The document discusses the risks and benefits of nuclear power. It outlines several dangers of nuclear power plants, including radioactive particle release, radioactive isotope pollution, water temperature increases, and the threats of nuclear accidents and terrorism. It also discusses past nuclear incidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. While new safety technologies have been developed, the risk of human error and the potential for accidents remain issues of concern going forward.

1. CRITICAL ISSUES FORUM
BENCHMARK III
Nuclear Renaissance: Risks versus Benefits
The Author: Evgeny Bekker
Form 10A
High school №216 “Didakt”
The Teacher-Advisor: Elena Kurenkova
The Teacher of English
High school №216 “Didakt”
Zarechny
Penza Region
Russia
2008

2.  Environmental pollution of nuclear power plants.
 List of dangers, connected with NPPs:
 Release of radioactive particles into environment.
 Radioactive isotopes pollution.
 Water temperature increases.
 The threat of nuclear accidents.
 The threat of nuclear terrorism.
 Nuclear power plants technologies that provide safety.
 Reactor design flaws.
 Mistakes and incompetence of personnel.
 Major incidents regarding NPPs.
 Could it happen again?
 Used sources.

3. It was commonly to think that nuclear energy is absolutely safe until some
serious incidents occurred on nuclear power plants of the USA(Three Mile Island),
Japan(Kashiwaszki-Kariwa) and the most dangerous incident in the former USSR
(Chernobyl). The last of them had very serious consequences. All these events changed
the opinion of people about the safety of nuclear energy. However the danger of nuclear
energy was not only in the nuclear accidents.

4. Let’s see the full list of dangers
connected with nuclear power plants:

5. Release of radioactive particles
 Usually the radioactive particles appear
from radioactive isotopes and in fission
process. In most cases speaking about
radioactive particles pollution, people
mean gamma-radiation, which is easily
determinated by a Geiger counter. At
the same time there are many beta-
radiators, which are badly determinated
by the most of existing devices.

6. Radioactive isotopes pollution
 Radioactive contamination is typically the
result of a spill or accident during the
production or use of radionuclides
(radioisotopes), an unstable nucleus which
has excessive energy. However the
production of those radionuclides is
controlled by filters and other equipment.
The biological effects of internally
deposited radionuclides depend greatly on
the activity and the biodistribution and
removal rates of the radionuclide, which in
turn depends on its chemical form.

7. Water temperature increase
 For the NPPs just as for the thermal
power stations heat release into is
typical.
 It is marked that the temperature of
water in the area of nuclear power
station is higher than without it. Because
of that the balance of water evaporation
is disturbed and the amount of salt in
water increased. This changes can lead
to extinction of some species of animals.

8. The treat of nuclear accidents
 The most actual question appealed to
NPP is the question of nuclear
accidents. Thought the chances of such
accident is very small the danger it
carries is very serious.

9. Nuclear terrorism threat
 Another actual
question of the NPP’s
safety is nuclear
terrorism.
 The NPP could be
captured by terrorists
and used like a
nuclear weapon.

10. Nuclear power plants
technologies that provide safety
 The most widespread causes of the
NPP accident are:
Reactor design flaws.
Mistakes and incompetence of personnel.
 It is important to learn by your own
mistakes. So the Chernobyl disaster
were carefully examined and analyzed.
After that new standards of safety and
new technologies were adopted.

11. Reactor design flaws
 We’ll take a Chernobyl as an example for reactor
design flaws. There were several serious design
flaws in the Chernobyl RBMK:
 The scram button that supposed to stop the reaction
accelerated it instead.
 the heat from the graphite, which operates at 700 degrees
Centigrade, flows from the graphite back through the
pressure tubes and is taken away by the boiling water.
"However, the problem with graphite at high temperatures
is that if it is exposed to air, it will burn slowly.
 The RBMK reactor was a large one and it could not be put
in containment.
 These reactors are not used nowadays and all
known design flaws are removed from new reactors.

12. Mistakes and incompetence of
personnel.
 Six human errors were identified.
 Two permanent operating rules were violated: not to
run the reactor for any length of time at reduced
power level (below 700 Megawatts-thermal), and
never to have fewer than thirty control rods fully
inserted into the core
 If any one of these six errors had not been
committed, the explosion would not have occurred.
 However it’s not the fault of personnel, it’s the fault of
their not sufficient training.
 After Chernobyl disaster some new laws of safety
were adopted.

13. Major incidents regarding NPPs

15. Could it happen again?
 Yes, the causes of such disasters are
well understood but there’s no certitude
that government and NPP’s personnel
will follow them. First of all some
countries couldn’t have enough money
to develop and integrate newest
technologies into NPPs. Secondly the
chance of human mistakes is always
exists. So there always will be chance of
accident like the ones we examined.

16. sources
 www.bookrags.com
 www.countrywalking.blogspot.com
 www.ecolo.org
 www.geo4va.vt.edu
 www.gnn.tv
 www.greensense.com
 www.nci.org
 www.nirs.org
 www.personal.psu.edu
 www.prop1.org
 www.wikipedia.org
 www.englicious.com