TECHNICAL REPORT ON NUCLEAR POWER

Chapter 1

NUCLEAR POWER

1.1 Introduction

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission reaction to produce heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world’s energy and 13 – 14% of the world’s electricity. Now, there are 439 nuclear power plants operating in 31 different countries in the world.

There is an ongoing debate about the use of nuclear energy. Proponents, such as the World Nuclear Association and IAEA, contend that nuclear power is a sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions. Opponents, such as Greenpeace International and NIRS, believe that nuclear power poses many threats to people and the environment.

Nuclear power plant accidents include the Chernobyl disaster (1986), Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), and the Three Mile Island accident (1979). There have also been some nuclear-powered submarine mishaps. However, the safety record of nuclear power is good when compared with many other energy technologies. Research into safety improvements is continuing and nuclear fusion may be used in the future ^[1].

Japan's 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster prompted a rethink of nuclear energy policy in many countries. However, International research is continuing into safety improvements such as passively safe plants, the use of nuclear fusion, and additional uses of process heat such as hydrogen production (in support of a hydrogen economy), for desalinating sea water, and for use in district heating systems.

Many military and civilian ships use nuclear marine propulsion, a form of nuclear propulsion. A few space vehicles have been launched using full-fledged nuclear reactors: the Soviet RORSAT series and the American SNAP-10A ^[2].

1.2 Advantages of using nuclear power plants:

1.      Nuclear power generation does not generate any greenhouse gases and hence is safer to the environment as it does not lead to global warming.

2.      This technology is readily available. A lot of research goes into making of each nuclear reactor.

3.      It is possible to generate a high amount of electrical energy in one single plant.

4.      If we consider the volume of waste generated, nuclear plants produce less solid wastes compared to other industrial wastes.

5.      Typically, a doubling of the uranium market price would increase the fuel cost for a light water reactor by 26% and the electricity cost about 7%, whereas doubling the price of natural gas would typically add 70% to the price of electricity from that source.

6.      Uranium, used as nuclear fuel, is a fairly common element in the Earth's crust.

7.      Use of breeder reactors has minimized the fresh usage of uranium ^[3].

1.3 Nuclear Power in India

1. India has a flourishing and largely indigenous nuclear power program and expects to have 20,000 MWe nuclear capacities on line by 2020 and 63,000 MWe by 2032.  It aims to supply 25% of electricity from nuclear power by 2050. 
2. Because India is outside the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty due to its weapons program, for 34 years it was largely excluded from trade in nuclear plant or materials, which has hampered its development of civil nuclear energy until 2009. 
3. Due to these trade bans and lack of indigenous uranium, India has uniquely been developing a nuclear fuel cycle to exploit its reserves of thorium. 
4. Now, foreign technology and fuel are expected to boost India's nuclear power plans considerably. All plants will have high indigenous engineering content. 
5. India has a vision of becoming a world leader in nuclear technology due to its expertise in fast reactors and thorium fuel cycle ^[1]. 

Chapter 2

NUCLEAR REACTIONS

   2.1 Nuclear fission

Nuclear fission occurs when an atom’s nucleus splits apart to form two or more different atoms. The most easily fissionable elements are the isotopes are uranium 235 and plutonium 239. Fissionable elements are flooded with neutrons causing the elements to split.  When these radioactive isotopes split, they form new radioactive chemicals and release extra neutrons that create a chain reaction if other fissionable material is present.  When a neutron strikes an atom of uranium, the uranium splits in to two lighter atoms and releases heat simultaneously. Fission of heavy elements is an exothermic reaction which can release large amounts of energy both as electromagnetic radiation and as kinetic energy of the fragments. This release of energy is seen as an explosion if the reaction is not controlled. It is possible to control the chain of nuclear reactions taking place and this is called sustained nuclear reaction. This idea helped in the making of nuclear powered generation of electricity. The uncontrolled release of nuclear energy where the reaction occurs in a fraction of a second led to the construction of nuclear bombs ^[1].

2.2           Nuclear fusion

Nuclear fusion is the combining of one or more atoms usually isotopes of hydrogen, which are deuterium and tritium. Atoms naturally repel each other so fusion is easiest with these lightest atoms. To force the atoms together it takes extreme pressure and temperature, this can be produced by a fission reaction. Unlike nuclear fission, it is still not possible to create nuclear fusion reactors. This is because of the drastic conditions required for nuclear fusion and also, it is not possible to control the nuclear fusion reaction.

