Charles E. Teeter1 Southeastern Mossochusetts Technological Instilute North Dortmouth, 02747
An Introduction to Nuclear Power in a Freshman Chemistry Course
N u r l r n r grnrrntinn of rlwtric power hns Cd. "I~urls":ire nurliclrs with high slow nrutmn fixqion rross srctions. Only '" !,,Iv nnd 'EI'II nrr nsrel ns f ~ ~ r l s . h o m e morr i~tq)ort:rntin t h r Vnitnl St:~trs,csprcinlly S o n ronsidrr nrutmn hnltmrr in n rhnin rrnrtion in I I l r f i r i e ~r r~i n ~ sI, I I ~ ~ o r t l ~ e : ~1I:iIf s t . of R gr:~phitcmoclrri~twlmlrlr:~r rrnrtor f ~ ~ r l ~with ul t h r nrlv powrr pl:~ntspmjrrtwl for t h r l!liO's in S c w nntornl ornninm ('1GV 0.71";. '$('). Stnrting with I?ngl:~ncl will hc. 1111r1r:lr. Over t h r \vhi~lc I'nitnl 100 f:wt n r r l t m ~ ~ procluml s in t h r h ~ r by l lission, nhout St:~trs,this pmpnrtion will pmhahly he r r : ~ r h ~byI the t h r w rtrr g:linnl hy f:~st nrlltmn fission of ';:.:U; 10 l!N0's. nrr lost by :~hsnrptionof nrutro~win :'t;U (to prcKlure I h r l i r w t h r grnrrnl puhlic still hn- nn rxnaarrntnl 2:w .,,PIIrvrntu:~lly):rt " r ( w n n ~ ~ r rrnrrgic-s; " r~hor~ srven t f a r of I I I I I o~ r . .\lurh h:is hrrn said :1ho11t the clangrr of w r l w r :~rriclrnts(rvrn rxplosions), :~tmo- "lrak" fmm t h r rr:lrtor :IS f:~stor slow nrutronx; nncl ninr nrr ehsnrhnl in t h r graphitr xvhilr slowing low^. spheh- pollution, rtr. In my opinion lhrsr fr:m romr Ixrgrly fmm ignor:~nrr; morr nlumtion is ~ l w r n t l y Of t h r 77 slow nrutmns lrft, m:my r:wsr fiwion in the ?:,s ,IT, p m d ~ ~ r i n gon, the avrrngr, 2.5 ~ ~ n ~ t ~ ~ ~ ~ s f f i s s i o ~ ~ nrculcul. Totd nrutmns : ~ f t r rthrsr prorrssw, in :I p : ~ r t i c ~ ~ l : ~ r For tocl:~y's r n g i n w r i ~ ~ gstr~clrnta I think somr cnsr: I . .\Iulliplicntion or r r p m d u c t i o ~ ~f:irtor: mlrt:rint:inrc. with this prinriplw of nr~clr:wpowrr is l W '100 = 1.0". 'I'h~wforr t llr ncln~hrrof nrlltmns p : ~ r t i r ~ ~ I : r1l y: n t . F ~ ~ t u rnginrrrs rr hnvr :I good I rh:111wof hring : ~ ~ . w r i : ~with t n l w m r : ~ s p w tof n ~ ~ r l m ~ rwill increme exponrnti:~Ily( c l i v r ~ r n t~,I I : I ~ I rrnrtinn). powc.r plnnt (lrsign, ronstrurtiou or opmltinn. I brlirw This c:in he "rnntrollnl" (rc.procluetion f:mtor, k,,,, mndr w p n l to 1) hy usr crf nhsorptivr rnntml mclu. tlw I.'rrshn~:~ncd~rmistrycortrsr ir :I gnexl vrhirlr for A prwlinrity of ~ ~ u e l r nf ri 4 m rmetors is thnt n surh :III c~rirntation. self s ~ ~ s t : ~ i nrh:~in i n g rrwtion rnn~loth r oht:~innI~ ~ n tni l .\lost grnrrnl rhrmistry trxthnoks givr a fnir h : d c r r t ~ i nmirs and ronligur:itio~~ of m o d r c ~ t o rnncl f ~ w l grn111~1 for M I i ~ ~ t r c ~ c l ~to ~ rnt ~i m ~ r l rpower nr in rh:q)trrs t o t r ( r i t iI i tI s i r ) . This conis I on i ~ n r l c ~ rhrmistry. :~r I~swnti:~l f:~cts nil prinriplr? hy 111r"rritir;~l" rqw~tionof ~ ~ r u t r o n nrr: rh:~ngrof nxtss to rnrrgy in m~rlcwrrr:wtiims :III~I dition is clrfi~~nl h:~l:lurr. This