...Public Attitudes to Nuclear Power and Climate Change in Britain Two Years after the Fukushima Accident Summary findings of a survey conducted in March 2013 Wouter Poortinga, Nick F. Pidgeon, Stuart Capstick, and Midori Aoyagi Working Paper 19 September 2013: REF UKERC/WP/ES/2013/006 This document has been prepared to enable results of on-going work to be made available rapidly. It has not been subject to review and approval, and does not have the authority of a full Research Report. 1 T H E U K E N E R G Y R E S E A R C H C E N T R E carries out world-class research into sustainable future energy systems. It is the hub of UK energy research and the gateway between the UK and the international energy research communities. Our interdisciplinary, whole systems research informs UK policy development and research strategy. Contact Details Dr Wouter Poortinga Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University Bute Building, King Edward VII Avenue Cardiff, Wales, UK, CF10 3NB Prof Nick F. Pidgeon, Dr Stuart Capstick Understanding Risk Research Group School of Psychology, Cardiff University 51 Park Place Cardiff, Wales, UK, CF10 3AT Dr Midori Aoyagi Social and Environmental Systems Research Center, National Institute for Environmental studies (NIES), 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan PoortingaW@cardiff.ac.uk PidgeonN@cardiff.ac.uk CapstickSB@cardiff.ac.uk Aoyagi@nies.go.jp 2 Contents Acknowledgements ...........................................................................
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...Nuclear Energy Research Paper Global warming is a major issue in today’s world that affects many people, animals, economies, and society as a whole. What is global warming? Global warming is the rising average temperature of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. It’s been constantly rising over the past 100 years because of major contributions which include: greenhouse gases (especially CO2) being emitted, industrialization, burning of fossil fuels, and the increase in population. Global warming was first discovered in 1896 by a Swedish scientist named Svante Arrhenius who proposed an idea that there is a relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature. He later then described, by comparing carbon dioxide levels, infrared absorption, surface temperature of the earth, and human activity, that global warming would rise. Other scientists didn’t believe this idea stating that natural forces would cancel out human activity that releases carbon dioxide. It wasn’t until 1988 that it was finally acknowledged that global warming is present because of how much warmer it was than the 1800s. Since then, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was founded which looks at scientific, technical, and socio-economic information that relates to human induced climate change and figures out plans and ideas to decrease and slow down the rate at which the climate is getting hotter. However, there are still disagreements to this day whether or...
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...MAV introduction A Nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor, the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator, and this produces electricity. Nuclear power plants are many different sizes and many sites have multiple units. Most of the new units are between 1000 and 1700 Mw electric. A good thumb-rule is 1000 Mw = 1 million homes Nuclear power stations use a fuel called uranium, a relatively common material of which Energy is released from when an atom is split by a neutron. The uranium atom splits into two which releases energy in the form of radiation and heat. We call this nuclear reaction the ‘fission process’. The uranium is first formed into pellets and then into long rods in a nuclear power station which are then kept cool by submerging them in water. When removed from the water a nuclear reaction takes place causing heat. In a nuclear power station the uranium is first formed into pellets and then into long rods. The amount of heat required is controlled by raising and lowering the rods. If more heat is required the rods are raised further out of the water and if less is needed they lower further into it. Advantages: The amount of electricity produced in a nuclear power station is equivalent to that produced by a fossil fuelled power station. Nuclear power stations do not burn fossil fuels to produce electricity and they do not produce damaging, polluting...
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...Nuclear Energy Nuclear energy is one of the cleanest sources of energy. Over 31 countries use this source of energy. One of these counties being the United States, although the U.S uses nuclear energy to support its huge use of energy it is still very controversial and causes many disputes and arguments. First what is nuclear energy? It is released during nuclear fission or fusion. Nuclear energy is made in nuclear power plants which obtain the heat needed to produce steam through a physical process. This process, called fission, entails the splitting of atoms of uranium in a nuclear reactor. The uranium fuel consists of small, hard ceramic pellets that are packaged into long, vertical tubes. Bundles of this fuel are inserted into the reactor. This then outputs electricity. There are many reasons why nuclear energy is not popular in the US. One of the greatest reasons is safety with the Chernobyl nuclear accident at how much destruction and death it caused many still live in fear. Not to mention it raises suspicion with nuclear warfare (with all the access to uranium). Also many argue where all the left over waste will go from the plants. Critics argue that the cost benefits aren't so clear-cut. While the electricity seems cheaper up front, the exorbitant costs of building and maintaining plants must be added into the equation -- something industry experts rarely do. Long-term storage of nuclear waste is expensive and dangerous. Also, add the expense of finding and retaining...
