Republic of the Philippines SORSOGON STATE COLLEGE Sorsogon City Campus Sorsogon City A.Y.

2010-2011

REACTION PAPER on Nuclear Reactor Power Plant

(In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in Modern Physics)

Prepared by: JERENMIE D. CHUA BSEd 3-B Physical Science

Submitted to: Mr. Jhonner D. Ricafort Physics

My Reaction

In our modern age, we can no longer neglect the continuous advancement of technology and scientific studies. We make use of many electrical and electronic devices which at the end require great amount of energy, causing us to rely much on power generation. There are about 10 identified types of power generator, and only 8 of them are available in the Philippines. One of which, is the Nuclear Fission Reactor Plant. This is the type of power generator that makes use of nuclear fission in order to deliver massive amount of energy. It initiates when a slow neutron hits an unstable nucleus, making it more unstable and increasing the mass of nucleus. In fraction of a second, the extra mass is converted into energy, then produces two radioactive fission fragments and numbers of neutron which will cause another fission process until it creates a chain reaction. Our government had spent billions of pesos from the national fund for the development of a Nuclear Reactor on Bataan Peninsula. The Philippine nuclear program started in 1958 with the creation of the Philippine Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) under Republic Act 2067. Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was completed but never fueled. It was not put into use, the operation was dumped due to defects and unpredictable circumstances that may have occurred. As to my side, I am not favorable of commissioning any Nuclear Power Plant here in the Philippines. Our country is prone to earthquakes which could actually damage such establishment. The great threat is that it produces radioactive materials which are very hazardous and biologically fatal. This may occur if there would be unwanted cracks or faults on the reactor. Like what happened to most abandoned Nuclear Reactors, earthquake is usually the main reason of flaws. Example of this is the latest incident in Fukushima and Onagawa, Japan after having been shaken by Sendai earthquake. But the worst scenario is an explosion of Nuclear Reactor Plant. It would deliver a tremendous amount of energy that could actually erase an entire city. It is, as if a Nuclear Bomb Explosion, more damage than its benefits. Below are the accidents and incidents in a Nuclear Reactor Power Plant;

Nuclear power station accidents and incidents Click heading to sort table. Download this data Year Incident INES level 5 Country IAEA description

Nuclear power station accidents and incidents Click heading to sort table. Download this data Year Incident INES level Country IAEA description

2011

Fukushima

Japan

Reactor shutdown after the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami; failure of emergency cooling caused an explosion Reactor shutdown after the 2011 Sendai earthquake and tsunami caused a fire Severe health effects for a worker at a commercial irradiation facility as a result of high doses of radiation Degraded safety functions for common cause failure in the emergency power supply system at nuclear power plant Thirty-five litres of a highly enriched uranium solution leaked during transfer

fuel pellets 1999 Tokaimura 4 Japan Fatal overexposures of workers following a criticality event at a nuclear facility Incident with radiography source resulting in severe radiation burns Loss of a highly radioactive Co-60 source Control rod malfunction Pressure buildup led to an explosive mechanical failure Spread of contamination to an area not expected by design Near accident caused by fire resulting in loss of safety systems at the nuclear power station Excessive heating which damaged ten fuel rods Widespread health and environmental effects. External release of a significant fraction of reactor core inventory Spherical fuel pebble became lodged in the pipe used to deliver

2011

Onagawa

Japan

1999

Yanangio

Peru

2006

Fleurus

Belgium

1999

Ikitelli

Turkey

1999 2006 Forsmark 2 Sweden

Ishikawa

Japan

1993

Tomsk

Russia

1993 2006 Erwin US

Cadarache

France

1989 2005 Sellafield 3 UK Release of large quantity of radioactive material, contained within the installation 1989 2005 Atucha 2 Argentina Overexposure of a worker at a power reactor exceeding the annual limit Nuclear material leak Partially spent fuel rods undergoing cleaning in a tank of heavy water ruptured and spilled

Vandellos

Spain

Greifswald

Germany

1986

Chernobyl

Ukraine (USSR)

2005 2003

Braidwood Paks 3

US Hungary

1986

HammUentrop

Germany

Nuclear power station accidents and incidents Click heading to sort table. Download this data Year Incident INES level Country IAEA description

Nuclear power station accidents and incidents Click heading to sort table. Download this data Year Incident INES level Country IAEA description

fuel elements to the reactor 1958 1981 Tsuraga 2 Japan More than 100 workers were exposed to doses of up to 155 millirem per day radiation Melting of one channel of fuel in the reactor with no release outside the site Severe damage to the reactor core 1957 1977 Jaslovsk Bohunice 4 Czechoslovaki a Damaged fuel integrity, extensive corrosion damage of fuel cladding and release of radioactivity 1957 1969 Lucens Switzerland Total loss of coolant led to a power excursion and explosion of experimental reactor 1952 1967 Chapelcross UK Graphite debris partially blocked a fuel channel causing a fuel element to melt and catch fire Sodium cooling system malfunction Error by a worker at a United Nuclear Corporation fuel facility led to an accidental criticality Partial core meltdown 1958

