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The Basics of Nuclear Power
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By
Lamya Tawfik** |
Apr
25, 2006 |
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Kofi Annan
Picture © Reuters
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Almost
a year ago, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan addressed the review
conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and painted a bleak picture of
what would happen if a "nuclear catastrophe" were to occur:
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Imagine,
just for a minute, what the consequences would be. Tens, if not hundreds, of
thousands of people would perish in an instant, and many more would die from
exposure to radiation.
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The
global impact would also be grave. The attention of world leaders would be
riveted on this existential threat. Carefully nurtured collective security
mechanisms could be discredited. Hard-won freedoms and human rights could be
compromised.
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The
sharing of nuclear technology for peaceful uses could halt. Resources for
development would likely dwindle. And world financial markets, trade and
transportation could be hard hit, with major economic consequences. This
could drive millions of people in poor countries into deeper deprivation and
suffering.
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As
shock gave way to anger and despair, the leaders of every nation represented
here at this conference - as well as those who are not here - would have to
ask: How did it come to this? Is my conscience clear? Could I have done more
to reduce the risk by strengthening the regime designed to do so? (UN
website)
That
year marked the 60th anniversary of the
US-bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and was the 10th anniversary of the
treaty's indefinite extension agreed upon in 1995 by the parties that signed the
treaty.
In
his speech last year, Annan challenged the 188 attendees to accept that
disarmament, non-proliferation and the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy
are vital. Annan also said that in order to be committed to a world free of
nuclear weapons nations needed to move beyond the "rhetorical flourish and
political posturing and to start to think seriously how to get there."
That
meeting failed to reach any substantive agreement. Despite having many items on
its agenda, including non-compliance, Iran, North Korea, nuclear terrorism,
disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the conference witnessed
division between regional and political groups.
The
failure of this meeting seems to forecast the doom of the treaty and its
inability to effectively deal with some of the nuclear challenges that face the
world today (NTI).
The
Science Behind It*
Nuclear
energy is formed through the artificially induced splitting of Uranium 235 and
Plutonium 239 atoms (fission). This fission produces energy and is released in
the form of heat, also known as nuclear energy.
Uranium
235 is only one of 16 different isotopes of uranium. Uranium 235 is fissile and
the number "235" refers to the number of particles in its nucleus (143
neutrons and 92 protons). Naturally found Uranium however is mostly Uranium 238
(there are only 7 U235 atoms among every 1,000 U atoms and the rest is U 238).
This is why a process of enriching Uranium is needed to create nuclear energy.
Uranium
enrichment is the removal or "weeding out" of other uranium atoms so
that there are at least 35 to 40 U-235 atoms for every 1,000 uranium atoms.
Using centrifuges is one method to enrich uranium. Uranium is spun very fast and
U-238 atoms are spun to the outer side of the centrifuge, because these are
heavier and is separated from U-235. This method for enrichment has been used by
Pakistan, India and North Korea. Iran is also building a centrifuge uranium
enrichment facility which it says will be used for peaceful energy (MSN
Encarta).
Other
methods of enriching uranium include gaseous diffusion (used
by the United States in the Manhattan
Project, see below) which uses great quantities of energy to
transform uranium into gas then pumps it into membranes that permit U-235 to
pass through more than others. This process increases the concentration of
uranium to the level required for the creation of nuclear artillery.
A
more technically challenging, harder to detect and less commonly used method of
enrichment is the use of laser. This process can be carried out in smaller
facilities that could be unnoticed by intelligence or the IAEA, making it
potentially hard to control proliferation (MSN Encarta).
Countries
which have large deposits of natural uranium are the United States, Australia,
Brazil, Canada, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Russia and South Africa.
Plutonium-239,discovered
in 1940, is another material that is fissile but is artificial, unlike Uranium.
It is less effective for the purposes of creating nuclear energy since it
requires being hit at a faster speed than U-235 to fission.
In
addition, it is more expensive and requires complex facilities to produce the a
bomb using Plutonium. The reactors are large, inconspicuous and hence easily
detectable. In 1981 an Iraqi nuclear reactor was hit by an Israeli air strike
that suspected plutonium production.
The
two elements are used in both nuclear reactors, which supply electrical energy,
as well as nuclear weapons. The difference between the two is the concentration
of the fissile material. For instance, in a reactor the concentration of U-235
reaches 3 to 4 percent but in a nuclear bomb, the concentration reaches 90
percent.
To
date, there are two types of nuclear bombs invented. The atom bomb (A-bomb) and
the hydrogen bomb (the thermonuclear bomb). The first type that use fission
energy have been used by the United States in 1945 in the bombing of Japanese
cities (see below).
The
hydrogen bomb is produced using a method called fusion. Hydrogen and Helium
atoms are brought together or 'fused' in a process that creates energy. The
detonation of a hydrogen bomb would require that an atom bomb be detonated first
to bring about the extreme heat and pressure conditions needed to induce fusion.
It has never been used so far.
To
create nuclear weapons, the country needs to first have access to uranium and
second, needs to have the industrial and scientific capability to enrich it.
Peaceful
Uses of Nuclear Energy
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Nuclear
power plant
Picture © Reuters
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Many
countries use peaceful uses of nuclear energy as an excuse to create nuclear
reactors on their territories.
In
a live dialogue with IslamOnline.net readers, Alan McDonald, the program liaison
officer in the Nuclear Energy Department of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) said that the peaceful applications that most people probably have
direct experience with are either cancer treatment or nuclear powered
electricity.
