuclear-Powered Transportation 37
3.2.1 Direct Electrical 37
3.2.2 Nuclear Powered Transportation Fuel Synthesis 39
3.2.3 The Age of Substitutability 44
3.2.4 More Killer Apps 47
4 Why Sustainability Means Breeder Reactors 49
5 Today-- More Promising Breeder Reactor Concepts 55
5.1 Heavy Water Thorium Breeders 55
5.2 Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactors (LMFBRs) 56
5.3 Molten Salt Reactors 57
5.3.1 MSFR 59
5.3.2 MCFR 61
5.3.3 MOLTEX 66
5.3.4 Tube in Shell Thorium Breeder 68
5.3.5 LFTR (Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor) 70
5.3.6 THORCON and IMSR 71
6 The Whys, Hows, and History of Sustainable Reactors 75
7 A Nuclear Green New Deal-- -- Costs 81
7.1 Economics: The Main Reason the USA-- Nuclear Power
Industry is Now on the Ropes 81
7.2 Generic Reactor Build Costs 91
7.3 Sustainable Reactor Build Costs 92
7.3.1 Materials 95
7.3.1.1 Concrete, Steel, etc. 95
7.3.1.2 Other Metals 97
7.3.1.3 Isotopically Pure Salts 97
7.3.1.4 Other Materials 98
7.3.1.5 Startup Fissile 98
7.4 Waste Management Costs 102
7.5 Raising the Money 110
8 The Nuclear Establishment-- Self-Inflicted Wounds 113
8.1 Refusal to Choose/Set Rational Goals 114
8.1.1 NGNP 115
8.1.2 DOE-- Savannah River Site-- MOX Boondoggling 117
8.1.3 DOE Hanford-- Reprocessing Waste Treatment
Project-- Boondoggling 118
8.1.4 DOE-- Lead Nuclear Engineering Lab-- -- Radwaste
Boondoggling 123
8.2 Fukushima-- Nuclear Disaster -- 128
8.3 The Nuclear Industry-- LNT-Based Radiation
Dose Assumptions 131
8.4 ALARA (As Low Reasonably Achievable) 133
8.5 Overblown Proliferation Concerns 134
9 The Damned Human Race -- [208] 137
9.1 Greed 139
9.2 Tribalism 140
9.3 Gullibility 143
9.4 Laziness 145
9.5 Deviousness 146
9.6 Bullheadedness 147
9.6.1 Anti-Nuclear Environmentalists 147
9.6.2 Hyper Secrecy 148
9.6.3 My Own Bullheadedness 150
9.7 Bullheadedness--‚¬â„¢ Consequences 150
9.7.1 INEL-- Calciner-- Off Gas Opacity Issue -- 150
9.7.2 Argonne Idaho-- IFR Waste Management Scheme 152
9.7.3 The DOE-- Radwaste Classification System 153
10 Why the Western World-- Erstwhile Leader in
Nuclear Energy must Embrace Change -- 155
11 Suggestions for Improvement 169
12 Conclusions 175
References 183
Appendix I: Reprocessing 201
Appendix II: MSFR Isobreeder Fuel Salt Reprocessing 209
Appendix III: More Opinions about TERRAPOWER--
Reactor Concepts 211
Appendix IV: Example Additive Molar Volume Calculation 215
Appendix V: QBASIC Startup Fissile Program 217
Appendix VI: A More Realistic Tube-in-Shell Thorium
Breeder Reactor Startup Scenario 219
Appendix VII: Letter Sent to INEEL-- Director (2001)
(after separations & before steam reforming was the Site--
preferred alternative) 221
Appendix VIII: Letter Sent to Two of the DOE-- Inspector
General-- Lawyers Just after My Job Had Been Downsized
for the Last Time 227
Appendix IX: Suggestions for Improving INL Reprocessing
Waste Management 233
Appendix X: Greater Confinement Disposal 239
Appendix XI: How Hot Are the DOE-- High Level Wastes? 245s
Appendix XII: How the Nuclear Industry-- Experts
Can Mislead 247
Appendix XIII: Example of a Promising Concept
that Needs Experimental Verification as Soon as Possible 251
Appendix XIV: INL-- Steam Reforming Process 255
Index 265
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BISAC SUBJECT HEADINGS
TEC028000 : TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Power Resources / Nuclear
SCI024000 : SCIENCE / Energy
BUS070040 : BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Industries / Energy
BIC CODES
THK: Nuclear power & engineering
PHN: Nuclear physics
PNRL: Nuclear chemistry, photochemistry & radiation
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