Nuclear Energy Applications Research Articles

Prospect on Desalination and Other Non-Electric Applications of Nuclear Energy In Indonesia

As the standard of living increases globally, the need for fresh water and industrial products are also increasing; they require energy for production and hence, the demand for energy–both electric and non-electric, is also increasing. This trend also happens in Indonesia as an archipelagic country. In an effort to meet the current and future water and energy demands, Indonesia is now planning to utilize nuclear power for not only electricity but also producing fresh water through desalination process named Nuclear Desalination. Feasibility and option studies have been carried out by Indonesian National Nuclear Energy Agency, locally called Badan Tenaga Nuclear Nasional or ‘BATAN’ since 1995, and also in collaboration with Korean Atomic Energy & Research Institute (KAERI) since 2002. The study concluded that it would be technically feasible to build desalination plants on selected sites pending further economic assessments. BATAN also has a duty to study the future Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) that can be coupled to various industrial processes. From the literature study it seems that HTGR (High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactor) is the promising one because of its huge range steam temperature. Beside that study, BATAN also has (1) developed a small scale Mechanical Vapor Compression system to study and establish vital parameters that will affect system performance, water chemistry, corrosion, scaling, evaporation, condensation, and choice of materials and (2) basic research on hydrogen production through the Iodine Sulfur (IS) process.

Collective spectra along the fission barrier

Discrete and continuous spectra of fissioning nuclei at the humps of fission barriers (Bohr transition states) and in the intermediate wells (superdeformed and hyperdeformed states) play a key role in the calculation of fission cross sections. A theoretical evaluation of the collective parts of the spectra is possible within the framework of the dinuclear system model, which treats the wave function of the fissioning nucleus as a superposition of a mononucleus configuration and two–cluster configurations in a dynamical way, permitting exchange of upper–shell nucleons between clusters. The impact of theoretical spectra on neutron–induced fission cross sections and, in combination with an improved version of the scission–point model, on angular distribution of fission fragments is evaluated for plutonium isotopes of interest to nuclear energy applications.

Isotopic yield measurement in the heavy mass region for239Pu thermal neutron induced fission

Despite the huge number of fission yield data available in the different evaluated nuclear data libraries, such as JEFF-3.1.1, ENDF/B-VII.0, and JENDL-4.0, more accurate data are still needed both for nuclear energy applications and for our understanding of the fission process itself. It is within the framework of this that measurements on the recoil mass spectrometer Lohengrin (at the Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France) was undertaken, to determine isotopic yields for the heavy fission products from the ${}^{239}$Pu(n${}_{th}$,f) reaction. In order to do this, a new experimental method based on $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray spectrometry was developed and validated by comparing our results with those performed in the light mass region with completely different setups. Hence, about 65 fission product yields were measured with an uncertainty that has been reduced on average by a factor of 2 compared to that previously available in the nuclear data libraries. In addition, for some fission products, a strongly deformed ionic charge distribution compared to a normal Gaussian shape was found, which was interpreted as being caused by the presence of a nanosecond isomeric state. Finally, a nuclear charge polarization has been observed in agreement, with the one described on other close fissioning systems.

Fission Cross Section Measurements of Actinides at LANSCE

Fission cross sections of a range of actinides have been measured at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) in support of nuclear energy applications. By combining measurement at two LANSCE facilities, Lujan Center and the Weapons Neutron Research center (WNR), differential cross sections can be measured from sub-thermal energies up to 200 MeV. Incident neutron energies are determined using the time-of-flight method, and parallel-plate ionization chambers are used to measure fission cross sections relative to the {sup 235}U standard. Recent measurements include the {sup 233,238}U, {sup 239,242}Pu and {sup 243}Am neutron-induced fission cross sections. In this paper preliminary results for cross section data of {sup 243}Am and {sup 233}U will be presented.

