Tony Williams: Catalogue data in Spring Semester 2015 |
Name | Dr. Tony Williams |
Address | Axpo Power AG Parkstrasse 23 Kernenergie 5401 Baden SWITZERLAND |
Telephone | +41 056 200 31 11 |
Department | Mechanical and Process Engineering |
Relationship | Lecturer |
Number | Title | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
151-0160-00L | Nuclear Energy Systems | 4 credits | 2V + 1U | S. Hirschberg, H.‑M. Prasser, I. Günther-Leopold, W. Hummel, T. Williams, P. K. Zuidema | |
Abstract | Nuclear energy and sustainability, Nuclear fuel production, energy and materials balance of Nuclear Power Plants, Fuel and spent fuel handling, Fuel reprocessing, Radioactive waste disposal, Environmental impact of radiation releases. | ||||
Objective | Students get an overview on the physical fundamentals, the technological processes and the environmental impact of the full energy conversion chain of nuclear power generation. The are enabled to assess to potentials and risks arising from embedding nuclear power in a complex energy system. | ||||
Content | Methods to measure the sustainability of energy systems will be presented, nuclear energy is analysed concerning its sustainability and compared to other energy sources. The environmental impact of the nuclear energy system as a whole is discussed, including the question of CO2 emissions, CO2 reduction costs, radioactive releases from the power plant, the fuel chain and the final disposal. The material balance of different fuel cycles with thermal and fast reactors is examined. A survey on the geological origin of nuclear fuel, uranium mining, refinement, enrichment and fuel rod fabrication processes is given. Methods of fuel reprocessing including modern developments of deep partitioning as well as methods to treat and minimize the amount and radiotoxicity of nuclear waste are described. The project of final disposals for radioactive waste in Switzerland is presented. | ||||
Lecture notes | The script will be handed out |