The Future of Nuclear Technology .. .. After Fukushima (Alan Waltar)

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The Future of Nuclear Technology …After Fukushima

Alan Waltar KECK Futures Initiative The National Academies, Beckman Center, Irvine, CA November 13, 2013


Outline • Nuclear Power Power • Agriculture • Industry • Transportation • Medicine Non• Space Exploration Power • Terrorism, Crime, Public Safety • Arts & Sciences • Environmental Protection • Modern Economy Total Impact


Warplanes Over England (1940)


Bombing in London


Let All Men Say… “THIS WAS ENGLAND’S

FINEST HOUR!!”


So What Will Others Say About Nuclear Power… After Fukushima?


Recall some Headlines… Reactor Adds to Horror Threat of Meltdown Rocks Japan Japan’s Misery Mounts Americans Leaving Japan New Fears in Tokyo as Radiation Level Spiked Tap Water Setbacks Mount at Leaking Nuclear Plant High Radiation Outside Japan’s Exclusion Zone EPA Finds Radioactivity in Richland’s Water


About Fukushima… I believe we will eventually be able to say…

THIS WAS NUCLEAR POWER’S FINEST HOUR!


What Really Happened? • The Fukushima nuclear facilities were damaged in a magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11, 2011 Plant designed for magnitude 8.2 earthquake. An 9.0 magnitude quake is over 7 times in greater in magnitude. • Serious secondary effects followed after being hit by a 14 meter tsunami.


Review of Accident • Reactors survived the massive earthquake!

• Tsunami hit an hour later and wiped out the diesel generators’ heat sink • No cooling capability for a considerable time • Increasing pressure from released hydrogen gas inside containment caused some venting to outer building • A hydrogen explosion took the roof and sides off the outer building • Containment stayed in-tact.


But What About Radiation? • Can’t See It • Can’t Touch It • Can’t Smell It •…IT MUST BE BAD!!


Above 1 Sv

3.7 mSv Human Health Effects of Radiation Dose


Japanese Public Exposure

3.7 mSv

Above 1 Sv 100 mSv


Perspective • Number of fatalities caused by the earthquake/tsunami = > 15,000 • • • •

Number of fatalities caused by excess radiation = zero Number of injuries caused by radiation sickness = zero Number of latent cancers expected from excess radiation = zero Number of news stories hyping the “dangers” of radiation = Thousands!

Lessons to be learned: • The reactors survived the massive earthquake • The tsunami is the issue—NOT radiation • Design for huge tsunamis


Nuclear Attributes (Fundamental Properties) •

Energy Density - 1 million times fossil fuel - even higher for solar/wind

• Long Term Supply (several millennia) • No atmospheric pollutants during normal operation


Main Global Drivers for Nuclear Expansion • Need for Stable, Long-Term Supplies of Electricity • Energy security – geopolitical

• Carbon Emission Concerns





Current Global Nuclear Power Scene EUROPE • Finland: Building a new plant • Russia: Doubling planned by 2020 • France: Building new plants • UK: Going back to nuclear • Sweden: Going back to nuclear • Japan: Reassessing • Germany: Phasing out ASIA • China: 5-fold growth planned by 2020 • India: 100-fold growth planned by mid-century


Nuclear NuclearPower: Power:

Current Currentstatus status(as (asofofJuly July2010) 2010)

••437 437nuclear nuclear

power powerplants plants inin29 29States States ••55 55under under construction construction ••expansion expansion centered centeredinin Far FarEast Eastand and South SouthAsia Asia


CHINA: 24 Nuclear Power Plants Now Under Construction...Now 29! Table from 3 years ago NPP

Type

Power (MWe)

