A complicated way of boiling water: nuclear safety in water history
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A complicated way of boiling water: nuclear safety in water history Siegfried Evens1 Received: 1 September 2020 / Accepted: 16 October 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Water and nuclear reactors are much closer intertwined than usually perceived. First, water is the source of the steam that drives the turbines of most nuclear power plants around the world. Next to generating electricity, water is the key to preventing accidents in nuclear plants. As uranium keeps on generating heat when the power plant is turned off, its core needs to be cooled continuously. This crucial connection between water and nuclear is focus of the paper. Nuclear safety will appear as relying heavily on earlier knowledge, institutions, and regulatory frameworks, which were related to water. The three parts of this article discuss technologies, actors and risks of nuclear power. Studying water as a resource in a much broader sense than being boiled for steam shows how determining water is to make nuclear power function. As this paper is part of a special issue, Water History in the time of COVID-19, it has undergone modified peer review.
Introduction A nuclear power plant is in fact just a very complicated way of boiling water. This humorous and perhaps slightly cynical statement is a common boutade among nuclear engineers. Yet, while it is certainly not an innocent one—it can be used to downplay the clearly major risks and apparent specificities of nuclear power plants—there is some truth in it. Most of the nuclear reactors that provide electricity to our homes today use enormous amounts of water. They are sited next to large water bodies, such as rivers, lakes, and seas, and use this water as a resource. To give an example: one reactor at the Forsmark nuclear power plant in Sweden takes in 50,000–60,000 L of water per second. Furthermore, the nuclear power This paper is part of a special issue, Water History in the time of COVID-19. This issue was designed to be a venue for scholars who had been planning on presenting their research at academic conferences that were postponed or cancelled due to the virus. We recognize the vital importance of conference presentations for us to get feedback on work in progress, to share promising projects, and to begin meaningful conversations with peers. This special issue has undergone modified peer review, and these essays are to be seen as works in progress rather than final results; the authors welcome your feedback, conversation, and engagement. * Siegfried Evens [email protected]; [email protected] 1
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
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plant of Forsmark has three reactors, so the entire plant probably takes in around 150,000 L of water per second.1 Why does a nuclear power plant need so much water? To generate electricity. When uranium atoms are split in the reactor core, an enormous amount of energy is released. The released energy heats up water, which is turned into steam. The energy from that steam then drives a turbine, which genera
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