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NUCLEARSPACE MESSAGE BOARD (ACTIVE) -> MEDIA, POLITICS & WAR -> 9,000 Nuclear Warheads Permanently Eliminated
Post Info TOPIC: 9,000 Nuclear Warheads Permanently Eliminated
10kBq jaro

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9,000 Nuclear Warheads Permanently Eliminated
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http://www.spacedaily.com/news/icbm-04d.html


USEC Reports 9,000 Nuclear Warheads Permanently Eliminated


Bethesda MD (SPX) Oct 06, 2004


USEC announced Tuesday that 225 metric tons of Russian weapons-grade uranium, the equivalent of 9,000 nuclear warheads, has been recycled into fuel purchased by USEC for use in America's nuclear power plants.


Acting as executive agents for the U.S. and Russian governments, USEC and Techsnabexport (TENEX) commercially implement this program, known as Megatons to Megawatts, at no cost to their governments.


The program will recycle 500 metric tons of bomb-grade uranium into fuel by its conclusion in 2013. Approximately ten percent of America's electricity is produced using Megatons to Megawatts fuel.


By using the weapons-derived fuel in nuclear power plants, the program permanently eliminates this excess Russian warhead material while providing clean, emissions-free electricity for homes, businesses, hospitals and schools in the United States.


Once blended down to low-enriched uranium fuel, the material is no longer usable in a nuclear weapon. USEC purchases approximately $450 million of the fuel annually.


Russia uses that money to support nuclear safety, environmental and security programs. To date, USEC has paid the Russian treasury over $3.5 billion for purchases of the fuel. By the program's end, total purchases from Russia will be approximately $8 billion.


"The Megatons to Megawatts program is one of the most successful nonproliferation efforts worldwide," said USEC President and CEO William H. Timbers.


"We are proud of our excellent working relationship with Russia and the fact that Soviet-era nuclear warheads once aimed at American cities are now lighting and powering our country from coast to coast."

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GoogleNaut

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Bravo!

It's nice to see some good press for nuclear power. Especially good since it involves utilizing an important resource, often overlooked because of it's stigma as "weapons grade," that was created at great expense--let's put the world's bomb grade material to good use and power our countries instead of burning them!

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Dusty

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Cant help thinking that Orions would be a better use!


Well back to the real world. I remember reading some years ago that one thing in favour of a large scale fast breeder programme would be that an initial shortage of reactor plutoninum  would put pressure on the nuclear powers to dismantle weapons to meet it.


OTOH the more I read about these pebble bed reactors, the more convinced I become that that is the way to go! While we sit on our hands agonising over "Enviromental concernes" the Chienese are going to develop and mature this technology.If we dont get a move on, in 40 years time the west will be sufering rolling blackouts and China will have power to spare and the complete controll of the global nuclear power industry



Dusty


 


 



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GoogleNaut

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Yep,

China is putting a lot of effort into it. I sure hope the US of A fallows suit--we will need the power too.

Pebble Bed reactors can provide process heat for all kinds of industrial processes too--even desalination plants for thirsty Southern California!



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Brucie B.

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Uh...and when do we Americans get to see this "free" nuke fuel for megawatts on reduced electrical bills ? Or for that matter do Russians get a reduction on their electrical bills ? I'm all for transforming weapon U235 to megawatts for electrical power but, citizens of the two countries need to see some benefit in their daily life from weapon nukes that generate electrical power to have even better public relations.

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GoogleNaut

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I wasn't aware that it was "free." It was my understanding that the US has been making payments in the amount of about $500 million and by 2015 total payments to the Russian treasury would be around $8 Billion. As for lower electrical bills--I can only surmise that the electricity generated in nuclear power plants will be cheaper than burning billions of barrels of oil each year in oil fired power plants to the tune of $53 per barrel!

The way I see it, Russian nuclear fuel from weapons is a double bargain: the weapons are gone, and the nuclear material is permanently disposed of by consumption in power plants; interestingly enough, this should displace several billion tons of CO2 emissions, so the environmentalists really ought to support it. An Economic, Environmental and Political Win Situation--a very rare thing in geopolitics.




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Brucie B.

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"The way I see it, Russian nuclear fuel from weapons is a double bargain: the weapons are gone, and the nuclear material is permanently disposed of by consumption in power plants; interestingly enough, this should displace several billion tons of CO2 emissions, so the environmentalists really ought to support it. An Economic, Environmental and Political Win Situation--a very rare thing in geopolitics."



I agree... oddly enough, I never hear your above quote in U.S. Presidental debates or in their platforms on alternative energy sources only in research in altered hydrocarbon plant energy generation- why? 



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GoogleNaut

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My guess is that they are basically philosophically opposed to nuclear power in any form, period. They refuse to ackowledge (or perhaps are unaware of) the fact that every watt of nuclear power generated displaces a watt of power generated by a CO2 spewing fossil fueled plant.

The basic problems of safety and waste disposal are not insurmountable obstacles. I believe that the gas cooled pebble bed reactors can offer many advantages in both of these regards. Furthermore, since the working fluid in a gas cooled reactor is not nearly as dense as liquid cooled reactors (pressurized water or boiling water reactors) there is no danger of a phase change (vapor) explosion. Furthermore, the reactors can be designed so that the natural negative feedback mechanisms of doppler broadening (I think that is the correct term) of u-238 neutron capture cross sectiuons can achieve the desired control to prevent a runaway reaction. The oxide/carbide-ceramic fuel elements can be designed to contain the fuel and prevent melting at the temperature at which doppler broadening becomes important. This is the hallmark of the technology of 'intrinsically safe' opperation.

Waste disposal is a problem because most of the wastes have plenty of fissionables still in them. Reprocessing the waste to remove the unburned fissionables can provide us with a long term energy supply. The resultant high level waste (which is much shorter lived) need only be stored for centuries instead of millenia. Further processing the waste using particle accelerators or irradiation in reactor cores could reduce the necessary storage times to decades by transmuting it to even shorter lived specieies, as well as supplementing our energy supply.

It all depends upon our commitment to ourselves, and the technological and cultural maturity to see it through.

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