Related papers: The unsustainable legacy of the Nuclear Age

When producing electricity that collects the mass energy that is available at the time of the induced disintegration of radioactive elements, other unstable elements are produced with half-life span durations ranging from less than one…

The global requirements for energy are increasing rapidly as the global population increases and the under-developed nations become more advanced. The traditional fuels used in their traditional ways will become increasingly unable to meet…

In the course of the energy transition, energy generation from nuclear power - through nuclear fission and perhaps in the future through nuclear fusion - is often proposed as an alternative or supplement to renewable energy sources. There…

Since the 1930s, and with very few exceptions, it has been assumed that the process of radioactive decay is a random process, unaffected by the environment in which the decaying nucleus resides. There have been instances within the past few…

It is shown that the radiological burden due to the battlefield use of circa 400 tons of depleted-uranium munitions in Iraq (and of about 40 tons in Yugoslavia) is comparable to that arising from the hypothetical battle-field use of more…

Fusion energy is often regarded as a long-term solution to the world's energy needs. However, even after solving the critical research challenges, engineering and materials science will still impose significant constraints on the…

Nuclear fission energy is considered to be somewhere between the holy grail, required to solve all energy worries of the human industrialized civilization, and a fast path directly to hell. Discussions about future energy sources and the…

Between 1966 and 1974, France conducted 41 atmospheric nuclear weapon tests in Polynesia. Radioactive fallout impacted downwind atolls and islands leading to the external and internal exposure of the local populations to ionizing radiation.…

Chemical and physical Earth models agree little as to the radioactive power of the planet. Each predicts a range of radioactive powers, overlapping slightly with the other at about 24 TW, and together spanning 14-46 TW. Approximately 20 %…

Humanity's path to avoiding extinction is a daunting and inevitable challenge which proves difficult to solve, partially due to the lack of data and evidence surrounding the concept. We aim to address this confusion by addressing the most…

Many perceive electric vehicles (EVs) to be eco-environmentally sustainable because they are free of emissions of toxic and greenhouse gases to the environment. However, few have questioned the sustainability of the electric power required…

According to the International Energy Agency, each human uses more than 80 GJ of energy per year; this is equivalent to leaving a washing machine continuously running for one year for every person on Earth. This consumption is expected to…

In this paper, we addressed the problem of choosing a nuclear fuel cycle. Ethical problems related to the choice of a nuclear fuel cycle, such as the depletion of natural uranium reserves, the accumulation of nuclear waste, and the…

Over the past decades, atomistic simulations of chemical, biological and materials systems have become increasingly precise and predictive thanks to the development of accurate and efficient techniques that describe the quantum mechanical…

(transcript of a talk given by Prof.~Feshbach:) Nuclear physics has been and will be a major factor in science and technology. It makes unique and important contributions to medicine, to industry and to other sciences. Interaction with…

Human activity continues to have an enormous negative impact on the ability of the planet to sustain human and other forms of life. Six out of the nine planetary boundaries have been crossed, a seventh is close to threshold. Prominent…

In this article, I trace the early historical developments that ultimately led to the creation of the atomic bomb. Even after the completion of weapons, many scientists continued to argue that nuclear armaments were indispensable for…

With 70 million dead, World War II remains the most devastating conflict in history. Among the survivors, millions were displaced, returned maimed from the battlefield, or endured years of captivity. We examine the effects of such war…

The Introduction in this paper underlines the present general situation for energy and the environment using the words of the US Secretary of Energy. A short presentation is made of some major nuclear power plants used to study one…

During 2009 nuclear power plants, with a capacity of 370 GWe, will produce roughly 14% of the worldwide electric energy. About 65000 tons of natural uranium equivalent are required to operate these reactors. For 15 years on average only 2/3…