Clear Thinking on NuclearAnswers to some Frequently Asked Questions

What careers are available?

What do we do with nuclear waste?

What happened at the nuclear accidents?

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Careers in Nuclear

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More nuclear professionals are needed

• The demand exceeds the supply of graduates trained in nuclear science and technology.

• Many nuclear professionals are retiring and need to transfer their knowledge to the next generation of experts.

• Nuclear careers exist in medicine, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and security.

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Exciting opportunities in nuclear careers

• Knowledgeable and experienced professionals serve as instructors and mentors to students entering nuclear careers.

• Scholarships, awards, and honors exist for student education and research.

• Nuclear Engineers have the 3rd highest median income among the engineering professions at $102,000/year.

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Science education programs: essential to our standard of living

• Teachers, parents and business leaders must encourage young people to consider rewarding careers in nuclear science and technology.

• A scientifically literate population, educated in math and science, is essential for our national economy and security.

• Ensuring a reliable workforce of highly capable people provides opportunities for saving lives, improving our environment, understanding our world and exploring our universe.

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Spent Nuclear Fuel

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• Currently, ~75,000 metric tonnes is stored at over 100 nuclear power plants.

• Was planned to be stored at Yucca Mountain in Nevada (licensing was put on hold in 2010)

• Dry Cask Storage is a likely alternate solution for the short to mid term. The additional cost for storage is very low (< 0.1 ¢/kW-hr).

• In the future, the waste may be reprocessed, to greatly reduce volume and long-term radioactivity, before being placed in a final geologic repository. At least one repository will still be necessary.

• All nuclear electricity is taxed at 0.1¢/kW-hr for a disposal fund, which will fully cover all waste transport and disposal costs. (~$500 million/year, >$10 billion accumulated)

What Happens to Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel in the U.S.?

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Experience, planning, and preparedness

• The US has a half-century of experience transporting radioactive materials with no radioactive materials being released.

• Over the last 40 years, 3,000 shipments on spent nuclear fuel have navigated more than 1.7 million miles of US roads and railways.

• In Europe, ~70,000 metric tonnes of spent fuel has already been shipped, with no releases. This is equivalent to the entire (future) Yucca Mtn. shipping campaign.

• Every shipment is carefully tracked and monitored along public routes that must meet strict safety requirements.

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Well designed and thoroughly tested containers

• Shipping packages, or casks, are designed according to rigorous standards established by the Department of Transportation and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

• The casks are about 15 times thicker than a gasoline tank truck shell and they include three to four inches of stainless steel with thick lead radiation shields.

• Typically, for every ton of fuel, there are more than three tons of protective packaging and shielding.

• Here’s a short video clip of the casks being tested.

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Coordinated efforts among federal and local officials

• The DOT identifies "preferred routes," of interstate highways and bypass routes around cities. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves all transportation security plans.

• Satellite tracking of all shipped casks is utilized to ensure location, and the dates of shipments are not publicized.

• Experienced, specially licensed trucking companies handle spent nuclear fuel shipments, in addition to many other hazardous materials, in the United States.

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Nuclear Accidents

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What Happened at Three Mile Island?

• A series of malfunctions and mistakes led to a small loss of coolant

• Fission stopped, but heat generation from radioactivity continued

• The event happened over many hours

• A portion of the core ultimately melted

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TMI Observations

• It was an accident that led to severe reactor damage and resulted in many lessons on how to prevent it in the future.

• It was financially disastrous to the utility (over $2 billion property losses and power costs)

• It released a very small amount of radioactivity (less than 10 curies of Iodine) and the consequences were small (well within NRC limits)

• It took a long time for the accident to evolve and allowed operator actions to mitigate its effects (many hours)

• It made USNRC rethink how it should consider the risk from plants:– Physical processes during a core melt may mitigated releases

– Strong containments and passive safety not previously credited

• There were no deaths, diseases or environmental impacts attributable to this accident

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What Happened at Chernobyl?

• Accident occurred during a planned test

• It resulted from a collection of operator actions in violation of safety procedures

• The unique design of the RBMK make this type of accident impossible in a Western reactor

• The damage and a very large radiation release happened over a short time (50,000,000 curies)

RMBK Reactor Layout

14National GeographicFor Educational Use

Chernobyl Observations

• This accident was far worse than the worst case scenario for a western commercial power plant

• It was financially & environmentally disastrous for USSR

• It released a large amount of radioactivity and the consequences were large (although lower that anticipated)

• It took a short time for the accident to evolve and allowed for no human intervention to mitigate the immediate consequences

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Chernobyl Observations

• The consequences were:– 47 emergency workers died from

direct radiation– 9 children who were nearby died

from cancers– In the general nearby population the

consequence is too small to be measured

• It made the world community reconsider this type of design for use in electrical power production

• The maximum possible release from a Western plant is a very small fraction of that which occurred at Chernobyl

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Good Resources

• ANS Scouting Program Resources– http://www.ans.org/pi/resources/

• NRC: Animated Diagrams, Other Information– http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/animated-bwr.html– http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/animated-pwr.html– http://www.nrc.gov/

• Example of Scouting Program on a Univ. site:– http://ans.engr.wisc.edu

• Nuclear Energy Institute: Key Issues, Careers, and Statistics on the Industry– http://www.nei.org

• Department of Energy: Mission and Statistics– http://www.energy.gov/energysources/nuclear.htm 17