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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.
Maria-Konstantina Laina, M. Hadid Subki
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 61 | Number 1 | January 2012 | Pages 178-185
Fission | Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Conference on Emerging Nuclear Energy Systems | doi.org/10.13182/FST12-A13417
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
There is a growing interest in the development and deployment plan of Small and Medium Sized Reactors (SMRs) which can be seen through the numerous concepts that are under design certification and the several units that are under construction, the expanding of potential markets in developing countries, and the increasing demands from the Member States on the supports and role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The paper summarizes the status of SMRs designs that are under development globally with the aim to give a broad perspective. It presents generic technical issues and prospect of SMRs, the advantages, challenges and parameters that potential markets take into consideration with regard to the introduction of the first nuclear power plant. Some of the issues to be addressed are economics, licensability, operational performance, waste management, safety and security, proliferation resistance and financing scheme. In the post-Fukushima era, the incorporation of the preliminary lessons learned from the accident into the SMR designs is a priority. In the end, the IAEA program on the common issues and technology of SMRs are highlighted with the purpose to facilitate countries with interest in SMRs.