Coady 1

Paul Coady
Deby Jizi
UWRT 1103-013
9 December 2015
EIP Research Essay Final
I.
Scientific discoveries have led to some development of nuclear energy, but lots of panic
and tragedy has been directly correlated to such advancement. Nuclear weaponry has caused
countries around the world to become more competitive with each other as to who could blow
the other up and it has caused a global scare. Weapons are only part of the problem with nuclear
advancement or lack thereof. Major disasters have occurred where lots of people have died and
the land was destroyed such as the explosions in Fukushima and Chernobyl.

Figure 1. Shimbun, Asahi. A Woman Cries While Sitting on a Road in Natori, Japan, on March 13, 2011.
Digital image. Slate. N.p., 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2015.

Coady 2

I have no experience being affected by nuclear energy besides being one of worried
civilians in a world that could become extinct in the blink of an eye. Weapons, however, are not
the reason that nuclear energy was conceived and I see great potential for nuclear energy. In my
Environmental Science class in high school I conducted research on fossil fuels over the course
of a semester and found that the carbon dioxide emissions from coal in particular is killing this
planet at an alarming rate. Other sources of energy have been explored, but coal remains on top
as the most fitting fuel source for the world. Publications by the Nuclear Energy Agency suggest
it is very possible that nuclear energy could replace coal and save the life of this planet and lots
of people in it if safer methods of extraction were created. In order to determine whether or not
such a claim about nuclear energy is true, I researched information based on the following
question: What technology needs to develop in order to facilitate the evolution of nuclear
energy?
II.
The lives of people who work in nuclear power plants would be a lot safer if nuclear
technology were to further develop because the probability of explosions happening would be
minimized. Those who would also be immediately affected by more evolved nuclear technology
are people living near nuclear power plants and people in countries such as France where nuclear
power largely contributes as a source of energy. Evolved nuclear technology would not only
mean that extraction methods would be safer, but more production would be possible. Increased
production of nuclear energy may potentially lower the costs of energy which would affect
anyone who pays for electricity. One of the biggest differences that nuclear energy could make is
the improvement of environmental health because the quality of air would be improved due to a
significant drop in the rate at which greenhouse gasses are emitted. The reason that nuclear

Coady 3

technology in particular needs to improve is because the current processes of obtaining nuclear
energy are too uncontrollable and harmful to the environment.
III.
The World Nuclear Association published a website discussing how fission is primarily
the way that nuclear energy is generated. Uranium is typically the atom used when capturing
neutrons that pass a heavy nucleus. Heat is yielded after the radioactive decay of fission products
and transuranic elements stop. Fission reactions can be controlled or uncontrolled depending on
how much fuel needs to be generated. Uranium is required for reactors that use light water as a
stabilizer. Physical processes are used when separating isotopes so that uranium can be enriched
(Physics, 2015). Uncontrolled fission reactions would surely be catastrophic so: Why would
anyone create uncontrollable nuclear fission reactions?
Lixin Cheng discusses boiling water reactors which involve nuclear fission. He says there
are still uncertainties about the difference between macroscale and microscale channels. The
official results critical heat flux results, mechanisms, and prediction methods were not commonly
agreed upon and there werent ways to predict critical heat flux in microscale channels and
confined spaces (Cheng, 2013). My question could have been partly answered with this
information because nuclear technologies such as boiling water reactors would need to improve
in order for nuclear energy to evolve. Still, I wouldnt have a complete answer because I would
need to analyze the developmental status of other nuclear fission reactors and so I wondered: Are
all the other nuclear fission reactors as underdeveloped?
The Nuclear Energy Agency published a book saying that it is very possible that nuclear
energy could fulfil the needs of everyone on this planet. The book mentions that programs have

Coady 4

already been created with hopes to improve the overall quality of nuclear power plants
(Innovation, 2007). This information didnt answer my question, but it still implied that
advancement in nuclear technology may come along. I started to wonder what the problems were
with the ways people already collect nuclear energy and found that the two forms of extraction
are nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Of the two, nuclear fission is the only way that anyone
knows enough about to obtain nuclear energy which raised this question for me: Would nuclear
fusion be a safer method of extraction that nuclear fission?
According to the Max Planck Society, the idea at the heart of fusion research is
developing a source of power that is good for the environment and the Wendelstein 7-X is an
almost finished nuclear fusion reactor (Society, 2015). The WX-7 doesnt actually produce
nuclear energy, but it will be used as reference for other fusion reactors. This information
answered my question with a reasonable answer. My next question then became: What would be
the difference between the WX-7 and functioning fusion reactors?
Aahba Dixit published a webpage based on her recordings of an International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting saying that, because of the increasing amount of people
becoming concerned for the environment, the progress of the International Thermonuclear
Experimental Reactor (ITER) needs greatly improve (Dixit, 2015). This information also gives
my question an acceptable answer. Still, I didnt understand: What needs to been done in order to
boost the progress of ITER?
Guenter Janeschitz gave a lecture reviewing the development of ITER. He says that the
fusion reactor is a political and highly technical project. Apparently aspect ratio, triangularity,
and elongation determine the sharing of the field lengths which affects the amount of pressure
and power that are produced. As the sharing of the field lengths increases, the pressure and

Coady 5

power increases. The ITERMagnet System has 48 superconduction 19.6 million pound coils, an
11.8 tesla peak TF field, and a peak current of 68 kilo amperes. A major challenge in Physics of
ITER was finding the solution to the divertor peak heatflux problem. If this issue was resolved,
then would the world have a functioning fusion reactor?
IV.
I found that the most significance thing that needs to happen in order to facilitate the
evolution of nuclear energy is for nuclear fusion reactors to be constructed based on the WX-7.
Also, the issue related to the divertor peak heatflux needs to be taken care of if ITER is to
become a functional fusion reactor. The most convincing voices were Janeschitzs and that of the
Max Planck Society because both answered my initial research question. Those who dont wish
to see nuclear energy evolve would have little to argue if safe processes such as fusion reactors
were established.
V.
The difference that my discoveries about the evolution of nuclear energy will make in the
lives of me and my readers will be how we plan to use the energy we have access to. I would like
to know if it would be possible improve the extraction process of nuclear fission. Further inquiry
may direct me towards the negative effects of nuclear fission reactors and how they could be
eliminated.

Coady 6

Works Cited
Cheng, Lixin. "Fundamental Issues Of Critical Heat Flux Phenomena During Flow Boiling In
Microscale-Channels And Nucleate Pool Boiling In Confined Spaces." Heat Transfer
Engineering 34.13 (2013): 1016-1043. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Dixit, Aabha. "The Energy of the Future: The Status of Nuclear Fusion Research and the Role of
the IAEA." IAEA. IAEA Office of Public Information and Communication, 15 Sept.
2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
Innovation in Nuclear Energy Technology. Paris: Nuclear Energy Agency, Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development, 2007. Internet resource.
Janeschitz, Guenter. "Fusion Technology for ITER, the ITER Project. Further Development
Towards a DEMO Fusion Power Plant (3/4)." Academic Training Lecture Regular
Programme. Academic Training Lectures, Geneva. 14 Apr. 2011. Lecture.
"Physics of Uranium and Nuclear Energy." World Nuclear Association. N.p., Sept. 2014. Web.
10 Nov. 2015.
Society, Max Planck. "Initial Testing of the Wendelstein 7-X Magnetic Field." Phys. N.p., 17
July 2015. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.