A. Safety
Within the past few years, concern of nuclear power plants has become a public issue and, also, a political one.
In Connecticut, an inspector from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been assigned to the Connecticut Yankee plant and another to the Millstone plants. These inspectors are responsible for looking over the operations at the plant and that all federal regulations are being followed. There are also frequent spot checks to make sure that all regulations are being upheld.
As a result, or consequence of the Three Mile Island incident, Northeast Utilities set up a task force in 1979 to work with the NRC to insure that safety regulations are being upheld on a continual basis.
Along with the NRC and NE task force was the results of the Kemeny Commission. This commission was set up by former President James Carter to investigate and report back on the situation at Three Mile Island.
The main features of a safety inspection include the design, construction, and operation of a reactor; accident prevention features, and containment shells to confine or minimize the release of the product of fission reactions.
B. Radiation
The term ‘radiation’ refers to the transfer of heat by waves. Everyday exposure includes radiation from the sun, gases in the air we breathe, and in our food and water.
Different types of radiation include alpha, beta, gamma, X-rays, and neutrons. Neutron radiation is the type involved with nuclear energy. This type of radiation occurs in nuclear reactors.
Radiation doses are measured in ‘rems’. A comparison of X-rays’ radiation and that of a nearby resident of a nuclear power plant, is that a dose of radiation from a X-ray averages 20 millirems(thousandths of a rem) while living close to a nuclear plant averages l millirem per year. This estimate of radiation dose are tested by taking environmental samples. In CT, even before our nuclear plants were built, samples wore taken to measure radioactivity in the area. This gave the researchers an estimate of the area’s radioactivity before the initial construction of the nuclear power plants. Now, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires periodic readings of the radioactive dose to the environment. “The highest dose an individual living at the site boundary could have received in 1980 was 6.4 millirem from Millstone releases and 1.2 millirem from Connecticut Yankee releases. Doses to the average individual around the sites are much smaller than those presented as the highest possible.”3
Background radiation is one of two forms: natural and synthetic. Natural background radiation includes sun, air, food, and the ground. Synthetic (manmade) background radiation includes color T.V., X-rays, jets, and living within approximately 50 miles of a nuclear power plant. The amount of exposure to background radiation varies across the U.S. chiefly from the amount or influence of each of the above natural and artificial types of radiation upon a particular section of the country. Nuclear plants give off the smallest doses of radiation than all of the others listed above.
C. Environment
The individual power plants are required to reports of data they have collected on environmental studies. In CT, Millstone gives the NRC their reports every year and CT Yankee files reports when required.
The type of testing surrounding water and land mass, all life forms, and the air.
The initial sitting important to the environment. The most important concern involved with a sitting is the radiological hazard to the surrounding population. There are now federal laws and regulations for the recording of data near a possible plant site. One law that helps to ensure the safety of the public and surrounding environment is that there must be an area around a plant site that is restricted. There also has to be some structures and dispose of all wastes that occur during normal operations.
The obvious advantage to all these regulations is that it ensures the safety of the public and environment. The major disadvantage is the expense,(this will be discussed later under economics).
D. Waste Disposal
The issue of nuclear disposal has probably been of the utmost concern of many people. Besides being a social problem, this issue has become political in nature. There are methods available for the disposal of the wastes but the currently, best method of encapsulation is still being researched. There are many different roadblocks ahead on this issue; many in the form of political lobbies from various groups and organizations.
The radioactive waste from a nuclear plant is usually put into one of two categories: high-level waste and low-level waste.
When an uranium atom is split to start the fission reaction, there are radioactive atoms produced. These radioactive atoms make up the high-level waste. These wastes can remain radioactive for long periods of time and require around 10 feet of water to absorb the energy. Theoretically, the same amount of soil can also give the same protection.
Most products of the fission reaction have short half-lives. A half-life is the amount of time needed for one half the atoms of a radioactive isotope to decay. Almost all radioactivity disappears after four months. The radioactivity that is still present has a longer half-life (about 30 years) and thus the necessity for proper disposal.
Low-level wastes are of solid, liquid, and gaseous forms and make up the majority of wastes removed from nuclear plants. These are materials that become contaminated during normal plant operations. This includes tools, wastes are disposed of at the site. Liquid wastes are usually mixed with concrete or urea formaldehyde (a plastic) to form a solid. Waste in gas form is usually contained until it decays. It then is released by the plant, under environmental regulations. Solid wastes are shipped, under strict regulations, to burial facilities, that dispose of this low-level waste.
The possibilities for disposal of high-level waste include burial far beneath the surface of the earth. The waste could be imbedded in rock or salt formations. Some researchers prefer salt formations because most of these formations have not changed over millions of years. Some researchers prefer the granite (rock) over the salt. Testing is continuing on this issue, with other options, like ocean burial, being discussed.
Testing is underway to determine the best and safest method for nuclear waste disposal. ~ problem is public concern over the testing, especially if it is done in their area (state, city). Politicians also tend to fight the testing in their districts. If nuclear power is to be a part of our future, the public, politicians, and the members of the nuclear power plants, must work together to lower the risks of nuclear power as an energy alternative.
E. Economics
One advantage of nuclear energy that has always keen discussed is its economic value. Uranium is cheaper than oil and coal, and shipments of the fuel for a nuclear plant can be done annually instead of on a constant basis for coal and oil. But uranium is also a non-reusable source and is not immune to inflation, it has risen in cost.
The space needed to accommodate a nuclear plant is considerably smaller than other electrical plants with the same output of energy. However, since 1975 there have been no new orders for nuclear plants. The main reasons for this are the uncertainty of governmental involvement, rising construction cost, rising uranium cost, and delays in licenses and permits. Strict regulations have delayed construction of other plants and new safety measures (since Three Mile Island) are more expensive. In comparison, the construction of a coal plant is much cheaper than that of a nuclear plant. However, nuclear is still cheaper than oil and is more environmentally accepted than coal.
One important issue here is that nuclear energy is in competition with the other energy sources. Usually when there is competition, costs and price usually drop or at least the rates are kept down. With oil skyrocketing, coal, nuclear, wood, hydro, solar, etc., are all in competition, trying to bring the consumer a safe, less expensive, energy source.