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Going Nuclear: Notes from the officially unofficial book tour
I work in the analytical labs at one of Europe’s oldest and largest nuclear sites: Sellafield, in northwestern England. I spend my days at the fume hood front, pipette in one hand and radiation probe in the other (and dosimeter pinned to my chest, of course). Outside the lab, I have a second job: I moonlight as a writer and public speaker. My new popular science book—Going Nuclear: How the Atom Will Save the World—came out last summer, and it feels like my life has been running at full power ever since.
L. El-Guebaly, B. Cipiti, P. H. Wilson, P. Phruksarojanakun, R. Grady, I. Sviatoslavsky
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 52 | Number 3 | October 2007 | Pages 739-743
Technical Paper | The Technology of Fusion Energy - Nonelectric Applications | doi.org/10.13182/FST07-A1578
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The initiation of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership includes nuclear-based transmutation devices to recycle the spent fuel. Fusion can offer an alternative to the use of fast reactors for the transmutation of actinides. At a modest fusion power of 20 MW, a Z-Pinch driven sub-critical blanket can burn actinides and produce power. Several engineering issues have been examined: the effect of the sub-critical blanket and its internal fission neutrons on tritium breeding, radiation damage to structure, energy deposition and extraction, and chamber activation. Our initial assessment indicates the Z-Pinch could be an attractive option for burning actinides, but special attention should be paid to the challenging engineering issues.