Atoms for peace and radiation for safety – how to build trust in irradiated foods in Cold War Europe and beyond

When Eisenhower announced the decision of his administration to promote peaceful uses of atomic science and technology on an international scale in his famous Atoms for Peace speech in front of the United Nations' General Assembly on 8 December 1953, agriculture and food were among the potential areas of application that he mentioned. Consequently, the Atoms for Peace initiative prompted national governments of many countries as well as international institutions under the aegis of the United Nations and the Organisation for European Economic Co‐Operation to establish programs for the peaceful use of atomic energy in these domains. Using ionizing radiation for the preservation of food featured as one of the most promising applications of atomic energy in all these programs. However, the paradoxically overheated Cold War expectations about the potential of nuclear technologies could not erase the fear – fueled by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – that radiation would have lethal effects when applied to human subsistence. Thus, efforts to use ionizing radiation to improve an essential human need such as food were met with distrust by its opponents. Their misgivings were actually incorporated into food legislation since it forced proponents to prove the safety of irradiated foods. To this end, food irradiation activists initiated wholesomeness studies to generate data in order to prove the safety of food, in an attempt to establish a science‐based trust regime. This paper sets out to explore how the advocates of food irradiation strove to define an internationally consistent safety concept and how this concept influenced national regulators in their task of institutionalizing trust in food.

Application of MIM Process for Nickel Base Superalloy

Superalloys have been used especially for aerospace and atomic energy applications because of their excellent attributes of high corrosion and oxidation resistance, and high temperature strength. A Inconel 718 is one of representative Ni-base superalloys. However, it is not easy to produce the complicate shaped parts with low cost due to their poor workability. In this study, Metal Injection Molding (MIM) process, one of near net-shape forming of powders, has been applied to fabricate the Inconel 718 alloy compacts using different type of powders; gas and water atomized powders. By optimizing the MIM process, their obtained relative density was near full density (98∼99 %) and the tensile property of as-sintered compacts was the strength of 1000 MPa and the elongation of around 10 %, which are similar to those of wrought materials. The tensile properties were improved to the strength of 1250 MPa and the elongation of around 8 % by heat treatment.

Fatigue Failure Properties of Injection Molded Superalloy Compacts

Superalloys have been used especially for aerospace and atomic energy applications because of their excellent attributes of high corrosion and oxidation resistance, and high temperature strength. A Inconel 718 is one of representative Ni-base superalloys. However, it is not easy to produce the complicate shaped parts with low cost due to their poor workability. In this study, Metal Injection Molding (MIM) process, one of near net-shape powder forming, has been applied to fabricate the Inconel 718 alloy compacts using two type of powders; gas and water atomized powders. By optimizing the MIM process, their obtained relative density was near full density (98∼99 %). However, the fatigue strength of heat treated sintered Inconel 718 compacts showed 65 % of heat treated wrought materials due to the remained pores. The effect of remained pores on fatigue strength was discussed by the prediction equation of endurance limit considering the inclusion.

High-Temperature Continuous Operation of the HTTR

A high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) is a graphite-moderated and helium gas-cooled reactor. It is particularly attractive due to its capability of producing high-temperature helium gas, and its passive and inherent safety features. To enable nuclear energy application to a wide range of heat process industries, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has continued extensive effort for the development of the HTGR using the high-temperature engineering test reactor (HTTR), which is the first HTGR in Japan with a thermal power of 30 MW, and operates it at the site of the JAEA's Oarai Research and Development Center. The HTTR has successfully completed a full-power high-temperature (950°C) continuous operation for 50 days from January to March in 2010. Through this operation, the potential of a stable high-temperature heat supply to heat application systems, such as a hydrogen production system, was demonstrated. This paper presents the operation results including reactor characteristics.

A Theoretical Study of the Magnetic Structure of Bulk Iron with Radiation Defects

ABSTRACTA fundamental understanding of the radiation damage effects in solids is of great importance in assisting the development of improved materials with ultra-high strength, toughness, and radiation resistance for nuclear energy applications. In this presentation, we show our recent theoretical investigation on the magnetic structure evolution of bulk iron in the region surrounding the radiation defects. We applied the locally self-consistent multiple scattering method (LSMS), a linear scaling ab-initio method based on density functional theory with local spin density approximation, to the study of the magnetic structure in a low energy cascade in a 10,000-atom sample for a series of time steps for the evolution of the defects. The primary damage state and the evolution of all defects in the sample were simulated using molecular dynamics with empirical, embedded-atom inter-atomic potentials. We also discuss the importance of thermal effect on the magnetic structure evolution.

