World Energy Use by Source

Transcription

1 US Electricity Production By Source Coal Gas Nuclear Hydro Oil Other 53% 16% 21% 7% 2% 1% World Energy Use by Source

2 In The United States there are 110 commercial reactors in 32 states. Six states rely on nuclear power for more than 50 percent of their energy. Electricity Market in New York, Share of Electricity Output, by Fuel, for States with Nuclear Power Plants, 2004 to 2007 Year Coal Hydroelectri c Natural Gas Nuclear Other Source: EIA Survey 923, "Power Plant Operations Report" and Predecessor Forms.

3 Electricity Market in New York, Share of Electricity Output, by Fuel, for States with Nuclear Power Plants, 2004 to 2007 Year Coal Hydroelectric Natural Gas Nuclear Other Source: EIA Survey 923, "Power Plant Operations Report" and Predecessor Forms. Other includes wind, biomass, fuel oil, etc.

4 Worldwide, 434 reactors generate electricity in 33 countries.

5 Nuclear power expansion is limited by concerns about: a. plant safety and terrorism b. waste disposal

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9 The Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) Nuclear Regulatory Commission Graphic

10 The Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)

11 Nuclear Fusion Commercially viable fusion-powered systems are at least two decades away. In current experimental systems, the power used in containment of the reaction is greater than is produced.

12 Renewable energy - 8% of US energy in

13 Radioactive waste: What are the various forms of radioactive waste? How and when in the use cycle are these materials produced? What factors cause the disposal of radwaste to be so problematic? Discuss the Moab tailings case study. What issues remain to be resolved in this case. What rock types and geological conditions are critical for long-term radwaste disposal? Why is Yucca Mountain favored as a long-term radwaste repository? What are the major concerns about the Yucca Mountain site?

14 Radioactive wastes are produced in a number of forms in the use cycle.

15 Uranium has been mined in southern Utah since the beginning of the 20 th century. Many of the mines are located near Arches and Canyonlands NP.

16 Atlas Mines Tailing Pile near Colorado River, Moab, Utah

17 The site's two biggest environmental concerns are ammonia, a toxic pollutant, and radon, a cancer-causing substance given off by decaying radium. In a recent study, the federal government kept fish in cages within 1,000 feet downriver of the Moab site; they all died from ammonia poisoning. But scientists agree that, because the contamination gets diluted quickly, there isn't a problem farther downstream.

18 Current Issues Fourteen members of Congress criticize delays in cleanup of the Atlas uranium mill tailings pile The lawmakers told Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham in a March 11, 2004, letter that his agency is taking too long deciding how to remove the massive mound of polluted waste from the banks of the Colorado River near Moab. And they also criticized his agency's refusal to identify which of five cleanup options the Energy Department favors in a soon-to-be-released draft cleanup plan. (Salt Lake Tribune March 19, 2004) DOE considers underground disposal of Atlas Moab tailings in salt formations On the occasion of a presentation on February 10, 2004, to the Moab City Council, Don Metzler of the Department of Energy (DOE) presented a further alternative for relocation of the Atlas uranium mill tailings pile: "Metzler suggested that the pile be moved in a slurry through pipes along the Union Pacific (UP) railway (with UP consent) and piped toward the potash plant into the nearby paradox geological formation, which is primarily composed of salt. The slurry will then be injected into several cavities that would be drilled 3,000 to 4,000 feet below the riverbed and "several thousand feet" from the shore of the river. Metzler said that the cost for slurrying the waste is comparable to capping the pile, possibly less." (Moab Times Independent Feb. 13, 2004) DOE to keep decision on fate of Moab tailings to itself until October Federal agencies usually identify a "preferred alternative" when they release a draft of the environmental impact statement (EIS) required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), considered the premier law to ensure public involvement in environmental decision-making. With a draft expected in April 2004 on the Atlas project, the public normally could count on learning what the DOE sees as the best solution. Instead, the agency has opted to keep its preferences to itself until it releases its final EIS in October In effect, the public will have just 45 days to weigh in on DOE's five complex and high-priced solutions, which include options from capping the tailings in place on the banks of the Colorado to pumping it by pipeline to the White Mesa uranium recycling mill in nearby San Juan County. (Salt Lake Tribune Feb. 2, 2004)

19 Process wastes and spent fuel form the bulk of radioactive material that must be managed. Today, spent fuel rods are stored on-site at reactor facilities. In addition a number of temporary sites - e.g. West Valley, NY, Hancock, WA are hosting above ground waste storage tanks.

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21 Vitrification of solids is used to convert waste to a glass that is relatively inert. This method of waste reduction is used extensively in western Europe. Vitrified waste is then stored in secure underground facilities. However, even stable glasses will devitrify over time; contact with water will hasten this process and allow leaching of radioactive metals.

22 What rock types/geological regions? Tectonic stability Low permeability Underground workability Salt Granite Tuff Shale

23 The U.S. Department of Energy began studying Yucca Mountain, Nevada, in 1978 to determine whether it would be suitable for the nation's first long-term geologic repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Currently stored at 131 sites around the nation, these materials are a result of nuclear power generation and national defense programs. On July 23, 2002, President Bush signed House Joint Resolution 87, allowing the DOE to take the next step in establishing a safe repository in which to store our nation's nuclear waste. The Department of Energy is currently in the process of preparing an application to obtain the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to proceed with construction of the repository. Yucca Mountain is located in a remote desert on federally protected land within the secure boundaries of the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nevada. It is approximately 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.

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31 Why Yucca Mountain? Federal lands, low population density; dry climate, low water table (thick unsaturated zone), geologically stable area, welded tuff rock is mechanically sound but relatively easily excavated.

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33 Drilling (left) and trenching (below) to characterize subsurface materials.

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35 Calcite and silica veins: Relicts of formerly high water table? Hydrothermal activity? Soil-forming processes in vadose zone?

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38 Yucca Mountain Questions: Could climate change increase precipitation to levels that would raise the water table into the waste isolation zone? Is the probability of future earthquake or volcanic activity sufficiently low?