Thursday, May 22, 2014
My recent paper on the misconceptions of the nuclear industry and how nuclear fusion is the energy source of the future.
Nuclear
Fusion
ITER
(acronym for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and Latin for
“the way”) is a worldwide nuclear fusion research and development project. According
to their schedule, this 17.8 billion dollar project, in south France, will
result in a near infinite, 100% safe, and 100% green power source. Upon telling
people we have the ability to create a power generator that can power a city,
would leave no carbon footprint, and could power our civilization for several
million years, everyone is excited and on board. The moment the word ‘nuclear’
is mentioned however, an average of three out of five people are against it.
This is caused by the majority being uniformed on the topic of the nuclear
industry paired with the reputation the raw, darker side of the industry has
caused. I would like to use this opportunity to clarify the different aspects
of the nuclear energy and how nuclear fusion is the green energy source of the
future.
As
with any idea or project, there are cons and pros. Fortunately, in the realm of
nuclear fusion, the many, great pros outweigh the few, meek cons. Cost, of
course, is a major con. Just one research and design project, working on
nuclear fusion, is projected to cost almost $18 billion dollars. While a
substantial part of the $18 billion dollars is going to research, the cost of
development is extremely high. Once the reactor is fully operational and being
recreated in other parts of the world, the cost will still be extremely
expensive. There is also the concern of nuclear proliferation: the spread
and/or usage of nuclear weapons, weapons grade fissionable material, and
weapon-applicable nuclear technology. While a fission reactor is what is used
to create the enriched uranium used in nuclear bombs, fusion reactor byproducts
can be used to aid in the enriching of uranium to becoming weapons grade. One
of the biggest cons, yet not quite as scary as weapon production, is the
timeline paired with risk. If ITER, the foremost leading project in the field
of nuclear fusion, follows their timeline to the dot, nuclear fusion energy
won’t be put into the grid for the first time until 2050. This is assuming that
the project follows their timeline, their fusion reactor works properly, and
the energy produced by the reactor is a net positive. There are some research
fusion reactors out there, but the fuel being used produces less energy than
how much energy is put into it.
Many
people, after reading the previous paragraph, would disagree highly with my
statements, claiming I left out a majority of the issues with nuclear fusion.
Radiation poisoning, nuclear meltdowns, safety, environmental poisoning, high
risk, terrorism targets, and massive amounts of highly radioactive waste are
all misconceptions in the nuclear industry. These issues are true in nuclear
fission, but they have been made out to be much worse by the media than they
actually are. It is true that fission reactors have created 138,000,000 pounds
of waste since 1942. While that seems like a huge amount, that actually is only
40m^3. If laid on top of a football field, the waste would only be 12.8 meters
high, which would be just above (.7 meters) the top of the goal post! By 2050,
the projected time we master nuclear fusion, the amount of waste is likely to
only triple. Nuclear fusion is essentially harnessing a star. We would filter
out all the radioactive waste, and the small amount it produces- would only be
radioactive for less than 100 years before it becomes refusible. Most of the
cons from the nuclear industry arise from fission, but fission won’t be around
for long. Fission was always meant to be a stepping-stone, leading to the
pinnacle of energy technology: nuclear fusion.
Compared to fusion, fission is just a party trick, a novelty. All the
flaws and cons of fission are removed once the nuclear industry makes the
ultimate switch to fusion.
Several
of the cons have pros that counteract them. For instance, the worry of nuclear
proliferation is all but voided by it’s opposing pro. All the countries that
are working on the ITER project are mandated to have signed the Treaty of the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and have laws that prevent the
refining of uranium to levels even remotely close to that of weapons grade.