Laboratory Chalk River Canada Due to inadequate cooling a damaged uranium fuel rod caught fire and was torn in two During a subcritical counting experiment a power buildup went undetected - six scientists received high doses Significant release of radioactive material to the environment from explosion of a high activity waste tank. Release of radioactive material to the environment following a fire in a reactor core A reactor shutoff rod failure, combined with several operator errors, led to a major power excursion of more than double the reactor's rated output at AECL's NRX reactor

1980

Saint Laurent des Eaux

France

Vina

Yugoslavia

1979

Three Mile Island

US

Kyshtym

Russia

Windscale Pile

UK

Chalk River

Canada

1966

Monroe

US

1964

Charlestow n

US

1959

Santa Susana Field

US

Insights about the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (taken from the internet); Construction on the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant began in 1976. Following the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States, construction on the BNPP was stopped, and a subsequent safety inquiry into the plant revealed over 4,000 defects. Among the issues raised was that it was built near major earthquake fault lines and close to the then dormant Pinatubo volcano. By 1984, when the BNPP was nearly complete, its cost had reached $2.3 billion. AWestinghouse light water reactor, it was designed to produce 621 megawatts of electricity. Despite never having been commissioned, the plant has remained intact, including the nuclear reactor, and has continued to be maintained. The Philippine government completed paying off its obligations on the plant in April 2007, more than 30 years after construction began. On January 29, 2008, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes announced that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 8-man team led by Akira Omoto inspected the mothballed Bataan Nuclear power station on rehabilitation prospects. In preparing their report, the IAEA made two primary recommendations. First, the power plant's status must be thoroughly evaluated by technical inspections and economic evaluations conducted by a committed group of nuclear power experts with experience in preservation management. Second, the IAEA mission advised the Philippines Government on the general requirements for starting its nuclear power program, stressing that the proper infrastructure, safety standards, and knowledge be implemented. The IAEA's role did not extend to assessing whether the power plant is usable or not, or how much the plant may cost to rehabilitate.

Articles of 2011 Japan Incident (taken from the internet); Japan said workers who suffered burns while trying to cool a crippled reactor were exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than expected, adding evidence that the crucial containment vessel for nuclear fuel had been ruptured. Japan said workers who suffered burns while trying to cool a crippled reactor were exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than expected, adding evidence that the crucial containment vessel for nuclear fuel had been ruptured.

More than 700 engineers have been working in shifts around the clock to stabilize the six-reactor Fukushima complex but they pulled out of some parts when three workers replacing a cable at the No. 3 reactor were exposed to high contamination on Thursday, officials said. Two were taken to hospital with possible radiation burns after radioactive water seeped over their boots. "The contaminated water had 10,000 times the amount of radiation as would be found in water circulating from a normally operating reactor," said Japanese nuclear agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama. "It is possible that there is damage to the reactor." Officials have previously said that small explosions at the reactor could have damaged it, but the high seepage of radiation could imply worse damage than previously believed. But Hideo Morimoto, director at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, said it need not be a major setback. "I feel if the pressure vessel has been seriously damaged, then far more radiation would have leaked," he said. However, the No. 3 reactor is also the only one to use plutonium in its fuel mix, which is more toxic than the uranium used in the other reactors. U.N. nuclear watchdog IAEA said a total of 17 workers had received elevated levels of radiation, but said the other 14 did not suffer burns. Also on Friday, Japan prodded tens of thousands of more people living near Fukushima to leave, while China said two Japanese travellers arriving in the country were found to have exceedingly high radiation levels. "Tests showed that the two travellers seriously exceeded the limit," China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said, referring to radiation levels. The agency's statement said the two travellers, who arrived in the eastern city of Wuxi from Tokyo were given medical treatment and presented no radiation risk to others.

Until now, no one in Japan except workers at the stricken plant has been found with seriously elevated radiation levels, and Japan's foreign ministry noted that as of March 18 the International Civil Aviation Association had declared that screening of airline passengers from Japan was not necessary. Japan's chief cabinet secretary said 130,000 people living near Fukushima should consider leaving, although he insisted it was because getting supplies to the region was difficult and maintained it was not an evacuation order. "Given how prolonged the situation has become, we think it would be desirable for people to voluntarily evacuate in order to meet their social needs," Yukio Edano said. Japan evacuated a 20-km (12-mile) zone around the Fukushima nuclear plant after it was severely damaged by a killer earthquake and tsunami two weeks ago that also left more than 27,000 people dead or missing. Seventy thousand people left their homes. Edano has maintained there was no need currently to expand the evacuation zone, but an official at the Science Ministry confirmed that daily radiation levels in an area 30 km (18 miles) northwest of the plant exceeded the annual limit. Safety fears at the plant and beyond -- radiation particles have been found as far away as Iceland -- are compounding Japan's worst crisis since World War Two. As well as causing the most serious nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, the magnitude 9.0 quake and ensuing wall of water that tore in from the Pacific killed 9,811 people and left 17,541 more missing, according to latest police figures. Kyodo news agency said the death toll had topped 10,000.