Nuclear Engineering: Medicine Applications
Nuclear Engineering focuses on solving several of the world's most important grand-challenge problems. The last three years have seen much happen for Nuclear Engineering. Nuclear Engineering is all about devising how to use radioactive materials in manufacturing, agriculture, medicine, power generation, and many other ways, perhaps the most important being in medicine, where over 1/3 of all procedures in the United States use nuclear techniques. In nuclear medicine, small amounts of radioactive materials called radiopharmaceuticals are used for diagnosis and therapy. Nuclear processes are used to provide images inside the human body, to detect and measure biochemical[..]
Many folks are against nuclear energy and when you ask them why they bring up Chernobyl and Hiroshima. Yes, these are historical events that where quite problematic, but should that really keep us from building nuclear power plants in the United States? Another huge issue is one with nation-states that are rogue nations, dictatorships or have so much civil unrest that they could easily topple; what if enriched uranium gets into the hands of terrorists? Well, yes, these are concerns and yet, we noted that the shipment of uranium from Budapest to Siberia made it there okay, 300 plus pounds, humans are dealing with these issues of waste, storage and keeping the material in check. There are[..]
What are the Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy
The applications of nuclear reactors as our main power source for the future is a huge subject of debate, named The Nuclear Debate. The generation of nuclear power from nuclear fuel for civilian purposes is a quest that 21 one companies are taking on for the first time since 1973. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports they will seek permission to build 34 power plants from New York to Texas. Multi billion dollar investments that were riding on the choice of an energy source are now being funneled into new nuclear energy projects costing several billion dollars for each plant. Supports claim new nuclear plants are needed because of the variable needs for different amounts of energy to[..]
How Does Nuclear Energy Work? Alternative Power
France is a country that understands the power of nuclear energy. The country creates the majority of the power it needs with uranium and tall concrete coolant towers that are synonymous with the alternative plants. While there is always a threat of disaster, there have been more natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes and tsunamis in the past year than meltdowns in the history of nuclear power. As of 2008, there were 490 plants producing alternative energy from uranium via nuclear fission. Some of these plants are responsible for providing the majority of the power to their countries and others simply supplement the current power supply. France and Lithuania produce[..]
Wyoming Could Play A Key Role in U.S. Nuclear...
Will the Wyoming Uranium Province Rival Canada's Athabasca or Australia's Northern Territories? "Geology is 90 percent terminology and 10 percent science," laughed Ray E. Harris, one of Wyoming's leading geological theoreticians, having been with the Wyoming Geological Survey since 1982. He died on March 7th. Two weeks earlier, we met with and interviewed Mr. Harris. Everyone we met in Wyoming, and who was interested in uranium mining, had, at one time or another, passed through his office, which was adjacent to the University of Wyoming in Laramie. Terrence Osier of Strathmore Minerals was a frequent visitor to his corner office on the third floor. Norman Burmeister of Kilgore Minerals[..]
Nuclear energy and its discontents
Nuclear energy and its discontents By SUNIL KEWALRAMANI CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER, GLOBAL MONEY INVESTOR September 11, 2009 Chart : First electricity production by nuclear energy Experimental Breeder Reactor EBR-I, 20 Dec.1951, Arco, Idaho, USA At the outset, the Indo-US nuclear deal[..]
Congress Needs to Wake Up to Nuclear Waste...
Inside Alloy 22 Engineered Barrier Canisters Within the first 1,000 years, about 99 percent of the radioactivity in the reactor fuel will have dissipated through the natural process of radioactive decay. For those who believe the nuclear waste will be dumped in some hole in the ground - as some fanatical environmentalists falsely compared this to a landfill disposal - think again. The Department of Energy designed rust-resistant canisters lined with titanium drip shield to prevent water entry. A new alloy for these canisters was created in 1987 called Alloy 22, which is a blend of nickel, chromium and other corrosive-resistant metals. In one DOE simulation, it was found the waste[..]
Over the past 24 years, each time your house or business consumed a nuclear-generated kilowatt-hour of electricity, you were billed - by mandate of the U.S. government - one-tenth of one penny to pay for the storage of nuclear waste. And those pennies add up. Since 1982, the Nuclear Waste Fund has grown to more than $28 billion. The plan back then was to safely dispose of the nuclear waste left over after providing 20 percent of the nation's electricity through nuclear energy. Instead, like a ticking time bomb, about 40,000 metric tons of spent fuel rods are chilling out in 141 concrete cooling ponds never intended for long-term use. Many are within a few dozen miles of large cities,[..]
While a growing number of countries have announced their civilian nuclear energy ambitions over the past twelve months, no other country is likely to have more of a psychological impact on the nuclear energy picture than Saudi Arabia. We believe the Kingdom's natural gas and water problems will lead them to nuclear, sooner rather than later, probably as early as this year. After our interview with Kevin Bambrough, which resulted in the widely read article, 'Explosion in Nuclear Energy Demand Coming," we began more deeply researching Bambrough's conclusion. He believes the overwhelming growth in nuclear energy will continue to drive the uranium bull market much higher than is suspected.[..]