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...Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 2820–2830 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Nuclear Engineering and Design journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nucengdes Assessment the safety performance of nuclear power plants using Global Safety Index (GSI) Ayah E. Abouelnaga ∗ , Abdelmohsen Metwally, Naguib Aly, Mohammad Nagy, Saeed Agamy Alexandria University, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering, Alexandria, 21544, Egypt a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t The safety performance of the nuclear power plant is a very important factor enhancing the nuclear energy option. It is vague to evaluate the nuclear power plant performance but it can be measured through measuring the safety performance of the plant. In this work, the safety of nuclear power plants is assessed by developing a “Global Safety Index” (GSI). The GSI is developed by introducing three indicators: probability of accident occurrence, performance of safety system in case of an accident occurrence (during an accident), and the consequences of the accident. The GSI is developed by tracking the performance of the safety system during a design basis accident such as loss of coolant accident (LOCA). This is done by using the PCTran simulation code in simulation a PWR LOCA and introducing four indicators: the sensation time, the response time, and the recovery time together with Core Damage Frequency (CDF). Then Fuzzy Inference System is used for obtaining...
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...the family and show how they differ from the Functionalist perspective, I will concentrate on the conflicting theories of Feminists, Marxists and Postmodernists. Functionalist Perspective Functionalism theory suggests that there is a specific pattern of family organisation corresponding to different types of society. Therefore suggesting there is a particular family form that best suits the conditions of industrial society. Functionalist's believe that the nuclear family replaced the extended families because of industrialisation. Parson claim's the nuclear family is crucial in relation to the socialisation of the young and stabilisation of adult personalities. G P Murdock says: “The family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults.” George Murdock (1949). Murdock asserts that the nuclear family is a universal social institution and that it exists universally because it fulfils four basic functions for society; Sexual, reproductive, economic and education functions. He argues that without these key functions society would disappear as they...
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...Nuclear War Jonathan Griner HIS/145 July 7, 2014 Jody Bell Nuclear War So what if today the sirens went off. I hate that we never know what is going to happen next all we know for now is to seek shelter, keep calm and pray for the best. If I were to be living under these circumstances every day I believe it would be unbearable. Could you imagine what it would be like to have bombs literally falling from the sky? And what if you had small children and you were in no way prepared for this event. Some might say that a nuclear threat is close to in similarity with the terrorism threats it also has its differences. A few similarities of these two very gruesome and spontaneous threats is that both are hateful acts against mankind. They are unannounced and can happen at any given time of day. And because of this it makes both a very scary thought. We as people prepare for natural disasters that can happen anytime but with warning. A few differences for instance in a nuclear war what can one do to prepare for that sort of tragedy? I can only imagine in the earlier years in America family’s had real yards that they could put shelters in. but, now America is so over populated and most people live in condos or apartments they have no space, they have no bomb shelter. But in a terrorist act that too is unpredictable. For instance take 9/11 no one could have ever seen something like that happen. That was so horrifying all those innocent people lost their lives for no reason at...
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...Can Nuclear Energy Be the Answer? It is only possible to mitigate global warming if the world-wide consumption of fossil fuels can be drastically reduced in the next 10 to 15 years. There is simply no room for a scenario as it is depicted by Lester R. Brown in the book Plan B 4.0 Mobilizing to Save Civilization. The scenario plays out like a horror movie, poverty, depleted water supply, food shortages, terrorism, over population, disastrous floods, erratic changes in ocean currents and global warming. What is causing global warming? Carbon dioxide and other air pollution that is collecting in the atmosphere like a thickening blanket, trapping the sun's heat and causing the planet to warm up. Coal-burning power plants are the largest United States source of carbon dioxide pollution -- they produce 2.5 billion tons every year. Automobiles, the second largest source, create nearly 1.5 billion tons of CO2 annually. (Valentinas Mickūnaitis) The good news is there are many technologies that exist today to allow cars to operate more efficiently and use less gas. In order to reduce the amount of toxins in the atmosphere, older power plants need to be modernized and we need to reduce our electricity by putting into practice energy efficiency, these are just some suggestions to lowering the levels of CO2, we have to make sure they are implemented. Politicians are especially attracted to the restoration of nuclear power as a possible solution to averting global warming. When the...