Joining of SiC-based materials for nuclear energy applications

This paper reports on the preliminary results of a project involving Politecnico di Torino (Italy), ORNL (USA) and Kyoto University (Japan) on low activation joining materials, techniques and mechanical testing for SiC-based materials. Results on glass ceramic joined SiC will be presented. A new torsion test based on miniaturized hour-glass shaped specimens is proposed here to be used as pure shear strength test method for joined samples to be submitted to neutron irradiation. Preliminary results on hour-glass shaped joined specimens have been obtained by this method.

Development of the once-through hybrid sulfur process for nuclear hydrogen production

The Once-through Hybrid Sulfur (Ot-HyS) process, proposed in this work, produces hydrogen using the same Sulfur dioxide Depolarized water Electrolysis (SDE) process found in the original Hybrid Sulfur cycle (HyS). In the process proposed here, the Sulfuric Acid Decomposition (SAD) process in the HyS procedure is replaced with the well-established sulfur combustion process. First, a flow sheet for the Ot-HyS process was developed by referring to existing facilities and to the work done by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) under their reasonable assumptions. The process was then simulated using Aspen Plus with appropriate thermodynamic models. It was demonstrated that the Ot-HyS process has higher net thermal efficiency, as well as other advantages, over competing benchmark processes. The net thermal efficiency of the Ot-HyS process is 47.1% (based on LHV) and 55.7% (based on HHV) assuming 33.3% thermal-to-electric conversion efficiency of a nuclear power plant with no consideration given to the work for the air separation. Hydrogen produced through the Ot-HyS process would be used as off-peak electricity storage, to relieve the burden of load-following and could help to expand applications of nuclear energy, which is regarded as a ’sustainable development’ technology.

The DOE advanced gas reactor fuel development and qualification program

The high outlet temperatures and high thermal-energy conversion efficiency of modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) enable an efficient and cost-effective integration of the reactor system with non-electricity-generation applications, such as process heat and/or hydrogen production, for the many petrochemical and other industrial processes that require temperatures between 300°C and 900°C. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected the HTGR concept for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Project as a transformative application of nuclear energy that will demonstrate emissions-free nuclear-assisted electricity, process heat, and hydrogen production, thereby reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and enhancing energy security. The objective of the DOE Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Fuel Development and Qualification program is to qualify tristructural isotropic (TRISO)-coated particle fuel for use in HTGRs. An overview of the program and recent progress is presented.

Special Issue on Structural Engineering of Nuclear Related Facilities

Since it was first used, nuclear energy’s control has been an important issue. With the generation of electricity as a major nuclear energy application, the improvement of nuclear power generation technology has been required by society, including power plant design, construction, and maintenance and radioactive waste disposal. Nuclear facilities must also take into account disaster prevention, as in the case of earthquakes and terrorist attacks, particularly because of the extensive potential and actual range of effects. This has made nuclear energy issues important considerations in JDR editorial meetings. In the July 16, 2007, case of the Niigataken Chuetsu-oki Earthquake, quake ground motion equaled or exceeded that presumed in the design of the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station, the world’s largest nuclear power station. Specific safety objectives for nuclear power plants include stopping the nuclear reaction, cooling the nuclear reactor, preventing radioactive material emission, and shielding surroundings from radiation - all of which were almost completely achieved in this case. Many problems were also revealed, however. JDR examined a special issue on Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station earthquake resistance at an editorial meeting but determined that such a topic remains premature. In its stead, we have planned a number featuring the structural engineering of nuclear related facilities as a first step in a series of special issues on nuclear energy. The papers for this number were submitted mainly by the presenters of 20th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology, held in Espoo, Finland, in 2009 with the catch phrase “Challenges Facing Nuclear Renaissance.” We greatly appreciate the many contributions to this issue, and would like to thank the reviewers, without whose cooperation this number could not have been published. Please note that, independent of special numbers such as this one, JDR looks forward to receiving papers on a wide range of fields related to disaster.

New stage in the use of atomic energy in space

A qualitatively new stage in the development and practical application of atomic energy in space is linked with the use of multipurpose high-capacity propulsion-power modules. Their design based on a nuclear powered propulsion facility in the megawatt range has been approved and accepted for implementation. In this article, the facility is described, the principles of operation of the facility as a whole and its individual subsystems are examined, and the proposed characteristics and mass of the structural elements are presented. The advantages of using atomic energy in the power-plant-motor variant, including for manned flight to Mars, are shown.

