Rethinking Nuclear Power 1. Introduction Energy units, uses, sources Social benefits, demand growth,...

Rethinking Nuclear Power1. Introduction

• Energy units, uses, sources• Social benefits, demand

growth, conservation, developing world

• Periodic table, nuclear fission, nuclear power plants

Bob Hargraves, Hanover NH

The US has an energy crisis.

• Energy costs are high and rising.• Carbon emissions are high and rising.• We rely on oil from unstable countries.• Trade deficit grows 10¢/minute/car.• Farming fuel raises food prices.• Wind and hydro sites are limited.• Can nuclear power help?

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

US energy is 80% fossil sourced.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/aeo/aeobrochure2007.pdf

Electricity is 71% fossil sourced.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epa/epa_sum.html

US DOE projects energy growth.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/execsummary.html

US DOE projects CO2 growth.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/execsummary.html


• Energy units, uses, sources

Energy and power unitsConverting between unitsWorld energy demandEnergy sources


My electric energy costs $0.136 per kilowatt-hour.

Bob Hargraves National Grid bill

•Delivery Service—The service(s) rendered by the local utility that provides the electric service to your home or business.•Customer Charge—The cost of providing customer-related services such as metering, meter reading and billing. These fixed costs are unaffected by the actual amount of electricity you use. •Distribution Charge—The cost of delivering electricity from the beginning of the Company’s distribution system to your home or business. •Transmission Charge—The cost of delivering electricity from the generation company to the beginning of the Company's distribution system. •Stranded Cost Charge—The cost associated with recovering the financial commitments made by National Grid to supply power to consumers in a regulated environment. •System Benefits Charge—The cost of providing energy efficiency programs, low income programs, and other system benefits as required by the Public Utilities Commission. •Consumption Tax—A tax imposed by New Hampshire law.

These costs are added to the cost of generating electricity.

Prefixes denote triple powers of ten.One is of these or US Englishexawatt 1,000 petawatts 1018 watts quintillionpetawatt 1,000 terawatts 1015 watts quadrillionterawatt 1,000 gigawatts 1012 watts trilliongigawatt 1,000 megawatts 109 watts billionmegawatt 1,000 kilowatts 106watts millionkilowatt 1,000 watts 103 watts thousandwatt 1,000 milliwatts 100 wattmilliwatt 1,000 microwatts 10-3 watts thousandthmicrowatt 1,000 nanowatts 10-6 watts milllionthnanowatt 1,000 picowatts 10-9 watts billionthpicowatt 1,000 femtowatts 10-12 watts trillionth

BTU is a British Thermal Unit

One BTU is theenergy required to raise the temperature ofone pound of waterone degree Fahrenheit.

…approximately the energy of burning a wooden match.

Energy equivalentsOne = this many of these unitsBTU (British Thermal Unit) 0.252 kilo caloriesJoule 1 watt secondCalorie 1 kilo calorieBTU 1.415 HP secondBTU 1,055 JouleKWH (kilo watt hour) 3,419 BTUQuad quadrillion BTUQuad 33.5 Giga watt yearsEJ 0.948 QuadeV (electron volt) 1.60 x 10-19 JouleKilo watt 1.341 HP

Energy and power sourcesOne provides of these unitsBBL (42 gal) petroleum 6,000,000 BTUTherm (100 f3) natural gas 100,000 BTUTon coal 20,000,000 BTUPound wood 6,500 BTUTypical large power plant 1 gigawattC cell (alkaline) 10 watt hoursTon TNT 1 gigacalorieTon ice melted 288,000 BTU absorbed100 quad 1 US economy one yr1 gram uranium (4.5% U235) 515 KWH electric pwr

Energy examples range over 87 orders of magnitude.

Item Energy (J) Item Energy (J)

Creation of Universe 1068 Atlantic jetliner crossing 1012

Supernova explosion 1044 Burning cord of wood 1010

Yearly solar emissions 1034 Human daily diet 107

D-D fusion of oceans 1031 AA alkaline battery 103

Earth’s fossil fuels 1023 Lifting an apple 1 m 101

Yearly US sunshine 1023 Cricket chirp 10-3

US energy consumption 1020 Fission uranium nucleus 10-11

Fission 1 T of uranium 1017 Chem reaction per atom 10-18

1 GW power station yr 1016 Photon of light 10-19

How many watts of heat does a person on a 2000 Calorie per day diet produce?