Status

Qinshan-1

PWR

300

Operation

Qinshan-2

PWR

2×600

Operation

PWR

2×600

Construction

Qinshan-3

PHWR

2×720

Operation

Daya Bay

PWR

2×900

Operation

Lingao

PWR

2×944

Operation

PWR

2×944

Construction

Tianwan

PWR

2×1000

Operation

Sanmen

PWR

2×1000

Planned

Yangjiang

PWR

2×1000

Planned

Hongyanhe

PWR

2×1000

Construction

Haiyang

PWR

2×1000

Planned

Fuqing

PWR

6×1000

Suggestion

Ningde

PWR

6×1000

Suggestion


INDIA: 17 Operating Stations TAPS-1&2 (2 x 160 MWe)

Oct., 1969/ Oct., 1969

TAPS-3&4 (2 x 540 MWe)

Jul., 2006/ Sept., 2005

RAPS-1&2 (100 & 200 MWe)

Dec., 1973/ April 1981

RAPS-3&4 (2 x 220 MWe)

Jun., 2000/ Dec., 2000

MAPS-1&2 (2 x 220 MWe)

Jan., 1984/ Mar., 1986

NAPS-1&2 (2 x 220 MWe)

Jan., 1991/ Jul., 1992

KAPS-1&2 (2 x 220 MWe)

May, 1993/ Sept., 1995

KGS-1&2 (2 x 220 MWe)

Nov., 2000/ Mar., 2000

KGS-3 220 MWe

MAY 2007

6 NPPs Under Construction


The American Scene History of U.S. operating plants


U.S. Nuclear Plant Uprates Cumulative Capacity Additions at Existing Plants 2000-2011*

6,000

1,383 MWe Expected 5,000

1,002 MWe Under Review 4,000

2,964 MWe Approved

3,000

2,000

1,000

0 2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

* 5726 MWe added to existing fleet since 1977 (as of JulySource: 2010) Nuclear Regulatory Commission


Net Effect of Power Upgrades and Higher Capacity Factors

The Equivalent of Approximately Two Dozen 1000 MWe Nuclear Plants Have Been Added to the Grid


Renewal of Life Extension Continues

17 Intend to Renew

59 Granted

20 Under NRC Review

As of July 2010


Planned New Plants USA*

*US NRC March 24, 2011


Two New Reactor Site Projects Vogtle 3 & 4 • 2,200 workers now on the project • 3,000 during peak construction • 600 to 800 permanent jobs when the new reactors are operating

V.C. Summer 2 & 3  1,000 workers now on the project  3,000 during peak construction  600 to 800 permanent jobs when the new reactors are operating


Watts Bar Unit 2 Construction Renewed

• Construction began in 1973

• Construction suspended in 1985 • Approval in April 2012 to continue construction • Completion scheduled for fall of 2015


Challenges of Nuclear Energy • Safety • Waste Disposition • Nuclear Proliferation • Cost • Skilled Workforce

Public Acceptance


Generations of Nuclear Energy Generation IV Generation III+ Generation III

- Shippingport - Dresden - Magnox 1950

1960

Gen I

Evolutionary Designs

Generation II

Generation I Early Prototypes

Revolutionary Designs

Advanced LWRs Commercial Power

- CANDU 6 - System 80+ - AP600

- PWRs - BWRs - CANDU 1970

1980

Gen II

1990

2000

Gen III

- Safe - Sustainable - Economical - Proliferation Resistant

- ABWR - ACR1000 - AP1000 - APWR - EPR - ESBWR 2010

and Physically Secure 2020

Gen III+

2030

Gen IV


Implications of the Near Halt in Construction of New U.S. Nuclear Power Plants in Last Couple Decades

• Key Professionals Retired or Lost to Industry • Few Professionals Coming into the Industry • Manufacturing Plants Shut Down •Hence, New Construction Cost Much Higher in the Renaissance that began about 5 years ago

Utilities now “bet the farm” on new, large plants


Hence, the Principal Drivers for Small Modular Reactors • Reduced capital costs per plant • Meet electrical growth incrementally • Shorter construction schedules (modular construction) • Enhanced safety and security (some Fukushima influence) • Improved quality (in-factory construction) • Replace aging coal plants • Re-establish U.S. leadership (largely lost during last two decades)

