I think that feel-good sensation you get on a Friday afternoon is pretty universal; everybody is more prepared to laugh, there is an itch to get out of work or school and almost all of us put aside our busy lives for a while and focus on filling up our social calendars. So it is understandable if you missed the University's physics colloquium on nuclear energy this past Friday; you were probably out chasing rainbows or waterfalls. For those of you who did not catch it, you missed some intriguing stuff.
The seminar was given by Bruce Vogelaar, a Virginia Tech professor and member of the GEM*STAR project - an Accelerator-Driven Neutron Applications Corporation-sponsored collaborative effort among Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, Jefferson Lab and the University of Virginia. Vogelaar gave a presentation about a new nuclear reactor design that could solve many of our current energy problems.
The new technology sounds like it is too good to be true when the benefits are outlined: It is less dangerous than current light water reactors and produces power more efficiently. Also, the reactor can re-use and reduce the reactivity of spent fuel cells produced by current methods. The reactor operates at high temperatures, which makes coal fire power plants conducive to nuclear transition and requires no uranium enrichment process or spent fuel rod reprocessing. This last point makes the technology ideal for export to developing countries because weapons-grade plutonium is extracted at the reprocessing stage. If that phase is rendered unnecessary, countries could not covertly extract plutonium for weapons without building a reprocessing plant.
Current nuclear reactors use fission to produce electrical power. Fission occurs when neutrons are propelled at elements like uranium or plutonium to split their nuclei. When a neutron splits an atom, other stray neutrons are produced and propelled outward. Some of these neutrons will go on to collide with and split other uranium atoms, creating a chain nuclear reaction. This process occurs in a solid fuel rod containing concentrated uranium and generates energy to heat water and convert it to steam. The steam can then drive a turbine and produce electrical power.
The GEM*STAR reactor departs from those discussed above in several ways. Previously, it had been financially infeasible to use a particle accelerator to propel neutrons; the price of accelerating neutrons, however, has dropped dramatically during the last 60 years. Consequently, it is now possible to create and use a reactor like the GEM*STAR, which relies on a particle accelerator to drive its reactions, in a cost-efficient manner. This allows scientists to create what is called a subcritical system, which relies on subcritical nuclear reactions. When a neutron splits an atom, it can create a chain reaction at varying rates; current reactors rely on maintaining critical reaction speed, meaning the fission of one atom will result in the fission of only one more atom. Subcritical reactions create fission at a slower rate than is necessary to sustain a nuclear reaction, so these reactions will only continue if the reactor is fed a constant stream of neutrons. Practically speaking, it enables engineers to control particle acceleration and thus the reaction.
Moreover, rather than using solid fuel rods, the GEM*STAR uses a molten salt eutectic for fuel. When a particle accelerator beam is focused on this liquid fuel, it burns up uranium much more efficiently than current reactors do. As a result, scientists can re-use the spent fuel rods for additional fuel.
Potentially the most exciting news for anyone reading this newspaper is how close we are to this project. The University is part of a consortium of Virginia schools conducting GEM*STAR research. Also, Virginia happens to be a healthy environment for nuclear power: 35 percent of Virginia energy is already nuclear. Another important point is the tremendous opportunity for students of various technical disciplines to get involved with the project: physicists, chemical engineers, materials engineers and many others will be needed to develop components for the reactor and advance the project.
I think this is a tremendous opportunity for Virginia students to take an active role in a project that has practical consequences for the future. It is a better investment of our energies than any currently "hip" green technologies like wind or solar. If Vogelaar is correct, the GEM*STAR reactor will be cheaper to operate than any comparable alternative and produces no carbon dioxide. This project has the capacity to become a new baseline energy source and we are close enough to the action that we can directly affect whether this technology succeeds or fails.
Travis Ortiz's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at t.ortiz@cavalierdaily.com.
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