=?

Express conversion factors as 1.

1 Calorie = 1 kilocalorie

1 BTU = 0.252 kilocalories

1 kilowatt-hour = 3419 BTU

1 day = 24 hours

hour

day

BTU

urkilowattho

ekilocalori

BTU

Calorie

ekilocalori

241

34191

252.01

1

Multiply by 1: Calories to kilocalories.

Calorie

caloriekilo

day

Calorie 12000

…and cross off like units in numerator and denominator, just as in algebra.

Multiply by 1: kilocalories to BTU.

caloriekilo

BTUcaloriekilo

day

Calorie

caloriekilo

day

Calorie

252.

12000

12000

Multiply by 1: BTU to kilo watt hours.

BTU

hourwattkiloBTU

day

caloriekilo

BTUcaloriekilo

day

Calorie

caloriekilo

day

Calorie

3419252.

12000

252.

12000

12000

Multiply by 1: hours to days.

hour

dayhourwattkilo

day

BTU

hourwattkiloBTU

day

caloriekilo

BTUcaloriekilo

day

Calorie

caloriekilo

day

Calorie

243419252.

112000

3419252.

12000

252.

12000

12000

Multiply by 1: kilowatts to watts.

watt

kilowatt

wattkilowatt

hour

dayhourwattkilo

day

BTU

hourwattkiloBTU

day

caloriekilo

BTUcaloriekilo

day

Calorie

caloriekilo

day

Calorie

97

1000

24

1

3419252.

112000

243419252.

112000

3419252.

12000

252.

12000

12000

Hot? Spaulding Auditorium audience would melt a ton of ice an hour.

hourAuditorium

iceton

BTU

iceton

watthour

BTU

Auditorium

person

person

watt

04.1

2880001000

341990097

How many Exxon-Valdez tanker loads would meet all US energy needs for one year?

• Hints:– Exxon-Valdez carries 1.48 million BBL oil– 1 BBL oil = 6 million BTU– US economy consumes 100 quads a year

You can multiply anything by 1!

bbl

zLoadExxonValdeBTU

bbl

quadBTU

61048.11

61061

15101

Multiply 100 quads by 1 x 1 x 1!

bbl

zLoadExxonValde

btu

bblquadbtuquad

61048.16106

1510100

Cross off like units.

bbl

zLoadExxonValde

btu

bblquadbtuquad

bbl

zLoadExxonValde

btu

bblquadbtuquad

61048.16106

1510100

61048.16106

1510100

Do the arithmetic…

zLoadExxonValde

zLoadExxonValde

zLoadExxonValde

zLoadExxonValde

bbl

zLoadExxonValde

btu

bblquadbtuquad

200,11

112.10

88.8110

48.16110

61048.16106

1510100

5

5

66152

Energy conversion efficiencies vary.Energy conversion Typical Efficiency Coal to electricity 33 %Electric power distribution 93Electric motor or generator 80-95Pumped hydro storage 70-85Lead acid storage battery 70-85Lithium hydride storage battery 65Gasoline engine 20-25Diesel engine 39Electricity to hydrogen by electrolysis 50Hydrogen to electricity by fuel cell 28

How many truckloads of wood fuel would meet NH monthly electric use?

How many truckloads of wood fuel would meet NH monthly electric use?

• We need to know…– How much electric power used– How much heat needed to make the power– How much heat comes from burning wood– How much wood on a truck

Get energy data from http://eia.doe.gov.

NH used 926 gigawatt hours in Sept 2007.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_4_b.html

http://Wikipedia.org is an encyclopedia.

Burning wood releases 6,500 BTU/lb.

A log truck can carry 64,000 lbs.

Multiply power used by 1x1x1x1.

truckloadtruckloadtruckload

lbwood

truckload

BTU

lbwood

KWHthermal

BTU

cKWHelectri

KWHthermal

cKWHelectri

800,22100228.640006500

1034193926

64000

6500

3419

33.0

10926

66

6

NH electric power used in September 2007

Efficiency of conversion heat to electricity

Equivalence of BTU and KWH

Heat of combustion of wood

Pounds of wood on truck

…about 22,800 truckloads a month!