In both nuclear fission and fusion reactions the total mass of reactants is slightly greater than total mass of products. The difference in the mass comes out as energy according to Einstein’s equation E=mc². Even for small difference in mass, energy released is enormous. Nuclear fusion produced more energy than nuclear fission and does not produce harmful radiations and hence research is still underway to make nuclear fusion reactors ^[1].

2.3 Nuclear chain reaction

A chain reaction refers to a process in which neutrons released in fission produce an additional fission in at least one further nucleus. This nucleus in turn produces neutrons, and the process repeats. If the process is controlled it is used for nuclear power or if uncontrolled it is used for nuclear weapons.

U235+ n → fission + 2 or 3 n + 200 MeV

If each neutron releases two more neutrons, then the number of fissions doubles each generation. In that case, in 10 generations there are 1,024 fissions ^[1].

Chapter 3

RADIATION

Radiation is the result of an unstable atom decaying to reach a stable state. Half-life is the average amount of time it takes for a sample of a particular element to decay half way. There are currently 37 radioactive elements in the periodic table—26 of them are manmade ^[2]. 

There are several different kinds of radiation: alpha radiation, beta radiation, gamma rays, and neutron emission. Alpha radiation is the release of two protons and two neutrons, and normally occurs in fission of heavier elements. Alpha particles are heavy and cannot penetrate human skin, but are hazardous if ingested. Beta radiation is when a neutron is changed to a proton or vice versa.  Beta particles can penetrate the skin, but not light metals. Gamma ray is a type of electromagnetic radiation which is left over after alpha and beta are released and include X-rays, light, radio waves, and microwaves ^[3].  

Radiation is sometimes called ionizing radiation because ions are created with the passage of the alpha, beta, and gamma rays. The effect of radiation is on a cellular level—changing its functionality (causing cancer or inherited birth defects) or killing it.  Depending on the information source, radiation doses are measured in rems or sievert, in any case 100 rem = one sievert.  An exposure of 100 Sv will cause death within days, 10-50 Sv will cause death from gastrointestinal failure in one to two weeks, and with an exposure of 3-5 Sv will cause red bone marrow damage half of the time.  Severe affects consist of burns, vomiting, hemorrhage, blood changes, hair loss, increased susceptibility to infection, and death.  With lower levels of exposure symptoms are cancer (namely thyroid, leukemia, breast, and skin cancers), but also include eye cataracts.  The radiation can also affect DNA causing mutations that change individuals’ genes and can be passed on to future generations.  The current occupational dose recommended by the International Commission for Radiological Protection is 50 mSv per year.  The average radiation dose per year for non-nuclear workers is about one mSv ^[4].

Chapter 4

URANIUM AND ITS EXTRACTION

Nuclear fuel is any material that can be used to derive nuclear energy. The most common type of nuclear fuel is fissile elements that can be made to undergo nuclear fission chain reactions in a nuclear reactor. The most common nuclear fuels are 235U and 239Pu.

4.1 Uranium

Uranium ore is usually located aerially; core samples are then drilled and analyzed by geologists. The uranium ore is extracted by means of drilling and blasting. Mines can be in either open pits or underground. Uranium concentrations are a small percentage of the rock that is mined, so tons of tailing wastes are generated by the mining process.  

Uranium is the most widely used fuel for nuclear reactors. Australia has 30% of the world’s uranium below its topsoil, and it is all for export. Canada (mostly Saskatchewan) is the next largest source which has 20% of the world’s supply ^[4].

4.2 Uranium mining

Uranium can be obtained from the following three methods

1.      Underground mining

2.      Open pit mining

3.      In situ mining

Uranium is usually mined similarly to other heavy metals by underground or in open pits—but other methods can also be used.  After the uranium is mined, it is milled near the excavation site using leaching processes.

The first two methods of mining are similar and done as explained below. The ore is first crushed into smaller bits and then sent through a ball mill where it is crushed into a fine powder. The fine ore is mixed with water, thickened, and then put into leaching tanks where 90% of the uranium ore is leached out with sulfuric acid.  Next the uranium ore is separated from the depleted ore in a multistage washing system.  The depleted ore is then neutralized with lime and put into a tailings repository. 

Meanwhile, the uranium solution is filtered, and then goes through a solvent extraction process to purify the uranium solution. After purification, uranium is put into precipitation tanks, the result is a product commonly called yellowcake.

In the final processes the yellow cake is heated to 800˚C which makes a dark green powder which is 98% U₃O₈.

