NUCLEAR ENERGY

Universidad Nacional de ColombiaRenewable Energies2012 – II

Fabián PovedaAndrés BarretoDaniel ZambranoHierman Galeano

• Introduction• Potential• How it works• Reactors• Economy

CONTENTS

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• Nuclear energy is the energy obtained by manipulating the internal structure of atoms. It can be obtained by dividing the nucleus (nuclear fission) or joining two atoms (nuclear fusion)

• Nuclear energy is the only option to produce and supply large amounts of electricity globally

• 440 nuclear reactors produce electricity around the world. More than 15 countries have nuclear energy to produce 25% or more of their electricity needs

INTRODUCTION

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NUCLEAR FISSION

HOW IT WORKS

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• A neutron traveling at high speed hits the nucleus of an element of high atomic weight

• Uranium 235• Plutonium 239

E = m c

2

HOW IT WORKS – Fuel cycle

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FRONT END – Uranium mining, conversion, enrichmentAnd fuel fabrication

Uranium ore is mined by extraction or in situ

leaching

Natural uranium U-235 must be ‘enriched’ to

0.71% to 3.5%

Uranium hexafluoride gas

UF6 or ‘hex’

Small pellets of uranium dioxide, a ceramic

material2 cm long , 1.5 cm

diameter

Loaded into zirconium alloy or stainless steel

tubes 4 m long fuel rods

Light Water Reactors (LWR)

HOW IT WORKS – Fuel cycle

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SERVICE PERIOD

HOW IT WORKS – Fuel cycle

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BACK END – Safety procedures either to reprocess or dispose of spent nuclear fuel

Closed fuel cycleOpen fuel cycle

Fuel is used once and then sent to storage

without further processing

After being removed from the reactor, the fuel rods go to a reprocessing

plant wherethey are chopped up and

dissolved in acidUS, Canada and Sweden

UK, France and Japan

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Potential of Nuclear Power

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Comparison between Fossil and Nuclear power plants

Fossil fuel plants

39%CO2

67%SO2

22%NOx

41%Hg

Nuclear power plants

Coal plant emissions is 100 times higher than those of nuclear plants

25 billion tonnes of CO2 are produced by burning fossil fuels

NUCLEAR FISSION=

NONE EMISSIONS

FUEL CYCLE=

just 2% of the emissions of fossil

fuels

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Let’s see some tables

Pollutant Hard coal Brown coal Fuel oil Other oil Gas

CO2 (g/GJ) 94600 101000 77400 74100 56100

SO2 (g/GJ) 765 1361 1350 228 0,68

NOx (g/GJ) 292 183 195 129 93,3

CO (g/GJ) 89,1 89,1 15,7 15,7 14,5

No methane organic compound (g/GJ)

4,92 7,78 3,7 3,24 1,58

Particulate Matter (g/GJ)

1203 3254 16 191 0,1

Flue gas volume total (m^3/GJ)

360 444 279 276 272

Fuel-dependent emission factors from power plants in EU

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Let’s see some tables

A safety comparison between the sources of electrical energy

Energy source

Number of events with fatalities

Causes Installation Inmediate fatalities per event

Total immediate fatalities

Immediate fatalities per GW/year

Coal 62 Mine disasters Coal mines 70 3900 0,4

Oil 160 Fire-explosion transformation accident

Refineries plataform tankers

40 6200 0,3

Gas 80 Fire-explosion-eartquake

Gas wells and distribution

50 3100 0,4

Hydro 20 Overtopping failure

Dams 300 5200 2

Nuclear 1 Design and operation

Chernobyl 31 31 Lower than 0,01

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Let’s see some tables

Aatmospheric pollution and solid wste from worldwide energy use (Million of tons)Source SO2 NOx Particulat

esCO CO2 Solid

waste

Coal 100 Over than 20

500 3 9000 Over than 300

Gas Lower than 0,5

2 Lower than 0,5

5 4000 Minor

Oil 40 10 2 200 9000 15

Wood 0,2 3 100 200 5000 50

Hydro 0 0 0 0 0 0

Nuclear 0 0 0 0 0 0,04

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• Fear of exposure to nuclear radiation has created public opposition to nuclear energy

• The increase in overall collective exposure to radiation for the world’s population from nuclear energy is absolutely negligible compared to the doses that they get from oter sources, mostly Mother Nature.

Nuclear Radiation

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• Whether or not low level of radiation dose, within the range of natural background, have any health efects at all

• Nuclear wastes radiations are less than 1%, compared to natural backgraound 82%, and medical raditation 14% exposures

Nuclear Radiation

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• Nuclear power plants produce alpha, beta and gamma rays. The last one it’s the most deadly, but you can stop it using several millimeters of lead.

