2011 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 56, Number 12
Wednesday–Saturday, October 26–29, 2011;
East Lansing, Michigan
Session JB: The Fukushima Nuclear Plant: Assessment and Future Alternatives
2:00 PM–3:48 PM,
Friday, October 28, 2011
Room: Auditorium
Chair: Andrei Afanasev, The George Washington University
Abstract ID: BAPS.2011.DNP.JB.3
Abstract: JB.00003 : GEM*STAR: Time for an Alternative Way Forward
3:12 PM–3:48 PM
Preview Abstract
Abstract
Author:
R. Bruce Vogelaar
(Department of Physics, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University)
The presumption that nuclear reactors will retain their role in
global energy production is constantly being challenged - even
more so following recent events at Fukushima. Nuclear energy,
despite being ``green,'' has inexorably been coupled in the
public mind with three paramount concerns: safety, weapons
proliferation, and waste (and then ultimately cost). Over the
past four decades, the safety of deployed fleets has greatly
improved, yet the capital and political costs of a ``nuclear
energy option'' appear insurmountable in several countries.
The US approach to civilian nuclear energy has become deeply
entrenched, first through choices made by the military, and then
by the deployed nuclear reactor fleet. This extends to the
research agencies as well, to the point where basic sciences and
nuclear energy operate in separate spheres. But technologies and
priorities have changed, and the time has arrived where a
transformative re-think of nuclear energy is not only possible,
but urgent. And nuclear physicists are uniquely positioned to
accomplish this.
This talk will show that by asking, and answering,``what would
an accelerator-driven civilian nuclear energy program look
like,'' ADNA Corporation's GEM*STAR design directly addresses all
three fundamental concerns: safety, proliferation, and waste -
and also the final hurdle: cost. GEM*STAR is not an ``add-on''
(to either Project-X, or GEN III+), but rather a base-line energy
production capacity, for either electricity or transport fuel
production. It integrates and advances the molten-salt reactor
technology developed at ORNL, the MW beam accelerator
technologies developed by basic sciences, and a reactor/target
design optimized for accelerator driven-systems. The results
include: the ability to use LWR spent fuel without reprocessing
or additional waste; the ability to use natural uranium; no
critical mass ever present; orders-of-magnitude less volatile
radioactivity in the core; more efficient use of, and deeper burn
of actinides, without additional waste; proliferation resistance
(no enrichment or reprocessing); high-tolerance to
``beam-trips''; and ultimately, and perhaps most importantly,
lower cost electricity or diesel fuel than any currently
envisioned new energy source.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2011.DNP.JB.3