• Create good domestic jobs • Serve international markets (with limited electrical infrastructure)


U.S. LWR-based SMR designs for electricity generation Light Water Reactor

SMR (Westinghouse)

225 MWe

mPower (B&W) 180 MWe

HI-SMUR (Holtec) NuScale (NuScale) 160 MWe 45 MWe Compliments of Dan Ingersoll


Gas-cooled reactor designs Able to provide high-temperature process heat

American Design

French Design

MHR (General Atomics) 280 MWe

ANTARES (Areva) 275 MWe


Fast spectrum reactor designs (Liquid Metal Cooled) Able to provide improved fuel cycles …….….Sodium-Cooled…………………………

PRISM (General Electric) 300 MWe

…Lead-Bismuth Cooled…

4S

SVBR-100

(Toshiba, Japan)

(AKME Engineering, Russian Federation)

10 MWe

100 MWe


IAEA Report Status of Small and Medium Sized Reactor Designs September 2012

• Light Water Cooled • Heavy Water Cooled • Gas Cooled • Liquid Metal Cooled

18 3 4 7

TOTAL = 32


AGRICULTURE • Optimizing Water and Fertilizer Use • Speed Breeding of Improved Crops – Greater yield – Increased disease resistance – Better nutritional value

• Improved Animal Production – Increase body weight – Vaccines to eliminate diseases

• Insect Control

– Sterilization (screw worm, Mediterranean fruit flies, gypsy moths)

• Improved Food Safety (Food Irradiation)

– Kill bacteria, molds, yeasts, parasites, insects – Extend shelf life


Optimizing Water & Fertilizer Use • Higher Crop Production – Fertilizer: • Label (tracer property) to determine optimal effectiveness • Minimize fertilizer needed

– Water: • Neutron moisture gauges to determine proton content (moisture)


• Speed Breeding of Improved Crops New Species: • Increased crop yields (reduced fertilizer use) • Better disease, pest, & draught resistance (less pesticides & water) • Enhanced maturing times (allows crop rotation) • Improved nutritional value • Improved quality • Improved processing quality • Enhanced customer acceptance – Color; flavor

> 30 nations have developed ~ 2250 new crop varieties (radiation used in 89% of these!)


• Improved Animal Production – Nutrition: • Labeling food with C-14 allows tracing specific food products throughout the digestive system • Example: Multi-nutrient lick block for buffalos in Indonesia – Increased weight gain at rate of 3 Kg/week – Reduced grass consumption by 80%

– Vaccinations: (radiation tracers) • Example: Rinderpest (“cattle plague”) – Millions of cattle have died in Africa – Disease now eradicated in 16 of 18 African countries


• Insect Control – Chemical Treatments: • Create environmental pollution • Toxic residues remain in food chain • Insects develop tolerance to insecticides – Requiring increasingly higher doses

– Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) • Produce or capture large numbers of insects and sterilize them • Release them into their native environment • No offspring! – Tsetse fly eradicated in parts of Africa (allowing human settlement) – Other examples: Mediterranean fruit fly, Mexican fruit fly, Boll Weevil


• Improved Food Safety – Magnitude of Problem • Infestation & spoilage prevents ~ 50% of food grown in many parts of the world to be wasted • Spoilage of sea food sometimes as high as 90% • In the United States every year – Over 76,000,000 cases of food poisoning – Over 325,000 hospitalizations – Over 5,000 deaths

– Historic Food Preservation Techniques • Sun drying Salting • Smoking Canning • Heating Freezing • Chemical treatments (e.g. methyl bromide)


• Food Irradiation – Beta particles or gamma rays will kill bacteria & pathogens by breaking DNA bonds • (particularly effective during reproductive cycle)

– Specific pathogens targeted include: • Salmonella • E-coli (0157:H7) • Listeria monocytogenes

– NOTE: Goal is not to totally eliminate contamination • Some pathogens necessary in body to stimulate immune system • ~5 orders of magnitude reduction generally sufficient


Application to Food Industries

• Hygienic production and safe distribution • Stable supply of agricultural commodities • Efficient and scientific quarantine measures


Patients’ meals

Compliments Ju-Woon Lee ,KAERI


Emergency food in National Calamity

Compliments Ju-Woon Lee, KAERI


• Status of Food Irradiation – Studied for over 40 years – Over 36 nations produce some irradiated food – Approved by wide body of scientific bodies; • World Health Organization • American Medical Association • etc.