Another method of uranium mining is in-situ leaching. This method is used because there are reduced hazards to the employees of the mines, it is less expensive, and there are no large tailings deposits.  However, there are also several significant disadvantages including ground water contamination. Hence the underground mining and open pit mining are widely used instead of in situ mining. The figure below shows in situ mining of uranium ^[5].

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4.3           Uranium resources in India

India's uranium resources are modest, with 73,000 tonnes as reasonably assured resources (RAR) and 33,000 tonnes as inferred  resources in situ (to $130/kgU) at January 2009.  The DAE in May 2011 claimed 139,800 tU*.  Accordingly, from 2009 India is expecting to import an increasing proportion of its uranium fuel needs.
 

Exploration is carried out by the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD). Mining and processing of uranium is carried out by Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL), also a subsidiary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), at Jaduguda and Bhatin (since 1967), Narwapahar (since 1995) and Turamdih (since 2002) - all in Jharkhand near Calcutta ^[1].

Chapter 5

NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE

The nuclear fuel cycle has the following parts

1.      Fuel mining and milling

2.      Conversion of uranium to UF₆

3.      Enrichment

4.      Fuel fabrication

The fuel mining and milling has already been explained in chapter 3. Further steps are explained below.

5.1 Conversion

In order to enrich uranium, it must be in the gas form of UF6. This is called conversion. First the yellow cake is converted to uranium dioxide through a heating process (this step was also mentioned in the mining process).  Then anhydrous hydrofluoric acid is used to make UF4.  Next the UF4 is mixed with fluorine gas to make uranium hexafluoride.  This liquid is stored in steel drums and crystallized.

5.2 Enrichment

Uranium enrichment increases the amount of U235 in comparison to U238.  Domestic power plants use a mixture that is 3-5% U235, while “highly enriched uranium” is generally used for weapons, some research facilities, and naval reactors.  Domestic reactors usually require fuel in the form of uranium dioxide and weapons use the enriched mix in the form of a metal.  The conversion and enrichment process is very dangerous because not only is the uranium hexafluoride radioactive, it is also chemically toxic.  In addition, if the uranium hexafluoride comes in contact with moisture it will release another very toxic chemical called hydrofluoric acid. Depleted uranium is the waste that is generated from the enrichment process. 

5.3 Fuel fabrication

After being enriched, the UF6 is taken to a fuel fabrication facility that presses the powder into small pellets.  The pellets are put into long tubes.  These tubes are called fuel rods.  A fuel assembly is a cluster of these sealed rods.  Fuel assemblies go in the core of the nuclear reactor.  It takes approximately 25 tonnes of fuel to power one 1000 MWe reactor per year.  The picture on the right is a fuel assembly. 

5.4 Transportation

Radioactive materials are transported from the milling location to the conversion location, then from the conversion location to the enrichment location, then from the enrichment location to the to the fuel fabrication facility, and finally to the power plant. These materials are transported in special containers by specialized transport companies. People involved in the transport process are trained to respond to emergencies. In the US, Asia, and Western Europe transport is mainly by truck, and in Russia mainly by train ^[6]. 

Chapter 6

NUCLEAR REACTOR

A nuclear reactor is a device in which nuclear chain reactions are initiated, controlled, and sustained at a steady rate, as opposed to a nuclear bomb, in which the chain reaction occurs in a fraction of a second and is uncontrolled causing an explosion ^[1].

6.1 Nuclear reactor design

6.1.1 Control rods

Control rods made of a material that absorbs neutrons are inserted into the bundle using a mechanism that can rise or lower the control rods. The control rods essentially contain neutron absorbers like, boron, cadmium or indium.

6.1.2 Steam generators

Steam generators are heat exchangers used to convert water into steam from heat produced inside a nuclear reactor core. Either ordinary water or heavy water is used as the coolant.

6.1.3 Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into useful mechanical. Various high-performance alloys and super alloys have been used for steam generator tubing.

6.1.4 Coolant pump

The coolant pump pressurizes the coolant to pressures of the order of 155bar. The pressure of the coolant loop is maintained almost constant with the help of the pump and a pressurizer unit.

6.1.5 Feed pump

Steam coming out of the turbine, flows through the condenser for condensation and recirculated for the next cycle of operation. The feed pump circulates the condensed water in the working fluid loop.

6.1.6 Condenser

Condenser is a device or unit which is used to condense vapor into liquid. The objectives of the condenser are to reduce the turbine exhaust pressure, to increase the efficiency and to recover high quality feed water in the form of condensate &feedback it to the steam generator without any further treatment.

