On Wednesday, April 8, Professor Emeritus Edward A. Friedman gave a lecture as a guest speaker for the American Nuclear Society (ANS) on the future of nuclear energy. In his presentation, he first introduced the history of nuclear energy and where it came from. He discussed where radioactivity first came from, denoting that Henri Becquerel was the first to recognize this energy form back in 1896. Marie and Pierre Curie would discover two more elements that emit radiation just two years later in 1898.
He continued to mention more information regarding the subject, with one interesting note on how, when “H.G. Wells wrote, ‘The World Set Free,’ he anticipated the development of atomic energy in 1933 and of atomic weapons in 1956.”
Following the history, Dr. Friedman broke down how a fission reaction works in the nuclear reactors we use today. He gave the history of the first reactor, built by Fermi, which was launched on December 2, 1942. The first real practical use was in the first nuclear-powered submarine, known as the Nautilus.
He continued with the explanation of a pressurized water reactor, which is the model most common in use today. This model essentially uses a water system to cool the reactor down, as significant traces of energy are created and an excess of heat is released. The main problem with this model, however, is that it leads to hydrogen explosions, which can lead to disasters; the most notable of these being Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
After the full rundown of the preexisting systems, he addressed where we stand at the present. Right now, there are over “50 companies worldwide developing new nuclear reactor designs”. Most recently, China began building a Generation IV reactor that is helium-cooled. With these power plants that run at temperatures of “1,000 degrees Celsius, 11% of the world’s greenhouse gases can be eliminated”; other energy generation systems like solar simply cannot compete. Not to mention the by-product of hydrogen that could be utilized to create materials such as steel and concrete.
Moving forward, the implementation of several new reactors is in effect. The United States Department of Energy is funding the creation of eight water-based reactors. China is presently constructing 32 reactors. Russia has “36 operational reactors” with seven under construction and many others operating in foreign countries. France is sending people to learn from the Chinese construction programs, and Dr. Friedman discusses why American companies like Westinghouse do the same.
To sum up his presentation, he shared several statistics indicating greenhouse gas emission percentages and the countries that have contributed to the 72 reactors newly operating over the past decade.