– United States status • FDA approval for spices, poultry, red meat, … • Fish and prepared products still pending • Used by astronauts, open heart patients, etc. • Major supermarkets carrying some irradiated food – Albertsons, Safeway, Giant Eagle, Winn-Dixie

• Recently required for National School Lunch Program


MODERN INDUSTRY • Process Control – Thickness Gauges (sheet metal, paper, textiles) – Density & Level Gauges (oil and food industries)

Plant Diagnostics – Tracers (pipeline leaks, malfunctions, wear and corrosion)

• Materials Development – Cross linking (e.g. heat shrink) – Gamma curing (e.g. floors) – Vulcanization (e.g. tires)

• Materials Testing and Inspection – Engine wear – Welds in airplanes, oil and gas pipelines – Corrosion in pipes



Nuclear Gauges Film Thickness

Paper Thickness

QUALITY CONTROL Beverage Level

Oil Level

Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi


IRRADIATION OF WIRE AND ELECTRIC CABLES

Source: IPEN-CNEN/SP Compliments Wilson Calvo


HEAT SHRINKABLE TUBES IRRADIATION

Heat Shrinkable tubes (80-200kGy) Source: IPEN-CNEN/SP Compliments Wilson Calvo


Semiconductor production • Neutron-induced conversion of silicon to semiconductor (transmutation doping) • Neutron irradiation of silicon generates trace amount of phosphorous by a nuclear reaction. • The silicon semiconductor production method using this reaction is called neutron transmutation doping. • This is a special technique which is essential for the production of high quality semiconductors. Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi


Bore Hole Logging with Nuclear Source & Detector System


Using Radiation Devices to Check Oil Refinery Operations


INDUSTRY (CONT.)

• Personal Care –Contact lens solution –Band-Aids, –Cosmetics –High absorption baby diapers –Soft drinks


Cosmetics…Irradiated to Remove Harmful Impurities


TRANSPORTATION • Cars and Trucks – Engine Wear – Structure and body materials – Tires – Glass

• Airplanes – Structure and body materials – Weld inspections

• Trains – Rail inspections

• Ship Power – Submarines – Icebreakers – Surface Ships


Measuring Engine Wear On-Line With Irradiation


Savannah Nuclear-Powered Merchant Vessel


MEDICINE • Sterilization of Medical Products – Surgical dressings, sutures, catheters, syringes

• New Drug Testing – Over 80% of all new drugs tested with radioactive tagging before approval – Between 200 and 300 radiopharmaceuticals in routine use

• Medical Imaging (~90%) – Diagnose the ailment

• Therapy (~10%) • Cure the ailment NOTE: Much of the material from this talk was supplied by Professor Ilham Al-Qaradawi, Qatar University


Numbers of Patients Benefiting from Nuclear Medical Techniques • Over 12 million/year in the U.S. • Over 30 million/year globally • 1 in 3 patients entering U.S. hospitals or medical clinics benefit from nuclear medical techniques


Types of Medical Imaging (Diagnostics ~ 90% of nuclear procedures)

• X-ray (teeth, broken bones, mammograms…) • CT (Computerized Tomography, “3D X-ray”) • MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)

Anatomical

• Radiotracers •Planer Scintigraphy •SPECT (single photon emission computerized tomography)

•PET (positron emission tomography)

Functional


COUNTS

DETECTOR X RAYS TUBE

A – LINEAR SAMPLING

B – ANGULAR SAMPLING

This is the basic idea of computer aided tomography. In a CAT scan machine, the X-ray beam moves all around the patient, scanning from hundreds of different angles. The computer takes all this information and puts together a 3-D image of the body. Compliments of Dr. Ilham Al-Qaradawi