Dreams and needs: the applications of isotopes to industry in Spain in the 1960s

ABSTRACT: The efforts to change the bleak image of the atom bomb galvanised the discourse on the peaceful applications of nuclear energy. This contributed to a utopian vision of nuclear energy, especially of the uses of radioactive isotopes in the immediate post-war period. Desire for peace engendered dreams of a better future based on the use of radioactivity. These dreams were first converted into reality using isotopes in medicine. These advances were subsequently applied to industry and agriculture. This article gives an overview of the peaceful applications of isotopes in industry and agriculture in Spain. It describes a period in which the initial dreams, sometimes fantastic and other times down-to-earth, gave rise to the first applications to meet the needs of economic growth in the 1960s.

Integration of Nuclear Energy Into Oil Sands Projects

Energy security and greenhouse gas reduction are thought to be two of the most urgent priorities for sustaining and improving the human condition in the near future. Few places pit the two goals so directly in opposition to one another as the Alberta oil sands. Here, Canadian natural gas is burned in massive quantities to extract oil from one of North America’s largest native sources of carbon-intensive heavy oil. However, this conflict need not continue. Nonemitting nuclear energy can replace natural gas as a fuel source in an economical and more environmentally sound way. This would allow for the continued extraction of transportation fuels without greenhouse gas emissions, while freeing up the natural gas supply for hydrogen feedstock and other valuable applications. Bitumen production in Alberta expanded dramatically in the past 5 years as the price of oil rose to record levels. This paper explores the feasibility and economics of using nuclear energy to power future oil sands production and upgrading activities, and puts forth several nuclear energy application scenarios for providing steam and electricity to in situ and surface mining operations. This review includes the Enhanced CANDU 6, the Advanced CANDU Reactor, and the pebble bed modular reactor. Based on reasonable projections of available cost information, steam produced using nuclear energy is expected to be less expensive than steam produced by natural gas at current natural gas prices and at prices above $6.50/MMBtu (CAD). For electricity production, nuclear energy becomes competitive with natural gas plants at gas prices of $10–13/MMBtu (CAD). Costs of constructing nuclear plants in Alberta are affected by higher local labor costs, which this paper took into account in making these estimates. Although a more definitive analysis of construction costs and project economics will be required to confirm these findings, there appears to be sufficient merit in the potential economics to support further study.

Neutron capture cross sections from Surrogate measurements

The prospects for determining cross sections for compound-nuclear neutron-capture reactions from Surrogate measurements are investigated. Calculations as well as experimental results are presented that test the Weisskopf-Ewing approximation, which is employed in most analyses of Surrogate data. It is concluded that, in general, one has to go beyond this approximation in order to obtain (n, ) cross sections of su cient accuracy for most astrophysical and nuclear-energy applications. Cross sections for compound-nuclear (n, ) reactions are needed for a variety of applications, including astrophysics and nuclear energy. Modeling astrophysical processes that produce the heavy isotopes beyond iron, simulating nu- clear reactor operations, exploring alternative fuel cycles for energy generation, and studying transmutation options for radioactive waste, requires cross sections for neutron- induced reactions on isotopes from di erent regions of the nuclear chart. As many short-lived species cannot be made into targets for direct cross-section measurements, one has to rely on calculations or explore indirect approaches. The accuracies for the cross sections of inter- est, often in the range of 10% or less, can be much smaller than the theoretical uncertainties that exist when the model parameters are insu ciently constrained by data. For in- stance, standard evaluations for the (n, ) reaction on the s-process branch point nucleus 95 Zr (t1=2 = 64 d) vary from each other roughly by a factor of four 1 . Exploiting regional systematics, whenever cross sections or relevant structural data (level densities, -ray strength functions, etc.) for near- by nuclei are known, can provide valuable constraints for the calculations. In this contribution we explore the prospects for de- termining or constraining (n, ) cross sections through Sur- rogate measurements. The Surrogate nuclear reaction tech- nique combines experiment with theory to obtain cross sec- tions for compound-nuclear (CN) reactions, a+A! B ! c+C, involving targets (A) that are di cult or impossible to obtain (1-3). In the Hauser-Feshbach formalism, the cross section for this desired reaction takes the form: (Ea) = X