6.1.7 Cooling tower

Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Water circulating through the condenser is taken to the cooling tower for cooling and reuse ^[5].

6.2 Types of nuclear reactors:

1        PRW: Pressurized Water Reactor which does not boil the coolant water, but uses the pressure of the water to heat a secondary source of water that generates electricity. It is the most popular type of reactor (accounts for 65% of reactors worldwide).  It is considered a light water reactor.

2        BRW: Boiling Water Reactor which boils water (coolant) that makes steam to turn turbines. It is conducive to internal contamination.  It is also considered a light water reactor.

3        RBMK: (Reaktor Bolshoy Moshchnosti Kanalniy, "High Power Channel-type Reactor") Graphite-moderated pressure tube boiling-water reactor similar to BWR but uses graphite and oxygen. It is complex and difficult to examine. 

4        CANDU: Canadian Deuterium Uranium. It doesn’t use enriched fuel. It has lots of tubes and internal contamination issues.

5        Magnox: Gas cooled reactor. It is cooled with carbon dioxide or helium and uses natural uranium.

6        AGR: Advanced Gas-cooled reactor; also cooled with carbon dioxide or helium. It uses enriched uranium.

7        Fast Breeder: High temperature gas reactor. It uses U235, U238, and Plutonium 239 as fuel. It is highly dangerous because it uses liquid sodium in the primary circuit and in inflammable with air and explosive with water. 

The most commonly used reactor in India is the pressurized water reactor. The reactor design is explained in detail below.

6.3 Pressurized water reactor (PWR)

Pressurized water reactors (PWRs) constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor (LWR), the other types being boiling water reactors (BWRs) and supercritical water reactors (SCWRs). In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) is pumped under high pressure to the reactor core where it is heated by the energy generated by the fission of atoms. The heated water then flows to a steam generator where it transfers its thermal energy to a secondary system where steam is generated and flows to turbines which, in turn, spins an electric generator. In contrast to a boiling water reactor, pressure in the primary coolant loop prevents the water from boiling within the reactor. All LWRs use ordinary light water as both coolant and neutron moderator.

PWRs were originally designed to serve as nuclear propulsion for nuclear submarines and were used in the original design of the second commercial power plant at Shipping port Atomic Power Station.

Chapter 7

NUCLEAR WASTE DISPOSAL

There are four different kinds of waste:

1.      High-level (spent fuel and plutonium waste),

2.      Transuranic (contaminated tools and clothes),

3.      Low and mixed low-level (hazardous waste from hospitals), and

4.      Uranium mill tailings.

Many facilities store their own waste on site, but they are quickly running out of space.  Other sites are in the process of being cleaned. Part of the problem is the half-life.  Half-life is how long it takes for an unstable element to decay half way. Uranium 238 takes 4.5 billion years. Typically, after ten “half-lives” the element is considered safe. Nuclear waste lacks permanent safe storage. Temporary storage is being proposed for the Skull Valley Goshute Indian reservation, and permanent storage may be in Yucca Mountain. Meanwhile, waste and tailings are piling up. Overall, nuclear energy disproportionately affects rural communities and the communities near nuclear facilities. Uranium mining and bombing are particularly detrimental to the environment. Further, the effects of radiation (cancer, illness, and death) are significant.

Disposal of nuclear waste is often said to be the Achilles' heel of the industry. Presently, waste is mainly stored at individual reactor sites and there are over 430 locations around the world where radioactive material continues to accumulate. Experts agree that centralized underground repositories which are well-managed, guarded, and monitored, would be a vast improvement. There is an "international consensus on the advisability of storing nuclear waste in deep underground repositories”, but no country in the world has yet opened such a site ^[9].

Chapter 8

IMPACTS

Reactors pose a serious threat radiation threat, especially to the employees and surrounding communities.            Nuclear weapons devastate large areas of land with a forceful blast and intense heat. The land around the blast zones are contaminated with radioactive debris. The mushroom clouds break up slowly, and travel with weather patterns, which distributes across the globe. Many of the tests focus in rural, mainly uninhabited areas, and as a result disproportionately affect indigenous and other peoples living in these rural areas. Depleted uranium is what’s left over from the enrichment process and is radioactive.  Uranium is a heavy metal that can easily penetrate amour. Depleted uranium is currently being used in Iraq, and was used in Kosovo, the Gulf War, and Bosnia. When depleted uranium burns, radioactive particles are released into the air.  Depleted uranium is also a toxic hazard.

