Alongside renewables, nuclear power is often promoted as a viable energy option for major expansion in the future. However, it faces significant problems. Taking a critical approach towards the ongoing viability of nuclear energy solutions, this research and reference text contextualises the vices and virtues of fusion and fission against the rapidly expanding area of renewables and the challenge of climate change, in order to assess the future viability of nuclear power. This thoroughly updated second edition contains extensive new content on the prospects of nuclear power and progress made in the 2020s. It is an invaluable resource for researchers and postgraduate students in areas of nuclear power and nuclear energy, as well as for general readers interested in the nuclear debate.
By:
Professor David Elliott (The Open University UK)
Imprint: Institute of Physics Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: 2nd edition
Dimensions:
Height: 254mm,
Width: 178mm,
Spine: 10mm
Weight: 443g
ISBN: 9780750351508
ISBN 10: 0750351500
Series: IOP ebooks
Pages: 126
Publication Date: 19 May 2022
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Introduction: the nuclear vision1.1 Nuclear energy: uranium in a bucket The basics of nuclear power1.2 Atoms for peace Civil nuclear from weapons technology1.3 The rise and fall of nuclear How it developed and then stalled1.4 Onto Generation IV? New options: revisiting the past2. Nuclear innovation: the early days2.1 Early US experiments TIGA, US Army, Navy and Air Force tests2.2 Thorium reactors and fast breeders AEC, ORNL and Idaho tests2.3 Generation IV design parameters and constraints Summary3. New brooms in the 2000s3.1 Back to Breeders and thorium Safety and security issues3.2 Small is beautiful: SMRs Issues of scale and cost3.3 New reactor choices and prospects Slow or fast neutrons?4. Progress in the 2020s4.1 SMRs Small Modular Reactors: the state of play4.2 ANT Advanced Nuclear Technology: what next?4.3 Fusion The ultimate nuclear option: but when?5. Nuclear power revisited5.1 A review of the prospects for new nuclear Economics, EROEIs5.2 Carbon intensity, materials and land use issues Is nuclear better?5.3 Nuclear and renewables Grid balancing issues, complementarity5.4 What is the long-term future for nuclear? Strategic issues6. Conclusions: the way ahead Dead end or new hope?Afterword: insider views Pros and consAppendix: Nuclear and Renewables compared
David Elliott BSc, PhD, is Emeritus Professor of Technology Policy at the Open University. Prof. Elliott has written extensively on sustainable energy policy, including several books and a blog for Physics World. He is the editor of the long-established journal Renew, and the IOP Book Series in Renewable and Sustainable Power.
