How are nuclear power plants licensed?

Answer 1

The U.S. has 103 nuclear power plants currently in operation. Most were built in the 1970s and 1980s so they have been operating 24x7 for going on 40 years. In all that time, there has been one notable "accident" in which no one was injured, but the reactor was destroyed, you've probably heard of Three Mile Island, in 1979. Then, of course, there was Chernobyl, but that's another story entirely.

Compared to auto transportation, air transportation, oil production, or almost anything else that you can think of, that's a pretty good record.

Is it safe enough? That's for you to decide.

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This question is very hard to answer. In fact, nearly everything involving data relating to nuclear power is difficult because people use data differently to push their own points of view, and the truth gets lost in the process.

There is a set of data that can be found in various places on the internet, for example. I have never seen a copy of it with a reference stating what its source was or how it was determined, but the data includes the following:

Energy source ..... Deaths per TWh

• Coal ................... 161 (world average)
• Oil ........................ 36
• Coal ..................... 15 (US)
• Biofuel/Biomass ... 12
• Natural Gas ........... 4
• Hydro .................... 1.4 (includes 171,000 who died at Banqiao
• Solar (rooftop) ...... 0.44
• Wind ..................... 0.15
• Nuclear ................. 0.04

According to this data, nuclear would be the safest listed.

A problem with this is that it indicates a Death Rate associated with nuclear of 102 people per year, or perhaps 2500 over the lifetime of nuclear energy. While this figure might be acceptable to proponents of nuclear power, and may even have appeared in peer reviewed journals, very conflicting information has to be taken into account, if we are to get to the truth.

In opposition to the 2500 deaths projected above, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports give the numbers of deaths related to the Chernobyl Disaster alone at 5000, but potentially 9000.

In answer to this, the TORCH report provides a much higher figure. Though this has been criticized, and may, in fact, be flawed, some of its critics' arguments themselves are clearly flawed. For example, the TORCH report is criticized because of the inclusion of areas contaminated with 4000 Bq/m² of Cs-137, because the chance of mortality of a person in such an area is only 1 in 356000. The reason that this reasoning is flawed is that the chance is being applied to 120 million people, meaning that there might be 340 people whose deaths are officially left out of the data, if this criterion is not used.

An recent article in a peer reviewed publication stated death rates of 14000 people from the Fukushima Disaster in the United States alone. After it was released, the reaction from many experts was one of astonishment. Similarly, medical experts have stated that numbers of deaths associated with nuclear power production may exceed a million. But other experts, including some in the IAEA, put the number at below 5000.

The answer to this question often depends on what axe the answerer has to grind. When you see conflicting answers, and you will if you are going to look further, you might ask what the axe is.

It is a question that merits a good answer, but whatever the good answer is, it is buried among some bad ones.

Answer 2

A lot of the plant is similar to other power plant types. Normal engineering methods in Civil, Mechanical, and Electrical engineering apply. The main difference is the reactor itself, which requires a very large strong pressure vessel made from steel, which is assembled in sections welded together, and the primary circuit which circulates water through the reactor and the steam raising boilers. There are three or four primary circuit loops, these are made of large diameter steel tubes in sections welded together. One of the most important jobs in building the reactor and primary circuit is to ensure that all the welds are perfectly formed and a lot of inspection techniques are used to ensure this. A very important part of the vessel is the head, which is detachable for fuelling and carries the control rod mechanisms (in a PWR). You can read more about the reactor design in the link below.

Answer 3

Umm ... If your asking about altitude, then they can range in that aspect.

Answer 4

In the US by the NRC, see nrc.gov for information on the licensing process.

Answer 5

a nuclear power plant costs $10,432

Answer 6

by nuclear power ¬.¬