Radioactive materials are transported from the milling location to the conversion location, then from the conversion location to the enrichment location, then from the enrichment location to the to the fuel fabrication facility, and finally to the power plant. These materials are transported in special containers by specialized transport companies. People involved in the transport process are trained to respond to emergencies ^[7].

The following agencies help to safeguard these nuclear wastes.

8.1 Monitoring agencies

IAEA	International Atomic Energy Agency
NPT	NPT    Nonproliferation treaty
CNS	Council for Nuclear Safety
AERB	Atomic Energy Regulatory Board
NSRA	Nuclear Safety Regulatory Authority
INES	International Nuclear Event Scale

There is an excellent solution to disposing of our nuclear wastes - to bury them deep underground where they will be harmless. In contrast, there is no solution to handling the billions of tons of carbon dioxide which coal and natural gas plants release yearly, except to discharge them into the atmosphere.

Chapter 9

INDIAN SCENARIO

India is large densely populated country. It is a developing country; needs more power. Percapita consumption is700kWh per year; the world average is 2400kWh, US 14000kWh, Sweden15400kWh, China 1380kWh, Japan 7800kWh and UK 6230kWh. The percapita consumption is increasing by6%. By 2020 it will be 1500kWh & 6000kWh by 2050.

India’s annual power production is 110GWe. The share of nuclear energy is 3.7GWe. The transmission and distribution loses is 34% costing 300 billion rupees annually. Energy resources like oil, coal and natural gas are limited and non-renewable. Hence nuclear power plants are gaining importance ^[1].

 

9.2 Nuclear accidents in India:

·         April 2011: Fire alarms blare in the control room of the Kaiga Generating Station in Karnataka. Comments by officials alternately say there was no fire, that there was only smoke and no fire, and that the fire was not in a sensitive area.  Details from the AERB are awaited.

·         November 2009: Fifty-five employees consume radioactive material after tritiated water finds its way into the drinking water cooler in Kaiga Generating Station. The NPCIL attributes the incident to “an insider’s mischief”.

·         April 2003: Six tonnes leak of heavy water at reactor II of the Narora Atomic  Power Station (NAPS) in Uttar Pradesh, indicating safety measures have not been improved from the leak at the same reactor three years previously.

·         January 2003: Failure of a valve in the Kalpakkam Atomic Reprocessing Plant in Tamil Nadu results in the release of high-level waste, exposing six workers to high doses of radiation. The leaking area of the plant had no radiation monitors or mechanisms to detect valve failure, which may have prevented the employees’ exposure.

·         May 2002: Tritiated water leaks from a downgraded heavy water storage tank at the tank farm of Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) 1&2 into a common dyke area. An estimated 22.2 Curies of radioactivity is released into the environment.

·         November 2001: A leak of 1.4 tonnes of heavy water at the NAPS I reactor, resulting in one worker receiving an internal radiation dose of 18.49 mSv ^[9].

9.3 Breeder reactor:

A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor capable of generating more fissile material than it consumes because its neutron economy is high enough to breed fissile from fertile material like uranium-238 or thorium-232. Breeders were at first considered superior because of their superior fuel economy compared to light water reactors. Interest in breeders reduced after the 1960s as more uranium reserves were found and new methods of uranium enrichment reduced fuel costs.

Breeder reactors could in principle extract almost all of the energy contained in uranium or thorium, decreasing fuel requirements by nearly two orders of magnitude compared to traditional once-through light water reactors, which extract less than 1% of the energy. This could greatly damp concern about fuel supply or energy used in mining. In fact, with seawater uranium extraction, there is enough fuel for breeder reactors to satisfy our energy needs for as long as the current relationship between the sun and Earth persists, about 5 billion years (thus making nuclear energy as sustainable in fuel availability terms as solar or wind renewable energy).

Nuclear waste became a greater concern by the 1990s. Breeding fuel cycles became interesting again because they can reduce actinide wastes, particularly plutonium and minor actinides.^[3] After the spent nuclear fuel is removed from a light water reactor, after 1000 to 100,000 years, these transuranics would make most of the radioactivity. Eliminating them eliminates much of the long-term radio toxicity of spent nuclear fuel.

In principle, breeder fuel cycles can recycle and consume all actinides^[4], leaving only fission products. So, after several hundred years, the waste's radioactivity drops to the low level of the long-lived fission products. If the fuel reprocessing process used for the fuel cycle leaves actinides in its final waste stream, this advantage is reduced.