Nuclear Radiation

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Nuclear Radiation

Sources of public annual radiation exposure in the U.S.

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• The firs experimental and exhaustive study examining the economic competitiveness of nuclear power has been completed by the University of chicago

• The studi shows that teh future cost assosiated with nuclear power production is comparable with gas

Studies in nuclear energy

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• The studie demostrate that in the future cost for gas fired production and coal will be $35 to $45 per MWh and $33 to $31 MWh respectively and new nuclear plant would have a costo of $32 to $36 MWh

Studies in nuclear energy

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• If all the energy of the world were produced by Nuclear power, we would need 2000 cubic meters of fossil fuel, which is about the volume of a modes home (10 meters by 20 by 10)

Studies in nuclear energy

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• “We found wind and nuclear f i ss ions to have the lowest GH gas emiss ions over the i r l i fe -cyc le” Paul Meier, d i rector of the energy inst i tute at the Univers i ty Chicago.

• “As a zero-carbon energy source, nuc lear power p lants must be part of our energy mix aswe work toward energy independence and meet ing the chal lenge of g lobal warming” Nobel phys ic ist Steven Chu, Secretary of energy Pr inceton Univers i ty.

Studies in nuclear energy

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World nuclear industry status report

Nuclear electricity generation in the world (total and share of electricity generation)

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World nuclear industry status report

Number of nuclear reactors under construction, 1954-2012

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World nuclear industry status report

Relative changes in net income of major nuclear companies 2007-2011

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World nuclear industry status reportGlobal investment decisions in new renewables and nuclear power, 2004-2011

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World nuclear industry status reportNuclear, wind, and solar capacity increases around the world, 2000-2011

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• Many contries like China, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, USA, Russia have stopped theri nuclear projects because of the fear to terrorism, radiation

• Even when countries increase the amount of nuclear energy, it has not kept pace with overall increases in electricity demands

World nuclear industry status report

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• The current world reactor fleet has a total nominal capacity of about 364 gigawatts

• Normaly the time that will take to build a nuclear plant is 5 to 7 years. Nowdays current nuclear project have been under construction more than 20 years

World nuclear industry status report

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• The toal numbre of canceled orders to build nuclear plants were 253 in 31 countries, many of them at advanced construccion stage. Just the USA has cancleled 138 orders. French Atomic Energy Commision Statics-2003

• The accidents that have occur in the last years like Fukishima Daiichi, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island are responsable of the fall in nuclear energy industry.

World nuclear industry status report

Alaska, Muir Glacier

11890 2005

Alaska, Reid Glacierd

1899

2003

Haiti

Dominican Republic

CHAIN

A

AIR

POLLUTION

NUCLEAR

energy

TECHNOLOGY

FORTHE

FUTURE

MENU

BIG reactorsInteresting facts

Small reactorsIntersting factsAdvantages and disavantages

BIG REACTORS

INTERESTING FACTS:

24 MW 16 MW65% OF RATIO

PARTICIPANTS

ENERGY PRODUCTION

JET

1983

ITERINTERESTING FACTS

PARTICIPANTS

ENERGY PRODUCTION

50 MW 500 MW

2019

1000% RATIO

ONE MW

1000 HOMES

-8MW 450MW

8000 500.000

SMALL REACTORS

TOSHIBA 4S REACTOR

DESAIGNER

LIFE THERY YEARS

ADVANTAGES

HEAT SUPPLAYENERGYSTEAMDESALINIZATION

50 MW 135 MW THERMAL

33.800

50.000

83.800

HYPERION

ADVANTAGES

LIFE

DESAIGNER

TEN YEARS

HEAT SUPPLAYENERGYDESALINIZATIONTRANSPORTATION

70 MW THERMAL

25 MW ELECTRICITY

25.000

17.500

42.500

THORIUM REACTOR (SSTAR)

DESAIGNERDESAIGNER

LIFE

ADVANTAGES

THERY YEARS

TRANSPORTATIONPRICELOW NUCLEAR WASTENO NUCLEAR WEAPONS

10-100 MW

100.000

PROBLE

MS

20.000.000.000.000

46.000.000.000.000.000

euros

Colombian pesos

POLICY

ECONOMY

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• NGRExpert. (2012). Nuclear fuel cycle and supporting industries

• http://www.energia-nuclear.net/

REFERENCES

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THANK YOU