Nuclear Files: Educators: Study Questions: Nuclear Energy Study Questions

Nuclear Energy Study Questions

Nuclear Energy Study Questions:

The Breeder Reactor

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(1) What does "LMFBR" stand for?
(2) Sketch a LMFBR nuclear power plant and explain how it works (what is the function of each loop?).
(3) Discuss the pros and cons of liquid sodium as the coolant in LMFBRs.
(4) Discuss the pros and cons of a "plutonium-based energy economy."
(5) According to Weinberg, how long will Phase I of the nuclear era last?
(6) According to Weinberg, what are the advantages of breeders?
(7) According to Weinberg, what are the five "issues" concerning breeders?
(8) Explain the Phase II dilemma as presented by Weinberg.
(9) What are the five characteristics of Phase II?
(10) Explain the "Faustian bargain," as proposed by Weinberg.

Nuclear Energy

(1) Give the nuclear fusion reaction that powers our sun.
(2) Give the nuclear fusion reaction for hydrogen bombs.
(3) Name three fissile isotopes.
(4) Give the nuclear process by which Pu-239 is produced when U-238 absorbs a neutron.
(5) Define a supercritical chain reaction.
(6) What are the critical masses for U-235 and Pu-239?
(7) Given a sample of natural uranium with 1,000 atoms, how many on average would be U-235 atoms?
(8) On average, how many neutrons are released per U-235 fission?
(9) Name the four scientists who discovered nuclear fission.
(10) Name two highly radioactive fission products that are harmful to humans.

Nuclear Power Plants

(1) Define electrical energy usage in terms of power units.
(2) What percentage of electrical energy was generated by nuclear power plants in the USA, France, and Japan during 1988?
(3) How does a thermal power plant produce electricity?
(4) What is the efficiency (in percent) of modern thermal power plants and where does the waste heat go?
(5) Name the two neutron moderators used in the USA and Canadian nuclear power programs.
(6) Explain how a SCRAM operation works and the special role of the control rods.
(7) Sketch (block diagram) a boiling-water nuclear power plant and explain how it works (what is the function of each component?)
(8) Sketch (block diagram) a pressurized-water nuclear power plant and explain how it works (how is the function of each loop?)
(9) Discuss the implications of CANDU reactors with "continuous refueling."
(10) Explain the role of heavy water in the nuclear weapons programs of Germany (circa 1943) and India (circa 1974).

Current Use of Nuclear Power

(1) According to the 1962 AEC report, why was a national effort to support nuclear energy justifiable and necessary?
(2) Explain the difference between a converter and a breeder reactor.
(3) Describe the different stages in nuclear power plant design, leading from the first plants to "electricity too cheap to meter".
(4) Describe the three different types of commercial nuclear power plants available today. Who sells what?
(5) Describe France's approach to establishing a nuclear power industry.
(6) Describe Germany's approach to establishing a nuclear power industry.
(7) Describe the United States' approach to establishing a nuclear power industry.
(8) Why did the British nuclear power industry falter?
(9) What costs have not been taken into account when calculating the relative competitiveness of nuclear power?
(10) What were the nuclear power planners concerned about in 1962? What problems

Safety and Nuclear Waste

(1) Discuss the ramifications of the Three Mile Island accident.
(2) Where, when, and what caused the accident at Chernobyl?
(3) What is the purpose of the "containment structure" and why did it fail at Chernobyl?
(4) What is a LOCA and if it happens, how can a meltdown be prevented?
(5) How much plutonium does each 1,000 MW nuclear power plant produce per year?
(6) Describe "reprocessing" with special emphasis on plutonium separation and the potential for diversion to weapons.
(7) Currently, the USA plans to store nuclear waste where and how?
(8) Describe the nuclear fuel cycle sequence.
(9) Name the five known nuclear weapons nations who used Pu-239 in their first nuclear explosives.
(10) Discuss the differences between HLW and LLW.

Nuclear Energy Accidents

(1) Describe the sequence of events that led to the accident at Three Mile Island.
(2) How did the company and the government react?
(3) According to Weinberg, what is the Faustian bargain? Why is it still worth it?
(4) According to Weinberg, what is the solution to the threat of accidents like those at Three Mile Island and at Chernobyl?
(5) Were the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents like the predicted "Maximum Credible Accidents"?
(6) What does Weart mean by the "Reactor Wars"?
(7) What was the Rasmussen Report?
(8) What does Weart mean by "Its Political"?
(9) Why is Whyl significant?
(10) Essentially, what do you have to do to anything that has become radioactive, either through normal operation of a nuclear reactor or because of an accident?