C - RECONSTRUCTION

X RAYS COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY


Volumetric CT < 0.4 sec/rotation Organ in a sec (17 cm/sec) Whole body < 10 sec

Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi



)

• Uses gamma cameras, or multiheads slowly rotated around the patient. • Able to provide true 3D information. • Information presented as crosssectional slices. • 85% of all nuclear medicine examinations use Mo/Tc Generators for diagnostics of liver, lungs, bones. WNU-SI 2010

Oxford - UK

Compliments of Dr. Ilham Al-Qaradawi


PET (Positron Emission Tomography) • When a pair of detectors detects simultaneously one 511keV photon each, a positron must have annihilated on a straight line connecting those two detectors – the so called line of response. • The multitude of all these lines of response is used to calculate a slice image in a certain plane. Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi


• Combines the functional information (PET) with the anatomical detail (CT) • Accurate anatomical registration • Higher diagnostic accuracy than PET or CT alone • CT was invented in 1972 by Godfrey Hounsfield of EMI Laboratories

Compliments of Dr. Ilham Al-Qaradawi WNU-SI 2010

Oxford - UK


PET/CT scanner CT

PET

Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi


PET/CT scanner CT

PET

Courtesy HSR MILANO

HSR MILANO


PET/CT scanner CT

PET

CT

PET

Courtesy HSR MILANO


18F-FDG PET/CT

Courtesy HSR MILANO

HSR MILANO


Medical Therapy ~ 10 % of nuclear procedures

– First applied to Thyroid Cancer (20,000 patients/year) – Blood Irradiation – Other Cancer (prostate, breast, brain, liver, etc.) • External Beam Radiation -- Electrons/Gamma – Protons – Hadron • Internal – BNCT (boron neutron capture)

– Cell Directed » Placed inside the body » Smart bullets

– Decrease pain of bone cancer


• Radiation is used to destroy tumors present in an organ. • Electrons or Cobalt-60 sealed source are generally used for the high activity. • A mechanical device moves the source to an opening in a collimator which projects a beam of photons used for treatment.

Compliments of Dr. Ilham Al-Qaradawi


Proton radiation therapy

Compliments of Prof. Ilham Al-Qaradawi


Photon Beam Application at Loma Linda University Medical Center, California


• Researchers at CERN have found that the antiproton, can effectively treat cancer. • Antiprotons strip electrons off atoms in the cells, causing ionization and killing the cell they are in. • A proton beam could also be used for ionization but when antiproton beam eventually come to a stop at the focus, the annihilation of both particles will release a huge amount of energy (in the context of a single cell)....which is much more effective at killing selected cells than simple ionization. • Scientists estimate that routine clinical application of matterantimatter annihilation to cancer treatment should be a reality in 10-15 years. WNU-SI 2010

Oxford - UK

Compliments of Dr. Ilham Al-Qaradawi


BRACHYTHERAPY Production and distribution of 125I seeds and 192Ir wires

192Ir wires

(1- 4mCi/cm)

IPEN-CNEN/SP Prototype 125I seeds

(0,5mCi, 36,000/year) Prostate cancer: 1/9 men Compliments Wilson Calvo

Source: IPEN-CNEN/SP


The author’s 109 seeds of I-125


Monoclonal Antibodies “Smart Bullets”

• Specialized Radioisotopes are attached to unique molecules that target specific organs • Radiation is then applied to only those targeted organs •Alpha emitters are particularly powerful


New Medical Frontier: Use of Alpha Irradiation • Alphas very energetic over very short distances • Hence, exceptionally sharp focusing • Showing real promise for many solid tumors ( e.g. inoperable brain cancer )

Principal Challenges: • Chemical carriers to target only desired cells • Methods to clone specific radioisotopes to the specific chemical carrier • Making the desired radioisotope •Requires neutrons (i.e. reactors)


