Nuclear Energy History Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The History of Nuclear Energy

• Nuclear energy encompasses classical physics/chemistry and modern physics.
• Investigations into nuclear physics have spanned over 100 years.
• 1887: Electron identified as a charged particle responsible for electricity.
• 1895: Roentgen discovered penetrating X-rays from a discharge tube.
• 1896: Becquerel discovered gamma rays emitted from uranium, demonstrating radioactivity.
• 1905: Einstein's famous formula E = mc².
• 1919: Rutherford discovered the nucleus of an atom is positive, containing most of the atom's mass, surrounded by electrons.
• 1930: Bothe and Becker bombarded beryllium with alpha particles, revealing neutrons (later confirmed by Chadwick in 1932).
• 1932: Development of particle accelerators (cyclotrons).
• 1934: Curie and Joliot reported artificial radioactivity.
• 1930s: Fermi conducted experiments with neutrons, discovering their affinity for various elements, leading to the creation of numerous radioisotopes.
• 1936: Breit and Wigner provided a theoretical explanation for slow neutron processes.
• Fermi measured the distribution of fast and thermal neutrons, explaining their behavior in terms of scattering, chemical binding, and thermal motion of target molecules.
• 1939: Hahn and Strassmann found barium as a product of neutron bombardment of uranium, leading to the crucial discovery of nuclear fission.
• Frisch and Meitner hypothesized that fission was responsible for the appearance of barium, signifying the energetic nature of fission fragments.
• Fermi proposed the possibility of a self-sustaining chain reaction.
• 1940: Significant advancements in nuclear physics research emerged.
• 1942 (December 2nd): First man-made self-sustaining chain reaction (Chicago Pile-1)
• Knowledge of chain reaction characteristics was derived including moderation, thermal/resonance capture, fission of U-235, fission fragment energy, neutron release, and transuranic element production.

Development of Nuclear Weapons

• The discovery of fission highlighted its explosive potential, significant during World War II starting in 1939.
• Military implications led to voluntary censorship of scientific publications in 1940.
• Studies revealed the fissile nature of plutonium discovered in 1941 .
• Leading scientists like Szilard, Wigner, Sachs, and Einstein contacted President Roosevelt in July 1939, outlining the possibility of an atomic bomb.
• A small $6000 grant was made for experimental chain reaction testing.
• By end of WWII, a total of $2 billion had been spent (a substantial sum).
• The Manhattan Project (code name) was initiated, a major effort involving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under General Leslie Groves.
• Questions about achieving chain reactions, producing Pu-239, the possibility of a nuclear explosion, the separation of uranium-235, were crucial to the project.
• These questions were addressed at numerous locations simultaneously.

Post-War & The Atomic Energy Act

• After WWII, Congress implemented the Atomic Energy Act (1946) and expanded it (1954) to manage and control the exploitation of nuclear energy for non-military purposes.
• Issues like military involvement, security of information, and scientist freedom were important considerations in initial policy discussion.
• The Act declared that nuclear energy development should improve well-being, increase living standards, support free enterprise, and promote global peace.
• The Act was structured to manage policies through private and federal R&D, controlling fissionable materials, and reporting to Congress.
• Distribution of radioactive by-product materials was addressed.
• The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was created, consisting of five commissioners and a general manager.

The IAEA

• In 1953, President Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech profoundly influenced nuclear energy's trajectory.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was established by the UN in 1957.
• The IAEA aimed to accelerate atomic energy usage to enhance global peace, health, and prosperity.
• Main functions: helping members develop nuclear applications, fostering research, and supplying nuclear materials/equipment.
• Safeguards: International verification and monitoring of nuclear materials and facilities for peaceful use

Reactor Research & Development

• The AEC oversaw U.S. nuclear programs (military and civilian), establishing national laboratories (Oak Ridge, Argonne, Los Alamos, Brookhaven) for continued nuclear research activities.
• A crucial objective was achieving practical commercial nuclear power.
• Oak Ridge initially looked into gas-cooled reactors then high-flux reactors using highly enriched uranium.
• The National Reactor Testing Station (Idaho) built the Materials Testing Reactor.
• Westinghouse adapted the submarine reactor as a commercial power plant in Shippingport (Pennsylvania) beginning operations in 1957 (60 MW output).
• The use of Uranium dioxide pellets as fuel became a significant step for pressurized water reactors.
• Other research included breeding plutonium in fast reactors at Argonne and developing direct-steam generation in reactors, culminating in the BORAX tests.
• Development of the boiling water reactor (BWR) technology.
• By the early 1960s, Westinghouse and GE promoted large-scale nuclear plants (approximately 500 MWe).
• Orders for nuclear steam supply systems surged in the late 1960s.
• Rapid growth of nuclear power capacity.
• Reduction in the rate of nuclear plant installation after 1970, due to factors like prolonged design/construction time, energy conservation, and public opposition.

The Nuclear Controversy

• Initial enthusiasm for nuclear power waned in the 1960s due to a confluence of factors like youth movement opposition to authority, environmental concerns regarding industrial pollution and radioactivity releases, improper hazardous waste management, loss of public trust post-Watergate, and sharp scientific differences in opinion concerning the safety and wisdom of nuclear power development.
• Issues like the unknown hazard of reactors, radioactivity, and radiation, and the association between nuclear power and weapons fueled further controversy and skepticism.