Sorry it’s been so long since I last posted, but since I got on this topic I’ve had to “run the numbers” a fair number of times, and each time that I do that, I remember that we have computers that are a lot better at that sort of thing than I am, so after […]
OK, so in the last post we talked about the feed-to-product ratio and how it depended only on the levels of enrichment you chose for the product and the tails. Tonight we’ll begin to get into separative work. When I first heard of separative work, I thought it was a very abstract and obscure concept. […]
Okay, before we get into the techniques of enrichment, let’s spend a little time with the fun part—the numbers! How much does it take and how much does it cost? Here’s where I’ve really enjoyed learning more lately. The basic equations that describe enrichment aren’t that hard to derive. Even I can do it! So […]
“Enrichment” or more particularly “uranium enrichment” is probably one of those phrases that the average person hears on television or reads on the Internet and has only the vaguest concept of what it means. They likely think “it’s bad” and “it has something to do with uranium, which I think is bad, for some reason”. […]
Lately I’ve been looking a lot at spent nuclear fuel, particularly what’s in it and what’s radioactive after a while. I’ve seen graphs of fission product distributions before, but they’re always of fission products by atomic mass, and they’re usually showing the distribution right after the fission event. I wanted to know what was in […]
This is hilarious and heart-breaking at the same time:
In nuclear reactor design, we describe the cross-section of different nuclides in a unit called a “barn”. It has units of area. So what does that mean? Well, take a look at this picture. This shows five important nuclides plotted against each other, with their size determined by their “barns”. You can see that one […]
Reprinted with the author’s permission and my admiration and gratitude for a job well done! 12 May 2010 Physicians for Social Responsibility 1875 Connecticut Ave, NW, Suite 1012 Washington, DC, 20009 [email protected] Nuclear Information and Resource Service 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 340, Takoma Park, MD 20912 [email protected] Dear Sirs/Madams: Taking encouragement from your (PSR’s) website’s […]
I had an idea today–since U-233 represents something like a “catalyst” for the prolonged consumption of thorium in a LFTR, and since a LFTR can be built that has a unity conversion ratio (makes as much U-233 as it consumes), then perhaps a nation that developed a large supply of U-233 could “rent” it to […]
Since giving my talk at TEAC2 several weeks ago on my proposed plan for our nuclear future, I’ve been spending a lot more time thinking about this issue, the plan, and how to describe what I would propose to do. Sometimes it helps me to sort out thoughts by drawing a picture, but in this […]