There are two main types of breeding cycles that reduce wastes' radio toxicity from actinides:

• The fast breeder reactor's fast neutrons can fission even actinides with even neutron numbers. Even numbered actinides usually lack the low-speed "thermal neutron" resonances of fissile fuels used in LWRs.
• The thorium fuel cycle simply produces lower levels of heavy actinides. The fuel starts with few isotopic impurities (i.e. there's nothing like U238 in the reactor), and the reactor gets two chances to fission the fuel: First as U233, and as it absorbs neutrons, again as U235.

A reactor, whose main purpose is to destroy actinides, rather than increasing fissile fuel stocks, is sometimes known as a burner reactor. Both breeding and burning depend on good neutron economy, and many designs can do either. Breeding designs surround the core by a breeding blanket of fertile material. Waste burners surround the core with non-fertile wastes to be destroyed. Some designs add neutron reflectors or absorbers.

Today's LWRs do breed some plutonium. They do not make enough to replace the uranium-235 consumed. Only about 1/3 of fissions over a fuel element's life cycle are from bred plutonium. However, LWRs are not able to consume all the plutonium and minor actinides they produce. Non fissile isotopes of plutonium build up. Even with reprocessing, reactor-grade plutonium can be recycled only once in LWRs as mixed oxide fuel. This reduces long term waste radioactivity somewhat, but not as much as purpose-designed breeding cycles ^[1].

9.4 Thorium fuel cycle development in India

The long-term goal of India's nuclear program has been to develop an advanced heavy-water thorium cycle. The first stage of this employs the PHWRs fuelled by natural uranium, and light water reactors, to produce plutonium.

Stage 2 uses fast neutron reactors burning the plutonium to breed U-233 from thorium. The blanket around the core will have uranium as well as thorium, so that further plutonium (ideally high-fissile Pu) is produced as well as the U-233.

Then in stage 3, Advanced Heavy Water Reactors (AHWRs) burn the U-233 from stage 2 and this plutonium with thorium, getting about two thirds of their power from the thorium ^[5].

Chapter 10

NUCLEAR ISSUES: PROS AND CONS

India is close to becoming one of the developed countries and its electricity demand will increase rapidly in the coming few years. Nuclear powers being more economical, more and more nuclear plants are being built across the country to meet this demand.

• The safety record of nuclear power is outstanding. Radiation from nuclear plants has not caused any known deaths among the public worldwide.
• Less radiation is given off by a nuclear plant than a coal plant. Nuclear power plants emit no carbon dioxide (which contributes to global warming) or sulfur and nitrogen oxides (which cause acid rain).
• There is an excellent solution to disposing of our nuclear wastes - to bury them deep underground where they will be harmless. In contrast, there is no solution to handling the billions of tons of carbon dioxide which coal and natural gas plants release yearly, except to discharge them into the atmosphere.
• Nuclear power plants save thousands of lives yearly. This is because nuclear plants replace many coal plants, which emit tiny particulates into the atmosphere. These particulates are believed to cause the premature death of thousands of people each year. Nuclear plants emit no particulates.

REFERENCES

1.      www.wikipedia.org

2.      Kruschke, Earl Roger and Byron M. Jackson. “Nuclear Energy Policy: A Reference Handbook”. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABCCLIO, 1990.

3.      Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (November 2000). RWMAC's Advice to Ministers on the Radioactive Waste Implications of Reprocessing, Annex 4: Dry storage and disposal of Magnox spent fuel(Report). Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Archived from the original on 2008-07-27.

4.      James W. Morgan, Exelon Nuclear (15 November 2007). "Upgrade your BWR recirculation pumps with adjustable-speed drives". Power: Business and Technology for the Global Generation Industry. http://www.powermag.com/nuclear/Upgrade-your-BWR-recirc-pumps-with-adjustable-speed-drives_369.html. Retrieved 20 March 2011.

5.      Brown, Paul (21 March 2003). "First nuclear power plant to close". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,918724,00.html. Retrieved 12 May 2010.

6.      "Fuel Assembly". Insc.anl.gov. http://www.insc.anl.gov/rbmk/reactor/assembly.html.

7.      Hinds, David; Maslak, Chris (January 2006). "Next-generation nuclear energy: The ESBWR". Nuclear News (La Grange Park, Illinois, United States of America: p-p 35–40. ISSN 0029-5574.

8.      http://www.ans.org/pubs/magazines/nn/docs/2006-1-3.pdf.

9.      http://www.greenpeace.org/india/en/What-We-Do/Nuclear-Unsafe/Safety/Nuclear-accidents/Nuclear-accidents-in-India/Accidents-at-nuclear-power-plants/