This being said, North Korea, a country with no restrictions on their nuclear
industry, cannot be a part of ITER nor will they ever receive information about
the project from any countries working on the project. While $18 billion
dollars may seem like an astronomically (pun intended) amount of money,
consider the worth of the electricity fusion will produce. While the ITER
reactor is only experimental, it will give rise to nuclear fusion plants all
over the world that power our cities, our cars, even our homes. Harnessing an
infinite amount is priceless as it would have no cost on the environment, a
finite cost of upkeep, and the electricity produced from it would pay itself
back many of times over in just a few decades. While there is the possibility
of ITER being a failure, it’s failure would still be another stepping stone
getting us that much closer to harnessing the pinnacle of energy sources. As
Thomas Edison commented on his work on the light bulb, “Results! Why, good sir,
I have gotten a lot of results! I know several thousand things that will not
work.” (Commonly paraphrased as, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not
failed once. I have succeeded in proving 10,000 ways that won’t work.”). If we
could harness the power of the stars, our potential would be limitless. No
longer would our cars be limited by the miles we can drive on a tank of
gasoline. No longer would we need to “conserve energy”. No longer would impoverished
areas of the world live without electricity. The advancements in fuel and space
travel would escalate so quickly, it would make our space race of the ‘50s and
‘60s seem like a foot race in comparison. We would likely have men colonizing
Mars and being able to make quick trips back and forth within a decade of
utilizing nuclear fusion as a fuel source. Another pro that is prevalent in
fission but not fusion is the breech in the reactor core. Under the high
pressures, high temperatures, and self-sustaining fission processes the highly
radioactive materials will be expelled at high velocities (explode) from the
core if the reactor is compromised. This then irradiates the surrounding
environment and can be sent into the jet stream to travel the world, such as
the catastrophe of Chernobyl. If a similar breech to occur in a fusion reactor,
the results would be much different, much safer. The fusion we are creating has
no potential for self-sustainment. As soon as the reactor is compromised or
even just the magnets on the inside of the core break, all reactions stop.
Because of this, it is unlikely that a complete breech from the core to the
outside is possible, unless somebody were trying to attack it. In such case,
the trace amount of radiation would only be thrust out into the building and
would be an easy clean up. The true danger in a full breech would be the heat
wave. If the core was quickly penetrated, without giving it the chance to cool,
it is likely everyone within the room would be exposed to deadly heat waves.
Other than this safety concern and that small amount of quick decaying
radioactive waste, there are no other safety concerns to deal with fusion.
These
examples may seem like they came straight from science fiction, but I assure
you, harnessing the power of a star marks the greatest accomplishment in human
history. With our degrade in fossil fuels and unreliability in renewable energy
sources, nuclear fusion is almost becoming mandatory if mankind wishes to
continue life here on Earth. Also, quite ironically, nuclear fusion just may be
our ticket off this planet and possibly out of this solar system. The
breakthroughs that are possible with fusion are as limitless as our imagination
and I’m sure there are possibilities that lie deep in the field that our minds
can’t even comprehend. Unfortunately, the nuclear industry has received a
tainted reputation over the past 70 years. Starting with this paper, I hope our
civilization comes to realize these misconceptions, and accept and encourage
the creation of sustainable fusion and the harnessing of the stars.
Bibliography
Bibliography
The International Thermonuclear
Experimental Research website was very helpful on informing me on their
research and upcoming project. I greatly enjoyed looking into this project and
will conduct a more in depth search into it.
The American Nuclear Society
website has always been an important resource for me. Much of my news and
knowledge on the local nuclear industry comes from this website and they didn’t
fail me while conducting this research paper.
Much like ANS, the World Nuclear
Association website has been a valuable source for me in the past. I use this
site for more global nuclear industry news.
Dr. Tom Murphy
While considering UCSD as a choice
of university for myself, I contacted Dr. Murphy. He was nice and informative
and gave me a great link to an article he published on fusion that he thought
I’d appreciate.
Great article on the potential of
nuclear fusion published by Dr. Tom Murphy, a highly esteemed professor from
UCSD.
IFLScience is a great website I use
to keep up on all my science news, creating their own articles or acting as a
database for others. There were a few good articles on this site on the latest breakthroughs
in fusion.
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