AFM Study of the Fluence-Dependent Modification of the Surface of YSZ Due to Argon Ion Irradiation

AbstractYittria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) has long been of interest as a promising material for nuclear energy applications. It is the cubic form of zirconium oxide stabilized at room temperature by the addition of yttria. Previous studies of radiation damage in YSZ focused primarily on microstructural changes in the bulk or in the near surface layer whereas irradiation induced changes on the surface received little attention. Here we use atomic force microscopy, AFM, to study the fluence-dependent generation of surface modifications to YSZ due to 150 keV Ar+ ion implantation at fluences from 3×1015 to 1×1017 ions/cm2. The microstructural changes in the near surface region were previously investigated by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry in channeling geometry (RBS/C). Further, we investigated implantation in (100), (110), and (111) oriented single crystals of YSZ to explore differences in crystal orientation sensitivity to damage to ion irradiation. At the highest fluence, a dense packing of large round surface hillocks was observed. The ion induced surface modifications revealed by AFM differ slightly from the bulk lattice damage measured by RBS, although both indicate that under these implantation conditions, the (110) oriented crystal shows the most radiation damage resistance. The mean size of the hillocks scaled with concentration of implanted Ar atoms.

Rethinking the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons

The article aims to assess the effectiveness of the non-proliferation regime established more than 40 years ago with the adoption of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Since that time the international community had achieved considerable success in the prevention of nuclear weapons’ proliferation. Nevertheless, while noting the results of the NPT and the verification system established under that instrument, one cannot remain silent about the shortcomings of the system and the non-compliance with some of its provisions. By its structure and provisions the NPT has divided States into two groups, distinguishing those possessing and those not possessing nuclear weapons. In effect, the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties to the NPT are tailored to the group to which they belong, and the gravest violation of the NPT is that when States seek to change their status as defined in the NPT, notably by trying to munfacture or control of nuclear weapons. Under the NPT, research in, production and application of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes are inalienable rights, but their exercise should be in keeping with the basic obligation of nonnuclear-weapon States under the Treaty not to acquire in any form nuclear weapons and not to carry out unauthorized nuclear activities under the guise of their peaceful nuclear programs. While emphasizing the need to strengthen the non-proliferation regime, the article describes in nutshell the nuclear program of two States (the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) which gave cause for serious international concern.

Prospect for extreme field science

The kind of laser extreme light infrastructure (ELI) provides will usher in a class of experiments we have only dreamed of for years. The characteristics that ELI brings in include: the highest intensity ever, large fluence, and relatively high repetition rate. A personal view of the author on the prospect of harnessing this unprecedented opportunity for advancing science of extreme fields is presented. The first characteristic of ELI, its intensity, will allow us to access, as many have stressed already, extreme fields that hover around the Schwinger field or at the very least the neighboring fields in which vacuum begins to behave as a nonlinear medium. In this sense, we are seriously probing the “material” property of vacuum and thus the property that theory of relativity itself described and will entail. We will probe both special theory and general theory of relativity in regimes that have been never tested so far. We may see a glimpse into the reach of relativity or even its breakdown in some extreme regimes. We will learn Einstein and may even go beyond Einstein, if our journey is led. Laser-driven acceleration both by the laser field itself and by the wakefield that is triggered in a plasma is huge. Energies, if not luminosity, we can access, may be unprecedented going far beyond TeV. The nice thing about ELI is that it has relatively high repetition rate and average fluence as compared with other extreme lasers. This high fluence can be a key element that leads to applications to high energy physics, such as gamma-gamma collider driver experiment, and some gamma ray experiments that may be relevant in the frontier of photo-nuclear physics, and atomic energy applications. Needless to say, high fluence is one of most important features that industrial and medical applications may need. If we are lucky, we may see a door opens at the frontier of novel physics that may not be available by any other means. Finally, as the last lecture of this workshop the conference organizers charged this paper also to briefly reflect on the talks that have been given at the ELI meeting, which collectively pushed the envelope of the frontier of contemporary physics, an attempt is made to touch on as many talks as possible.