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NN Asks: What hurdles stand in the way of nuclear power’s global expansion?
Jake Jurewicz
Nuclear technology is mature. It provides firm power at scale with minimal externalities and has done so for decades. The core problem isn’t about the technology—it is how the plants are built. Nuclear construction has a well-documented history of cost and schedule overruns. Previous nuclear plants often spent more than twice what was first budgeted, making nuclear among the power technologies with the largest average cost overruns worldwide.
Recent projects illustrate how severe the problem can be. In South Carolina, the V.C. Summer nuclear expansion saw projected costs rise from roughly $10 billion to more than $25 billion before the project was abandoned in 2017, by which time more than $9 billion had already been spent and customers were stuck paying for a site they have yet to benefit from.
S. Benck, I. Slypen, J.-P. Meulders, V. Corcalciuc
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 141 | Number 1 | May 2002 | Pages 55-65
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/NSE02-A2266
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Double-differential cross sections for the production of protons, deuterons, tritons, and alpha particles from a silicon target were determined using fast incident neutrons. The inclusive charged particle emission spectra were measured at six laboratory angles, 20, 40, 60, 70, 110, and 140 deg, over the neutron energy range of 25 to 65 MeV. Representative results are shown for the cross-section differentials in energy and angle as well as for angle-integrated cross sections. The spectra are compared to existing data and with predictions from nuclear model calculations. Since the data for 62.7-MeV incident neutrons are the most complete, we emphasized these results; from the experimental energy-differential cross sections, the total charged particle production cross sections are determined as well as the partial and total kerma coefficients for silicon. Moreover, a comparison is done with our data on aluminum, for which exists a consistent set of measured cross sections in the same neutron energy region.