SPACE EXPLORATION • Heat Generation • Radioisotope Heater Unit (RHU) • Pu-238 excellent heat source (87.7 yr half-life)

• Electricity Generation – Radio-Thermal Generators (RTG) • Direct conversion to electricity (~ 7% efficiency)

– Dynamic Isotope Power System (DIPS) • Pu-238 still excellent heat source • Rankine cycle active system (~20% efficiency)

• Nuclear Reactors • For Missions > 100 KW


Casing to Protect Reentry Heat

Cladding

Fuel Pellet

Radioisotope Heater Unit (RHU)


RHU = Radioisotope Heater Unit RTG = Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator

Radioisotope Power Sources Used on Galileo Spacecraft


The Mars rovers use radioisotope heat sources to keep warm during the night

Compliments of Dr. Harold McFarland


Nuclear Powered Rocket


TERRORISM, CRIME, & PUBLIC SAFETY • Public Safety – Smoke Detectors – Exit Signs – Airport Runway Lighting – Reduce Static Electricity (printing process, paper making)

• Fighting Crime – Neutron Activation of Body Samples – DNA Analysis

• Fighting Terrorism – Luggage Inspections (weapons, explosives, etc.) – Anthrax in Mail – Portal Monitoring – Detecting Mine Fields – Sensing Clandestine Weapons Testing – Sensing Contamination Releases (e.g. “Dirty Bombs”)


Common Smoke Detector



Cargo Ship Entering Port


ARTS AND SCIENCE • Understanding our Origins – Carbon-14 dating

• Precious Gems – “Cobalt Blue” Topaz

• Radiation and the Arts – Restoring and preserving artifacts – Authenticating paintings



Dating Archeological Events The physics of radioactive decay

Carbon-14 Dating: 50 to 50,000 years

C-12: C-13: C-14:

Present in Atmosphere 98.89 % 1.11 % 1 atom in one trillion!


Carbon-14 Dating Procedure • Living species maintain a constant ratio of C-14 to C-12 • But, when death occurs, there is no more intake of carbon: C-12 is stable C-14 decays with T1/2 of 5715 years • Hence, ratio of C-14 to C-12 diminishes with time • Measuring this ratio dates the time of death

NOTE: Now possible to measure 3 atoms of C-14 out of a total of 1016 carbon atoms!


GEMSTONE IRRADIATION (EB and Gamma Rays) Topaz, Rubelita, Quartz, Citrine and Ametista

Source: IPEN-CNEN/SP & Wilson Calvo


Environmental Protection …..ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION….. Determine 1) Amounts and Locations of Pollution 2) Causes of Pollution 3) Proper Remedy

• Managing Fresh Water Resources – Preserving and Obtaining Potable Water Sources

• Guarding the Oceans – Coastal Zones and the Deep Seas

• Understanding Soil Erosion – Loss of topsoil and erosion of waterways

• Radiological Contamination – Weapons production and commercial power

• Polluting our Atmosphere – Brown Clouds and global climate change

• Energy & the Environment


Managing Fresh Water Resources • 1/5 of our global population (1.2 billion) lack safe and affordable drinking water • Global demands for fresh potable water is doubling every 21 years! • Renewable water supplies available per person are ½ that of 40 years ago • This will drop in half again in another 20 years • The demand for potable water is increasing double the rate of population increase.


Water Use • 70% of fresh water is used for agriculture – Neutron probes are used to determine the water available for root systems – Radioactive tracers are used to determine the amount of water and fertilizer actually needed – NOTE: Huge amounts of energy needed to produce fertilizer


Obtaining New Sources of Fresh Water

• 97 % of the water on the planet is seawater • Major population areas exist in coastal regions • Hence, desalinate: – Requires considerable energy for extraction of salt – Nuclear heating may be an answer • BN-350 in Kazakhstan produced 150 MWe and 1 million gallons of potable water/day • Kalpakkam system in India now produces 1 million gallons of potable water /day via nuclear power