Homework: You can now do energy problems yourself!

• A compact fluorescent light bulb using 23 watts gives the same light as a 100 watt incandescent bulb.

• There are 106 million US households.• Assume 5 100 watt bulbs are replaced by 23 watt ones

in each household.• Assume they are all on from 5 pm to 11 pm.

Homework: You can now do energy problems yourself!

• A compact fluorescent light bulb using 23 watts gives the same light as a 100 watt incandescent bulb.

• There are 106 million US households.• Assume 5 100 watt bulbs are replaced by 23 watt ones in each

household.• Assume they are all on from 5 pm to 11 pm.

• What % of annual US electric power would be saved?• How many tons of coal a year might not be burned?• What's that percentage of US coal consumption?

How much forest harvesting acreage would replace Vermont Yankee?

• Vermont Yankee generates 600 MW.

• Assume annual sustainable harvesting of 1/2 cord per acre.

• 1 cord = 1.2 tons.• Green Mountain

National Forest is 400,000 acres.

http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/energy_conv.html http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/fia/states/vt/vthilite97.pdf

• Vermont has 4,629 thousand acres of forest.


• Social benefits, demand growth, conservation, developing world


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_energy_resources_and_consumption

Oil is the largest world energy source.

The US consumed 99 quads in 2008.

Coal 24Nuclear 8Imports 32

Residential 22Commerc & Ind 50Transportation 28

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/diagram1.html

Lawrence Livermore flows account for losses.

https://publicaffairs.llnl.gov/news/energy/energy.html

Petrol supplies 4X the energy of US nuclear.

https://http://www.eia.doe.gov/aer/pecss_diagram.html

The world consumed 472 quads in 2006.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/world.html

The non-OECD nations demand more energy.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/graphic_data_highlights.html

Income is dependent on energy.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2042rank.html

GDPpercapita

Annual kWh per capita

Nations with populations over 10 million.

North Korea’s poverty ($1,800 GDP per person) is illustrated by its electric power.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/dprk-dark.htm

Japan

China

South Korea

Growth of energy and coal use will be strong in non-OECD* nations.

Non-OECD energy use World coal use

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/world.html

* OECD are 30 leading democratic economies.

Coal consumption will increase strongly in non-OECD nations.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/excel/figure_5data.xls

Growing 1 kg of cow meat takes 1,000 days of feeding.

1000 days

50 days

1 kg

1 kg

1 kg

400 days

Growing meat is energy intensive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/27/weekinreview/27bittman.html

Raising 1 kg [2.2 lb] beef uses the same energy as a 100 watt bulb for 20 days.

World livestock production causes more GHG emissions than transportation.

Natural grazing would save 2/3 of the energy – the energy used for raising and transporting animal feed.

Growing pigs uses 40% of the beef energy, and chickens 5%.

US people eat 8 oz meat per day, 2x the recommended diet.

Per capita US consumption is 3x the rest of the world.

Reducing meat consumption 20% has the same effect as changing all cars from Camrays to Priuses.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_conversion_rate

In sieges Orvietto residents ate pigeons.lay egg 10 dayshatch chick 18 dayseat pigeon 28 days

The US is reducing energy consumption.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec1_12.pdf

Consumption drops as prices rise.


US energy efficiency is improving > 1%/year.


US energy efficiency is improving > 1%/year.

http://www.pewclimate.org/global-warming-basics/facts_and_figures/fig18.cfm

US energy use per $GDP is mid-scale.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/energyconsumption.html

United States

Japan

World total

Europe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_intensity

US energy use per $GDP is mid-scale.

http://http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/environment/emissions/carbon/index.html

US CO2 emissions are dropping.

http://http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/environment/emissions/carbon/index.html

Three causes are GDP, energy intensity, carbon intensity reductions.


• Periodic table, nuclear fission, nuclear power plants


Periodic table of the elements at ptable.com.

http://www.privatehand.com/flash/elements.html

Hover over element for properties.

