Lessons Learned after the Japanese Nuclear Incident

Tapping energy from the nuclear energy resources is, so far, the best way to tap energy among the non-renewable energy resources, but in the event of natural disasters like the one at Japan, things can go wrong and cause damage of a very large degree.

In case of damages to thermal power stations, the damage may happen just to the building, which can be constructed again in a matter of months, but when a nuclear reactor is damaged and the radiation leaks out of the reactor, a few kilometers of land in the surrounding area can become so highly contaminated with radiation that the entire region may be rendered useless for decades to come.

After this incident, various countries that have and are building nuclear power reactors have been exposed to the fact that when it comes to mother nature, anything can happen. Therefore these countries have started to spend more on research and development on making the nuclear reactors safer when disasters like above occur.

Also there is a rise in switching over to renewable energy resources that cause no pollution and in the wake of disasters, only the property is damaged.

 

The Top 10 Countries that use Nuclear Energy Power Plants

In Terms of Megawatts of Energy

 

1) United States of America

2) France

3) Japan

4) Russia

5) Germany

6) South Korea

7) Ukraine

8) Canada

9) United Kingdom

10) Sweden

The Top 10 Countries that Use Nuclear Energy Power Plants

In Terms of Percentage of Electricity Generated from Nuclear Energy

 

1) France – 76.2%

2) Slovakia – 56.4%

3) Belgium – 53.8%

4) Ukraine – 47.4%

5) Armenia – 43.5%

6) Sweden – 42%

7) Slovenia and Croatia share the same place – 41.7%

8) Switzerland – 39.2%

9) Hungary – 37.2%

10) South Korea – 35.6%

The Future of Nuclear Energy

The future of generation energy from nuclear energy looks strong as countries like China, Russia, South Korea, and India have 24, 10, 6 and 4 nuclear power plants under construction. Many more countries are planning to build one and many have already built and are undergoing final checks before the nuclear energy power plants are up and running. Until there is enormous progress in generating power from renewable energy resources like solar power, wind power, tidal energy, etc., power generation from nuclear energy will be more popular than power generation using other conventional methods.

 

Radioactive Wastes Produced by a Nuclear Power Plant

As the Pressurised Water Reactor is the most popular nuclear reactor we shall examine the radioactive wastes produced by this reactor, which fall into three distinct categories.

· Low Level Waste.

· Intermediate Level Waste

· High Level Wastes

Low Level Waste

These wastes include some types of process equipment, protective clothing such as boiler suits and gloves along with rubble from decommissioned buildings. It is not considered as being dangerous to health.

Intermediate Level Waste

This waste is more radioactive than the low level waste and is made up from metal or alloy cladding fitted around fuel rods sludges from various processes, and resins used in coating components.

High Level Waste

These are prevalent in spent fuel and are highly contagious. Fuel rods are replaced periodically and the used ones are highly contagious containing uranium, plutonium along with minor actinides such as curium and neptunium isotopes.

Disposal and Storage of Low and Intermediate Radioactive Waste

Low Level Waste Disposal (LLW)

Low level radioactive waste can be disposed of by relatively shallow burying in hazardous landfill sites. Some countries which produce low level waste only permit this type of disposal after the waste has been stored at the nuclear plant for a specified period.

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