Nuclear Desalination • Reverse osmosis – use electric pumps off-peak • Distillation - scope for cogeneration


GUARDING THE OCEANS • 70% of Earth’s surface is covered with salt water • Over half the world’s population lies along coastal zones • One billion people depend on fish as sole source of protein

Oceans worthy of environmental protection

80% of all marine pollution comes from the following: – sewage & industrial effluents – fertilizer runoff – heavy metals discharge – persistent organic pollutants

All detectable by radioisotopes


SOIL EROSION • Topsoil erosion can be devastating to farmers – (1000 tons of topsoil are lost every second over a global basis)

• How can we determine when it is lost and where it accumulates? – A) Satellite images – B) Mathematical formulas – C) Radioisotopes—mainly Cs-137 from the fallout of nuclear weapons testing • Spread relatively uniformly over the globe • Measure where activity is higher and where it is lower


RADIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION U.S. Nuclear Weapons Production Hanford (Washington) and Savannah River (South Carolina) major weapons production sites • Hanford: reprocessing waste in huge underground tanks – Single shell (some have leaked and trace amounts of radiation have been detected in the Columbia River) – Double shell tanks – Huge vitrification plant now well under construction Hanford Savanna River


RADIOLOGICAL CONTAMINATION Russian Nuclear Weapons Production • Raw nuclear wastes dumped directly into the Techa River and Karachai Lake • 1057 Myak Site: Dehydrated radioactive waste tank exploded • 1987 Chernobyl Accident – but actual hazards considerably less than at nuclear weapons sites

• Sunken Nuclear Submarines in Kara and Barent Sea – But sudies indicate very little radiation contamination


Asian Brown Cloud


80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

r a e cl u N

71%

24% 1.20%

dr y H

o ot e G

l a rm e h

1.00%

d

in W

0.10%

r a l So

Emission-Free Energy in the United States


MODERN ECONOMY Overall Impact in the U.S (using multiplicative economic model)

1991

1995

SALES

JOBS SALES

JOBS

$ Billions

Millions

$ Billions

Millions

Radiation 257 Nuclear Power 73

3.7 0.4

331 90

4.0 0.4

4.1 421

4.4

TOTAL =

330


Distribution of Economic and Job Benefits to the US Economy by Radiation Technologies, 1996


Comparison of Radiation Technologies to Fortune 500 Companies


Comparison of Radiation Technologies in US to GDP of Major Countries


Comparison of Radiation Technologies to Major Industries in the US


Japanese Study for 1997 (Direct Financial Contributions, $ Billions)

Japan

USA

Population (M) 120 GDP ($B) 4231 RADIOISOTOPES Medicine 12 Agriculture 1 Industry 39 52 NUCLEAR ENERGY* 47

TOTAL = %GDP

=

270 8318 49 14 56 119 39

99

158

(2.3)

(1.9)

* kW-hr price assumed: Japan = 15.0 cents; USA = 6.8 cents


Medicine

IG0402007.1


Environment

IG0402007.2


Industry

IG0402007.3


Other Subcategories include: • Agriculture • Arts and Sciences • Electricity • Future • Public Safety • Space Exploration • Transportation

IG0402007.4


Total Medicine

Industry

Environment

Other

IG0402007.5


Total

Two-Thirds of the Elements in the Periodic Table Contain Radioisotopes Already Harnessed for Human Benefit


Conclusions • Nuclear Power is alive and well—Globally • But better public perception is crucial • Small Modular Reactors may be the future

• Radiation Technology has already had enormously positive impacts on humanity •Agriculture, Industry, Medicine, etc.

•We can only imagine what benefits lie ahead!


Radioisotopes are Serving Growing Needs Throughout the World

Most materials drawn from RADIATION AND MODERN LIFE: Fulfilling Marie Curie’s Dream by Alan Waltar Prometheus Books, Nov. 2004

“Nothing in Life is to be Feared. It is to be Understood.” Marie Curie, 1867-1934



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