Click Isotope tab, then element to get isotopes, then hover for characteristics.

The Sun fuses hydrogen into helium, releasing energy.

p

p p

p

The high temperature of the sun can force 4 repulsively charged protons together…

http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/eit_19990209_0122_304.gif

The Sun fuses hydrogen into helium, releasing energy.

p

p p

p

The high temperature of the sun can force 4 repulsively charged protons together…

p

http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/images/eit_19990209_0122_304.gif

n

p n

e+

e+

…fusing them into helium: 2 protons and 2 neutrons.

The mass loss is the energy freed.Element Unit atomic weight Total atomic weightH (x4) 1.00794 4.03176He 4.002602 4.002602

-------------Mass loss 0.029158

• Each atomic unit is 931 MeV of energy. [E = mc2]• The He is stable. It is bound by the 931

x .0029158 = 27 MeV energy that was lost.• Per nucleon this is 27 / 4 = 6.8 MeV “binding

energy”

The Crab nebula was a supernova in 1054.

• A supernova is the collapse of a star.

• Within a few seconds, matter in the white dwarf undergoes nuclear fusion.

• Uranium and other heavy elements are created.

• Matter is ejected into space at 3% of light speed.

• The earth coalesced from such matter over 4 billion years ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova

The binding energy of uranium is less than that of more stable elements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_energy

Uranium

Iron

A neutron can fission uranium into krypton and barium.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fission

Ejected neutrons can create a chain reaction.

Uranium fissioning into krypton and barium releases energy.


Element Nucleons Nucleon binding energy

Element binding energy

92U235235 x 7.6 MeV 1786 MeV




92U235235 x 7.6 MeV 1786 MeV

56Ba141141 x 8.3 1170

36Kr9292 x 8.5 +782





92U235235 x 7.6 MeV 1786 MeV

56Ba141141 x 8.3 1170

36Kr9292 x 8.5 +782

total after 1952less before -1786

= energy released 166 MeV166 MeV for one atom. How much for more?

Avogadro's Number is 6.02 x 1023.

6.02 x 1023 is the number of atoms in

1 gram of 1H1 hydrogen, or 235 grams of 92U235 uranium.

What is the potential energy of 235 grams of Uranium235?

• 166 MeV x 6.02 x 1023 [Avogadro’s number]

What is the potential energy of 235 grams of Uranium235?

• 166 MeV x 6.02 x 1023

GWH

GWH

WattHour

GWH

Sec

Hour

Joule

SecWatt

eV

Joule

MeV

eV

4.4

103600

6.102.6166

103600

106.110

919623

9

196

The potential energy of 235 grams of Uranium-235 is 4.4 gigawatt hours.

• The potential energy of 235 grams of U235 is 166 MeV times 6.02 x 1023 [Avogadro number]

GWH

GWH

WattHour

GWH

Sec

Hour

Joule

SecWatt

eV

Joule

MeV

eV

MeV

4.4

103600

6.102.6166

103600

106.110

1002.6166

919623

9

196

23

• This could run a big 1GW electric power plant for 4.4 hours! [excepting efficiencies]

Uranium fuel is typically enriched from 0.7% U235 to 3.5% U235.

Uranium Ore 0.7%

Fuel pellet (3.5%)

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/teachers/01.pdf

Fuel is enriched to 3.5% U-235.

http://www.world-nuclear.org/how/enrichment.html

UF6, uranium hexafluoride gas, is a vehicle for both U-235 and U-238.

Evacuated tubes contain rotors1-2 m long and 15-20 cm wide.

Spinning at 60,000 rpm creates centrifugal force of one million Gs.

The slightly heavier U-238 increases in concentration near the outside.

The lighter U-235 concentrates inside.

Slightly U-235 enriched UF6 is passed to the next stage centrifuge.

(An older, more costly UF6 diffusion cascade process is being phased out.)

F6U-238

F6U-235

A pressurized water nuclear reactor has three water circuits.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/animated-pwr.html

A boiling water nuclear reactor like Vermont Yankee has two water circuits.

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students/animated-pwr.html


• End


Rethinking Nuclear Power 1. Introduction Energy units, uses, sources Social benefits, demand growth,...

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