is :I " w w r w p a t i o ~ ~ , with " trrms nlaivnli.nt units (l?instrin's q n : ~ t i m ~ )1111r1r:w ; st:\rrprrsrnting nrlltrnll c1iN11sionloss, n r u t m r ~r~hsorption hility run.r (numhrr of n r ~ ~ t m nVIWIIS s p m t o ~ ~ nncl s) loss, :~nclg : h hy slowing 1lo1v11of nrutmns. Solring 8-~iclionrtivity; I - i f of r : ~ d i o : ~ r t i nv ~ r l i r s ;IIUthe "\v:.ir\,r rqo:~tion" givw I\ first.:q>prmim:~tionfor t h r c h r rr:trtions; nncl discowry of firsio~~. critir:~lmass :mcl rritirnl sizr. I?nr :I h r t t r r clrtrrminnIlnving rr:~rhwlthis point \vr c:u~consiclrr sperilics tion. :r mork-up, "rritir:d rsprrimrnt" rr:~rtnris then ~~~ \\C i~rnlto not ~OIIIIII in t h r i : r w h n ~ : trxtbooks. knnw snnwt hing ithn~ltnrutron cross s r c t i n ~ ~ nrutmn , built nncl nprr:~tnl. Only s t this point riin the powrr l neldnl for p o w r wlu:~lio~~s" rr:~rtorb r clwigt~nl. Ail~Iitinn:ilf ~ w is b:d:~nrrin n rh:~inrcwtion, :lnd t h r "~ritir:~l for r : I r ~ ~ l : ~ t irnig t i : I I s i r S r u l m n pm~ ~ I I ~ ~ I: ~~ n~d10I nllow I I I for furl burn-1111, hnlcling elo~vn the. r h : h rcartion with rontml mcls 21swcrrs:wy. ~ I I I I I Is ~r : t r i n g , : h r p t i o ~: I i s i o n . Thc c pmh:~hilily of r:wh k i ~ dof prnrws is kno~vn11s thc To g r n m ~ t rpowrr the rrnrtor is n~nclr slightly ,'rmss-srrtion" fur th:~t pmrrs*. T h r r r :Ire mirmauprrcritirY~l(k,,, > I ) hy withrlra\vinp rontml rocls. T h r numbrr of fissions is ;dlo~vwlt o ir~rre.asr,ohsrrvina sropir ( ~ w rton^) :~nclm:rrmsr~)pir(prr S :itoma'rni') t h r p o w r with i ~ ~ s t n ~ m r(3 ntX s 10'" fissions ' s r c = I r r i w rwtions. 1::rt (high iwe.rpy) ~ l n l t r o n s21% prnchlml ill lissio~~ arc. srntlcwd (i~nclsIo\vi~lcIo\vn) h? watt). Whrn t h r clrsirnl pn\vrr is :q)pm:whnl, contml colli*inns. I,ight rlcmcmts h : ~ wthe highest sr:~ttrring nxls nrr i~larrtnlto mnkr k,,, = 1 ngi~in. F h t rnrrgy produml is ntilizwl jost ns it is in :I rhrmir:~llyhlclnl cmss srrtions. I f t h r w :~l.whnvr 1mv ~ ~ c w t r onh.wrpn tion cross srrtions, thry :Irr good "moclrr:~tors" (11. D, pnwrr plnnt. The rr:wtor "rool:~nt" 1:tkrs Iwat from ~ wstrr to mnkr strrlm whirh clrirrs :I t h r furl : I I boils I , C). 1:rrnii rc.c~.irerl:I p:~lrnt in I!I:i1 on t h r use of t urbn-~rnrrntor. moclrrntor?i to pmclwr slow ~ ~ r u t m n\vhirh s, wrrr nlorc rNrrtivr in riu~singI I I I C I ~ Y I ~rr:~ctinns. T h r rrnwn for C,mdcs& front n pnper pnrmlnl M the Fin1 Snrthcwt II:IVP higher :~hsnrptioncmw this is that most c.lrmr~~ts I ~ c ~ o ! ~ R.\IwIing I of l l w hmerimn ( ' ~ C I I I ~ C H I Sm-irly, 0 r I A ~ r srctinn* for h v n r ~ ~ t r n nth:~n s for f w t nrutrnns. IlIliS. IClrmrnts with p:~rtirr~l:~rly high i~bsnrptionrmss src' I ) e r c ~ ~ n lPlewe . rquwl wprinls f n m : Th? lfev. IAWt i r w r:in he nsnl :IS " r n ~ ~ t r mntrri:~ls" d in n rhain cnrc 1'. Teeter, 1fw:or. 51. Pnl~l'r I l p i w q m l ('hun.11, \Vbit* riwrting systrm ( ~ ~ r ~ rrr:mrtor). ln~r I
