A piece of trivial information. The estimated dose from normally operating
reactors of the world is 400,000 man*Sv (1 Sv=100 rems). These 340 reactors
produced about 2000 gigawatt-years of electric energy so far. The dose can
be compared with abnormal situations. "Accidents at Windscale, TMI and
Chernobyl have added 2000, 40 and 600,000 man Sv, respectively."
The reactor information is from the CERN report [CERN/AT/95-44(ET)], by C.
Rubia et al., Geneva, 29th September, 1995. The title of this report is
"Conceptual Design of a Fast Neutron Operated High Power Energy Amplifier".
The term "energy amplifier" is used as a reference to a new kind of a power
plant (reactor plus accelerator) which could generate electricity and destroy
nuclear waste. The reactor is subcritical and its heat removal system is
based on natural convection (eliminating possibilities of Chernobyl-like and
TMI-like events). Why do people in charge (See Physics Today, June 1997)
still say that the best way of dealing with spent reactor fuel is to bury
it under ground?
Ludwik Kowalski
P.S.
The U.S. term for the new technology, centered at LANL, is ATW (Accelerator
Transmutation of Waste). The most recent issue of "Nuclear News", December,
1997, p 20-22, has two short articles on ATW.
Carlo Rubia, the Nobel Laureate, is a very active leader of a large group
of European reserarchers developing new accelerator-reactor systems.
The Omega project in Japan is the third research center where reactors
designed to "incinerate" nuclear waste are being actively developed.