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...Nuclear Medicine Brenda L. Clark Argosy University Contemporary Applications of the Sciences Module 4 Assignment 2 Dr. Frankin Barrish Nuclear medicine is being used to help fight diseases as well as being able to take Images of an individual’s body (News Medical, 2015). The radioactive substance works with the nuclear medicine and this is important because it aids with looking inside the opaque human body (News Medical, 2015). Within this paper you will read how the technical and scientific perceptions relate to nuclear medicine. The most common radiation is radiopharmaceutical in regards to nuclear medicine procedures that are being done today (American Cancer Society, 2015). The radiopharmaceutical is the radioactive pharmaceutical and is used in diagnosing and treating diseases such as cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015). This type of radiation is injected, ingested, or inhaled in the individual’s body before the doctor is able to diagnose what the individual is dealing with (Mosby Dictionary, 2009). The imaging technique is how the doctor is able to do this. This type of radiation is also used for relieving pain or help to treat the disease. This type of radiation operates once it is hosted within the body and then travels to certain areas that have abnormality (Mosby Dictionary, 2009). The radioactive part of the pharmaceutical releases the gamma rays and then the gamma camera is able to pick it up (Mosby Dictionary, 2009). This is how a doctor...
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...Nuclear Weapons In 1939, scientist Albert Einstein wrote a letter to the United States president of the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt, concerning the research of splitting a uranium atom that could lead to the development of an atomic bomb in Germany. In the letter, Einstein wrote,”It may be possible to set off a nuclear chain reaction in a large mass of uranium, by which large amounts of power and new radium like elements would be generated.” He continued,” This new development could lead to the creation of bombs, and as it seems, but less likely, the construction of an even bigger, new type of bomb.” President Roosevelt, although skeptical at first, decided to go through with the research and in 1941 the Manhattan Project was born. Four years later on August 6, the United States Dropped the first nuclear atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima wiping out 90 percent of the city, killing more than 80,000 people, and later tens of thousands more. Then again on August 9, another bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki and killing more than 40,000. 6 days later, the Emperor of Japan announced Japan’s official surrender to the United States in World War II. The effects and after effects of the the two bombs dropped shocked the entire world, even those a part of the Manhattan Project. The Japanese Emperor Hirohito described the bombs as the ”new and most cruel bomb.” This research paper will discuss the pros and cons of the use of nuclear weapons among different countries...
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...Nuclear Energy and its importance in context of India Every single atom in the universe carries an unimaginably powerful battery within its heart, called the nucleus. This form of energy, often called Type-1 fuel, is hundreds of thousands, if not million, times more powerful than the conventional Type-0 fuels, which are basically dead plants and animals existing in the form of coal, petroleum, natural gas and other forms of fossil fuel. I. Terminology - Nuclear fission –splitting of atoms to produce energy in the form of heat. Uranium a naturally occurring radioactive metal - only element in which fission(splitting off nucleus) can take place easily, setting off a chain reaction or a self-sustained splitting of atoms. The atoms of Uranium are the largest and the heaviest known on earth so its nucleus is unstable. Besides uranium, plutonium can undergo fission. Fertile material – composed of atoms which do not undergo induced fission themselves but fissile material can be generated from them by irradiation in a nuclear reactor. E.g. U- 238 gives plutonium 239, TH- 232 gives U-233, and U-234 gives U-235. Criticality – When the chain reaction takes place for the first time in a nuclear electricity reactor, it means the reactor has reached its first criticality. Moderator – used to slowdown neutrons surrounding the fuel core of the reactor,e.g.Light water, heavy water (D2O) Pressurised Heavy Water reactor (PWHR) –fuel used is natural uranium. Heavy water is both coolant and...
