Since the partial reactor meltdown in 1979 at Three Mile Island and 1986 accident at Chernobyl, the idea of conventional nuclear power had been held back for about two decades. Now, the United States of America, United Kingdom, Switzerland, South Korea, South Africa, Japan, France, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, European Union, China and Russia, a total of 13 countries are working together as the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) to lay the groundwork for the Generation IV nuclear reactor which is said to be a nuclear energy system that offers advantages in the areas of economies, safety and reliability, sustainability and could be deployed commercially by 2030. Due to the increasing cost of fossil fuels, nuclear power has been considered as the best alternative fuel. But, what most people are concerned of is whether nuclear power is safe to be used.
Due to the accidents mentioned earlier, safety features is the main concern of scientists when developing the Generation IV nuclear reactor. Even though these reactors operate at high temperatures, heat produced will be transferred to other production plant and an inert coolant will be used to cool the reactor down. For example, heat produced by the very high temperature reactor (VHTR) is transferred to hydrogen production plant and helium gas is used as coolant. Another issue that rises from the usage of nuclear power is the nuclear waste. Generation IV nuclear reactor is designed to produce nuclear waste that lasts decade instead of millennia. Furthermore, it has the ability to consume existing nuclear waste in the production of electricity. With these safety features, I believed that the Generation IV nuclear power definitely has the potential to be the fuel of the future.
Written By:
Sara Liew Kar Mun
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I agree with Sara that safety features is the main concern of scientists when developing the Generation IV nuclear reactor.Safety factor is heavily considered because if accident occurs at nuclear reactor sites, it can result in massive releases of radioactivity. So, scientists have made a good job to introduce those nuclear reactors by accounting the possibility of occurrence of accidents. For example, the VHTR has passive heat removal systems, low power density and easily cool-able geometry, which are vital to prevent reactor from over-heating. Helium is used in the heat removal system as a coolant because it is an inert gas and it will not react chemically with any other material. The VHTR will also be equipped with graphite-moderated core which has tiny pellets of uranium fuel encased in it and they will absorb heat without failing and will not release radioactive elements as its waste. This is important because if radioactive waste is produced, extra facility has to be built to eliminate these wastes and cost of the nuclear reactor will eventually become even higher.
ReplyDeleteIn conclusion, VHTR is a very promising energy system to provide us electricity and hydrogen cogeneration. Current stage for VHTR development is just at the very beginning point. There are enormous items left to do in order for this concept to success in future. Therefore, more research and development should be carried out so that in future this concept can become the energy supply for everyone in this earth.
Written by,
Chin Kah Fai