Publication Laka-library:
The accident hazards of nuclear power plants (1976)
| Author | R.Webb |
| Date | 1976 |
| Classification | 6.01.3.10/33 (NUCLEAR SAFETY - REACTORS - GENERAL) |
| Front | 
|
From the publication:
One Introduction NUCLEAR POWER plants present a hazard to the health and safety of the public because they are subject to accident, such as an explosion, in which harmful substances called radioactivity could be released to the atmosphere as dust and expose a large population to lethal or injurious radiation. The source of this accident hazard is the nuclear reactor, which is the heart of the plant. It generates the nuclear energy for making electricity, and in the process, it also generates the radioactivity as a by- product. This radioactivity builds up in the reactor and is even used as fuel in the case of plutonium, which is perhaps the most potent of all radioactive substances. In order to assess the hazards of nuclear power plants, therefore, we must investigate the accident potential of the various nuclear reactors in use or planned for use. Several years ago this author, a nuclear reactor engineer, left the day-to-day work of nuclear reactor development to study full time and without constraints the accident hazards of nuclear reactors in all of the essential aspects. This study has concentrated on the present-day, water-cooled reactors in the United States (the pressurized water reactor [PWR] and the boiling water reactor [BWR]) and on the advanced "breeder" reactor (the liquid metal-cooled, fast breeder reactor [LMFBR]), which is the key element in the federal government's energy development plans.
This publication is only available at Laka on paper, not as pdf.
You can borrow the publication or request a copy. When we're available, this is possible for a small fee.