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...Whitney Turntine Februrary 17, 2014 Environmental Science Nuclear Energy It seems that the world as a whole is in search of an energy source that is cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient. This seems to be particularly true in the United States where the government seeks to separate themselves from their reliance on petroleum from countries including those in the Middle East. They are unfortunately, less concerned with environmental issues than it is with issues of power, money, and dominance. Either way, nuclear energy is one of the better alternative energy sources. There are currently 65 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states around the country. Thirty-six of the plants have two or more reactors. These plants have generated about 20% of U.S. electricity each year since 1990. Nuclear fisson is performed by fusion of hydrogen into helium. This is done using uranium, plutonium, or thorium and placing them in the reactor, which start a chain reaction that can produce vast amounts of energy. Uranium is the element primarily used in reactors. The fission of a one atom can produce 10 million times the amount of energy that an atom can produce that is burned from coal. Uranium is an abundant element which is easily found and extracted. It often has to undergo a relatively cheap refining process, however, as the isotopes are found mixed in nature. Nuclear fission is also relatively clean, as there is no excess CO2 produced, as there is in...
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...Nuclear power and hydropower, both are able to produce energy without releasing fossil fuels into the air. They are both inexpensive to run but they are expensive to build. Both of these clean air options have advantages and disadvantages. Nuclear power plants have had some major disasters in the past, which make people hesitant of building more. You have to think about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and 20th century Chernobyl nuclear meltdown. We have to consider what is best for our environment and if the risk outweighs the benefits. Hydropower was developed many years ago by the “1900’s it accounted for more than 40 percent of United States electricity.” (BOR, 2009) Hydropower produces clean renewable energy that does not release any greenhouse gases and the water evaporates back into the atmosphere. Cost of running hydropower plant is not expensive and can work for years without needing repairs. They provide recreational area, tourist attraction, and controls flooding. The disadvantages “hydropower facilities can have large environmental impacts by changing the environment and affecting land use, homes, and natural habitats in the dam area.”(Turk & Bensel, 2011) There are high investment costs to build a hydropower plant. Hydropower plants can damage the ecosystem by killing off fish and plants. This can affect the fish and their ability to migrate. Therefore, everything has its drawbacks we have to figure out if it is worth it. Nuclear power plants have...
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...Nuclear energy is one of the most controversial forms of energy known to man. Its disadvantages are widely known and criticized, such as the nuclear wastes released from the power plants, the virtually impossible disposal of the wastes, the potential for terrorist attacks on these power plants, and the unbelievably high price needed to even build a power plant. Although the risks outweigh the benefits, nuclear plants may be needed because of the fact that they are the cleanest way of producing energy without any environmental drawbacks. Overall, nuclear energy is and will always be a continuous topic for discussion and debate whether you are for it or against it. In the heart of any nuclear power plant lies the reactor. A reactor is a device used to control nuclear reactions so that the energy created and released by the reactions can be converted to a useful form at a constant rate. There are two types of reactors used in the modern world these reactors are called fission reactors and breeder reactors, fission reactors are work by separating a fissionable Uranium-235 from a non-fissionable Uranium-238 by using a very complex process, after this process a new more “enriched” form of uranium is produced that contains 3% of Uranium 235, this new substance is used to make uranium...
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...uclear Power in Pakistan (updated March 2012) Pakistan has a small nuclear power program, with 725 MWe capacity, but plans to increase this substantially. Pakistan's nuclear weapons capabilities of has arisen independently of the civil nuclear fuel cycle, using indigenous uranium. Because Pakistan is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, due to its weapons program, it is largely excluded from trade in nuclear plant or materials, which hinders its development of civil nuclear energy. In Pakistan, nuclear power makes a small contribution to total energy production and requirements, supplying only 2.34% of the country's electricity. Total generating capacity is 20 GWe and in 2006, 98 billion kWh gross was produced, 37% of it from gas, 29% from oil. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is responsible for all nuclear energy and research applications in the country. Its first nuclear power reactor is a small 137 MWe (125 MWe net) Canadian pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR) which started up in 1971 and which is under international safeguards - KANUPP near Karachi, which is operated at reduced power. The second unit is Chashma-1 in Punjab, a 325 MWe (300 MWe net) 2-loop pressurised water reactor (PWR) supplied by China's CNNC under safeguards. The main part of the plant was designed by Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI), based on Qinshan-1. It started up in May 2000 and is also known as CHASNUPP-1. Designed life...
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