CRITICAL ISSUES FORUM

BENCHMARK III
Nuclear Renaissance: Risks versus Benefits

The Author: Evgeny Bekker

Form 10A
High school 216 Didakt
The Teacher-Advisor: Elena Kurenkova
The Teacher of English
High school 216 Didakt

Zarechny
Penza Region
Russia
2008

Environmental pollution of nuclear power plants.

List of dangers, connected with NPPs:
Release of radioactive particles into environment.
Radioactive isotopes pollution.
Water temperature increases.
The threat of nuclear accidents.
The threat of nuclear terrorism.

Nuclear power plants technologies that provide safety.

Reactor design flaws.
Mistakes and incompetence of personnel.
Major incidents regarding NPPs.
Could it happen again?
Used sources.

It was commonly to think that nuclear energy is absolutely safe until some
serious incidents occurred on nuclear power plants of the USA(Three Mile Island),
Japan(Kashiwaszki-Kariwa) and the most dangerous incident in the former USSR
(Chernobyl). The last of them had very serious consequences. All these events changed
the opinion of people about the safety of nuclear energy. However the danger of nuclear
energy was not only in the nuclear accidents.

Lets see the full list of dangers

connected with nuclear power
plants:

Release of radioactive
particles

Usually the radioactive particles appear

from radioactive isotopes and in fission
process. In most cases speaking about
radioactive particles pollution, people
mean gamma-radiation, which is easily
determinated by a Geiger counter. At the
same time there are many betaradiators, which are badly determinated
by the most of existing devices.

Radioactive isotopes
pollution

Radioactive contamination is typically the

result of a spill or accident during the
production or use of radionuclides
(radioisotopes), an unstable nucleus which
has excessive energy. However the
production of those radionuclides is
controlled by filters and other equipment.
The biological effectsof internally
deposited radionuclides depend greatly on
the activity and the biodistribution and
removal rates of the radionuclide, which in
turn depends on its chemical form.

Water temperature
increase

For the NPPs just as for the thermal

power stations heat release into is
typical.
It is marked that the temperature of
water in the area of nuclear power
station is higher than without it. Because
of that the balance of water evaporation
is disturbed and the amount of salt in
water increased. This changes can lead
to extinction of some species of animals.

The treat of nuclear

accidents

The most actual question appealed to

NPP is the question of nuclear
accidents. Thought the chances of such
accident is very small the danger it
carries is very serious.

Nuclear terrorism threat

Another actual
question of the NPPs
safety is nuclear
terrorism.
The NPP could be
captured by terrorists
and used like a
nuclear weapon.

Nuclear power plants

technologies that provide
safety
The most widespread causes of the
NPP accident are:

Reactor design flaws.

Mistakes and incompetence of personnel.

It is important to learn by your own

mistakes. So the Chernobyl disaster
were carefully examined and analyzed.
After that new standards of safety and
new technologies were adopted.

Reactor design flaws

Well take a Chernobyl as an example for reactor

design flaws. There were several serious design
flaws in the Chernobyl RBMK:
The scram button that supposed to stop the reaction

accelerated it instead.
the heat from the graphite, which operates at 700 degrees
Centigrade, flows from the graphite back through the
pressure tubes and is taken away by the boiling water.
"However, the problem with graphite at high temperatures
is that if it is exposed to air, it will burn slowly.
The RBMK reactor was a large one and it could not be put
in containment.

These reactors are not used nowadays and all

known design flaws are removed from new reactors.

Mistakes and incompetence of

personnel.

Six human errors were identified.

Two permanent operating rules were violated: not to
run the reactor for any length of time at reduced
power level (below 700 Megawatts-thermal), and
never to have fewer than thirty control rods fully
inserted into the core
If any one of these six errors had not been
committed, the explosion would not have occurred.
However its not the fault of personnel, its the fault of
their not sufficient training.
After Chernobyl disaster some new laws of safety
were adopted.

Major incidents regarding

NPPs

Could it happen again?

Yes, the causes of such disasters are

well understood but theres no certitude
that government and NPPs personnel
will follow them. First of all some
countries couldnt have enough money
to develop and integrate newest
technologies into NPPs. Secondly the
chance of human mistakes is always
exists. So there always will be chance of
accident like the ones we examined.

sources

www.bookrags.com
www.countrywalking.blogspot.com
www.ecolo.org
www.geo4va.vt.edu
www.gnn.tv
www.greensense.com
www.nci.org
www.nirs.org
www.personal.psu.edu
www.prop1.org
www.wikipedia.org
www.englicious.com