"Nuclear
technologies are used in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and some other
diseases. They are used to sterilize medical instruments and things like
cosmetics. They are used in smoke alarms. They are used for 'non-destructive
testing' to check welds and material in pipelines and other industrial
applications. They are used in gauges to, say, measure the thickness of aluminum
cans or to measure when bottles on an assembly line are full," McDonald
told IslamOnline.net.
"Nuclear
techniques are used to induce mutations in crops in the laboratory, that can
then be selectively bred to increase drought resistance or resistance to salty
soils and to improve yields. Nuclear techniques can be used to irradiate grain
and other foods in storage so they won't spoil. And it can be used to control
agricultural pests like the med-fly and tse-tse fly. It can also be used for
environmental monitoring and tracking groundwater resources. Finally it can be
used to generate electricity. It provides about 16 percent of the world's
electricity (IslamOnline.net)," McDonald added.
The
IAEA was established in 1957 and since the treaty was ratified, it assumed
responsibility as a safeguard system, conducting regular inspections to make
sure that uranium is only used for peaceful purposes.
To
ensure that the country is producing uranium for peaceful uses, samples of earth
near nuclear sites are tested for traces of uranium and the kind of uranium
found (whether or not these included weapon grade concentrations of U-235) will
give a clear indication of the purpose of the nuclear activity. In addition, to
find out if a country is concealing nuclear military activity, other indicators
could include bomb design information or material that is used exclusively for
its construction, e.g. beryllium or polonium (The Media Line).
Some
countries may avoid experimentation to evade international attention and reduce
the risk of criticism and diplomatic isolation (MSN Encarta). North Korea is an
example of such evasion. A nuclear weapon was designed in North Korea using
computer simulations, thus foregoing the need for nuclear experimentation.
A
Monster was Created
In
1939, the United States created a secret program called the Manhattan Project
which developed the world's first nuclear weapons. Six years later, the first
two bombs were used by the United States against Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki
on August 6 and August 9 respectively. The bombs, named "Little
Boy" and "Fat Man", were the only two atomic bombs ever used in
human history.
"Little
Boy" exploded about 600 meters above the city with a blast equivalent to 13
kilotons of TNT, killing around 70–80,000 people. About 90 percent of
Hiroshima's buildings were either damaged or completely destroyed (Wikipedia).
Subsequent deaths were a result of radiation poisoning raising the total number
of those who died in Hiroshima up to 90,000. Since then, about a thousand more
people have died of radiation-related causes.
The
"Fat Man", containing 6.4 kg of plutonium-239, exploded three days
later in Japanese city of Nagasaki. Nearly 40,000 died instantly and the number
of those who died of radiation poisoning brought the total number of fatality to
80,000.
Other
major nuclear disasters of the world include the explosion of the Chernobyl
nuclear reactor in the Ukraine in 1986, an accident resulting from negligence of
safety procedures.
Non
Proliferation Treaty: Access to Nuclear Weapons
Six
countries other than the United States have declared the possession of nuclear
weapons and have also conducted nuclear test explosions. These countries are:
Russia (test conducted by former USSR in 1949), Britain (1952), France (1960),
China (1964), India (peaceful nuclear explosion, 1974 and nuclear weapons test,
1998) and Pakistan (1998) (MSN Encarta).
Five
of these countries conducted tests before January 1, 1967, and were referred to
as the "Nuclear States" during the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty.
These states comprised of the United States, Soviet Union (Russia today),
Britain, France and China, all of which are also the five permanent states of
the United Nations Security Council.
Israel
is also believed to have nuclear weapons, although the state has not announced
their existence formally, nor conducted nuclear tests. South Africa completed
its first weapon in 1977, but dismantled it in the early 1990s. When the USSR
disintegrated in 1991, three of the 15 newly independent countries - Belarus,
Kazakhstan and Ukraine - had nuclear weapons on their territories. However,
these countries all transferred the said weapons to Russia in mid-1990s (MSN
Encarta).
Finland
was the first state to sign the NPT, which was proposed by Ireland in 1968. The
treaty was ratified in 1970 with 43 initial signatories. To date, 188 countries
have signed. The NPT "forbids member states without nuclear weapons from
developing them, provides assurance through the application of international
safeguards that peaceful nuclear programs in Non nuclear weapon states (NNWS)
will not be diverted to nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices,
facilitates access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy for all NNWS under
international safeguards and commits member states to pursue good faith
negotiations toward ending the nuclear arms race and achieving nuclear
disarmament (NTI)."
However,
the treaty is not without limitations. Article VI of the treaty commits nuclear
states to "pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating
to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear
disarmament." However, the nuclear powers claim they have done this by
reducing their warheads but critics say they have not really moved towards
nuclear disarmament (BBC News).
India,
Israel and Pakistan never joined the treaty thereby reserving their right to
develop the weapons legally. North Korea withdrew from the NPT on January 10,
2003 and its withdrawal became effective three months later as stipulated in the
treaty, on April 10, 2003.
In
addition, the treaty stipulates that countries have the right to pursue peaceful
uses of the energy but could be misused by these countries.
Click
here
for the full text of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons
Click
here
for the full list of countries that have nuclear weapons.
References:
**
Lamya Tawfik is a freelance journalist and a journalism instructor based
in Cairo, Egypt. She is pursuing a doctorate degree at the Institute for
Postgraduate Studies in Childhood, Ain Shams University. She can be reached at lamyatawfik@islamonline.net.
*
The Media Line
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