Ann. noel. Energr. Vol. 10, No. 10, p. 559, 1983 PcrgalliOll Press I.Id. Printed in (;l'eltl Ilrilaiil

BOOK REVIEWS

Nuclear Fuel Cycle Optimization, by P. SILVENNOINEN. Pergamon press, Oxford (1982). 300 pages. £25.00.

This is a text based on a series of lectures given at the Helsinki University of Technology, and offered as suitable material for final-year undergraduate or postgraduate students following courses in nuclear engineering or energy-related topics. It presents a series of models of constituent elements of the overall nuclear fuel cycle, from the supply of uranium to the disposal ofthe spent fuel, with particular emphasis on methods appropriate to LWRs. it also treats the analysis of fuel-cycle logistics and the comparative economics of alternative fuel- cycle strategies involving the selection of a reactor type or a mix of reactor types. The latter includes an examination of the characteristics of mixed systems with both thermal (converterl and fast (breeder) reactors.

An inlroductory chapler describes the elements of the fuel cycle and identilies the parameters which are amenable to optimization. The enrichment process is dealt with in some mathematical detail, lncore fuel management is assumed to be optimized, nominal values being assigned for use in the overall fuel-cycle study. The influence of demand upon the cost of uranium, a base parameter, is examined and an outline presented of an iterative procedure to generate a global scenario. A simplilied LWR fuel-cycle model is then presented, a set of model equations is developed and an optimization procedure outlined, this using linear programming tech- niques. The next chapter deals with the uncertainties which attach to such calculations in view of the strong dependence upon predictions of future unit process and fuel costs.

Next comes a discussion of the implications ofinternational regulations relating to non-proliferation, to indicate those elements of the fuel cycle which are particularly sensitive ; this, as an example of an objective other than the purely economic, leads to a discussion of multi-goal optimization methods for the fuel cycle.

As already mentioned, other chapters deal with the characteristics of mixed systems, including plutonium recycle, and a final chapter examines the relationship between the nuclear component and other components of energy supply systems, both on a local and global basis.

The text is well and clearly presented and constitutes a valuable addition to a sparse bibliography relating to the nuclear fuel cycle. It is perhaps over-specialized for most final- year undergraduate courses, but quite appropriate for graduate studies, as background material for research students and, indeed, for many in the nuclear industry who are concerned with design and optimization of the nuclear fuel cycle.

P. R. SMITH Senior Lecturer in Nuclear En.qineerin.q Queen Mary Collegge University of London

Heavy Ion Collisions, Vol. I11, edited by R. Bt~'K. North- Holland, Amsterdam (1982). 660 pages. US$144.25.

The advent of new and extended accelerator technology for heavy-ion projectiles has heralded a whole new range of

experimental techniques for probing the dynamics and structure of the nucleus. Volumes I and II (for reviews, see Ann. nucl. Ener.qy 7, 631; 8, 249) dealt, respectively, with the microscopic and macroscopic physics of such nuclear reactions. Volume II I, which completes the series, deals with a number of research topics, which although they could not be properly described as being in the mainstream of the subject are nonetheless of considerable interest.

Chapter 1, by Pelte and Schwalm, covers the lield of in-beam },-ray spectroscopy with heavy ions. Following an excellent introduction to nuclear spectroscopy, the article (some 300 pages in all) deals with single-particle shell models, rotational and vibrational models and the basic theory of angular correlations and distributions. Particular attention is paid to relevant experimental techniques and the application of the methods to heavy-ion studies.

In Chapter 2 wc arc presented wit I1 a review ofa much newer field, namely heavy-ion atomic physics. Here Grcincr and Scheid outline the predictions of quantum electrodynamics which lead to the existence of a neutral ground state, i.e. a vacuum, which could change its structure under the influence of external fields. The required fields could well be provided by the electric liclds associated with U-ions colliding below the Coulomb barrier. If such collisions can be practically achieved, a whole new era of atomic physics could emerge. Such experiments would provide laboratory conditions for the investigation of the physics of pion fields, a-meson lields and the simulation of gravitational fields in the vicinity of black holes.

Chapter 3 reverts to a more conventional pace with a discussion, by Goldring, of hyperfine interactions in isolated ions. One of the objects of such studies is the measurement of the magnetic moments of short-lived excited nuclear states. Such information leads to high-refined descriptions of nuclear level structure, with sophisticated experimental techniques capable of measuring lifetimes down to fractions of picoseconds.

The volume concludes with a review by Hamilton on the use of heavy ions for probing nuclei far from stability. A whole range of heavy-ion reactions, such as spallation, fusion- evaporation and deep inelastic transfer reactions, allow short- lived isotopes to be produced away from the well-known classical regions of stability, and into regions of(N, ZI space previously unexplored. Highly-specialized techniques have been developed for rapid separation of isotopes based on the mass and Z-numbers and these are discussed in detail. Although largely an experimental review the article provides a useful introduction to the subject.

With this review of the final volume it is litting to comment that the series has provided an excellent account of the present state of the art of heavy-ion physics as well as the aspirations of the subject. At a time when nuclear structure physics is under intense scrutiny from national research funding authorities, the three volumes brilliantly illustrate how the developments in the subject are making valuable contributions to other fundamental fields such as cosmology, astrophysics, solid- state physics, atomic physics and quantum electrodynamics.

T. D. BEYN(IN Senior Lecturer in Physics The Unirersity (~ Birmin.qham

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