What The Tech?! Nuclear Energy

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15 Jun 2024

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Nuclear power offered the chance to harness the power of the atom.
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In today’s electronic world, it’s pretty easy to lose sight of how different things once were. We had the library before the internet, home phones before mobile devices and film before digital cameras.
It’s sometimes easier to think of these as simpler times but the reality is, they were important steps along the path that led to today's hyper-connected world. And the fact is that despite lacking mobile telephones, internet and other conveniences in the 1950s the world still had satellites, television cameras and nuclear energy.
In today's What the Tech?!, we’ll be looking at some of the contributions that nuclear energy has brought to the world, such as long-range spacecraft, nuclear disasters, and liquid metal-cooled reactors.

What is Nuclear Energy

We made earlier reference to the days way back when because early research was crucially important in proving the concept of nuclear energy and different types of radiation.
In fact, the actual concept of radioactivity was noted way back in 1895 when it was explored by Polish researcher Marie Curie. Curie, whose early work was completed with her husband Pierre, provided significant research material through her program which would eventually lead to the discovery of radioactive materials like uranium and plutonium. Another radioactive material that was discovered was curite, named after the Curies themselves.
Curie’s work was so important that she was eventually recognized for her work with a Nobel Prize, as well as the invention of the “Curie (Ci)” a unit of measurement for radiation. Throughout her career, Curie has been recognized with further awards and has been notable for her integrity in her work.
Marie Curie was internationally esteemed for her work. Source: Wikipedia
Eventually, with nuclear research increasing due to work conducted through the Manhattan Project, the concept of nuclear energy settled on two more common types.
Reactors of both the fixed and mobile types eventually would go on to power ships, towns, satellites and other important pieces of infrastructure. These are typically the most common systems that come to mind when discussing nuclear energy.
Due to high power requirements, soviet Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellites (RORSat) used nuclear energy. Source: Wikipedia.
Next up is Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTG), a system of power generation that harnesses the decaying energy of radioactive materials. Common during the Cold War and space race, these lesser-known systems still provided an important piece of the nuclear energy puzzle. We’ll look at those in more detail later on.
NASA’s interplanetary Voyager 2 spacecraft used RTG systems to travel deep into the solar system. Source: Wikipedia

Role In History

Despite being controversial in even today’s world, it’s hard to grasp just how important some of these systems were to humanity with many important fields being able to progress due to advances in nuclear science and physics.
In the military, we got nuclear submarines as well as nuclear icebreakers and mobile reactors that helped explore places like the Antarctic.
Nuclear Icebreakers were an important part of the soviet fleet. This is the YAMAL an Artika class vessel. Note the unique, rounded hull that's perfect for crushing thick pack ice. Source: Wikipedia.

In the medical arena, we have clearer and more accurate imaging, as well as new ways to effectively treat and diagnose cancer. And, in exploration, we got long-range spacecraft that helped us deepen our understanding of the universe. Finally, in the civilian world, we have stable and reliable energy that would help humanity get through the most inhospitable of conditions.
While much research would be carried out around military concepts, leading many militaries to reap the benefits of such research, it’s pretty fair to say that one of the greatest benefits offered to humanity by the concept of nuclear energy was the vast array of social benefits that were achieved by using some of this research for good.
The harnessing of nuclear energy for subsurface warfare would have lasting effects on the world. This is a British, Astute Class submarine. Source: Wikipedia
While many of these concepts would mostly revolve around the concept of some sort of reactor, it’s also not typically well-known how important the RTG system would end up being to society as well. These systems eventually would provide a legitimate means for spacecraft to achieve ultra-long-range flight over decades.
In the USSR, RTG systems were used to provide heat and electrical energy to many of the remote areas of the Siberian region as well as powering lighthouses and navigation lights at sea.
Soviet Era BETA-M RTG systems. Source: Wikipedia
Extremely useful when backed by Soviet logistics and engineering, the safe disposal of many of these systems became a far greater problem with the collapse of the USSR and the logistical problems that came along with that.

Controversy & Disasters

We said before that nuclear energy was controversial and it’s pretty fair to say that in the modern world that attitude hasn’t really changed much. While countries like New Zealand have attempted to ban nuclear weapons entirely, other countries have suffered both accidents and incidents that have led to a decrease in the public perception of nuclear safety.
The other issue that comes with nuclear energy systems is known as nuclear “waste”. A residual byproduct of producing nuclear energy or enriching uranium for weapons, nuclear waste is a controversial topic due to the long-lasting effect of some of the materials. Known as the material's “half-life”, this material is often highly radioactive and as a consequence must be stored for many many years before it has reduced enough to be considered safe.
The fuel that powered the soviet era RTG is strontium 90. As an example, its half-life is considered to be around 30 years, which is extremely small in radioactive terms. Uranium-238 however, has a half-life of around 4.5 billion years. A significant difference that as you’d imagine, can lead to some long-term storage issues.
In terms of disaster though, two critical events were hugely important in changing the way we treated and handled and perceived nuclear energy.
Chernobyl was the first and it provided the importance of transparency during a nuclear emergency as well as the first time instance of securing a nuclear disaster site over an extended period of time. Its proximity to large European cities helped raise awareness about the threat of atmospheric radiation.
The new sarcophagus provides safe management to Chornobyl for many decades to come. Source: Wikipedia
Fukushima was the second, and it showed the importance of having a proper disaster management plan in place for nuclear reactors as well as sparking important discussions around the viability and ethical ramifications that came with placing these types of systems into disaster-prone areas. Despite the damage done and the controversy that came from this, the strategies that were applied in the aftermath of the disaster led to a vast reduction in the possible damage that could have been done during such an event.
It’s pretty reasonable to expect that many heated discussions will continue to occur around the placement and safety of nuclear infrastructure the world over.

Future & Exotic Systems

Like many other fields, nuclear physics has also benefitted from advances in computing and design. This has led to a more modern approach around the new design ideals and has led to many more different and exotic approaches that have been researched around the concept of nuclear energy.
While some of these concepts probably require a literal physics degree to properly understand, if we’re talking in general terms what that typically means is that systems have become smaller, more stable and more efficient.
This means that systems like the US-designed Small Modular Reactor (SMR) are becoming more popular, as are reactors that use Low Enriched Uranium. This requires fewer manufacturing processes during the production stages although the system does come with some limitations that are inherent to its designs. Systems like these reached mainstream use during the French Nuclear Submarine program.
Some advocates believe that Small Modular Reactor designs can be part of the answer to climate change. Source: Wikipedia.
Probably one of the most interesting exotic reactor designs though, came at the peak of the Cold War from the USSR’s submarine arm.
Known in the USSR as Project 705 Lira (Лира), to NATO, it was known as the Alfa class submarine and as far as submarines go it was a monster.
Sporting a full titanium hull and a cutting-edge lead-bismuth-cooled nuclear reactor the Alfa class had performance stats that were almost ridiculous with a submerged test depth of over 350mtrs and a top speed in excess of 41 knots.
An Alfa class submarine is underway late in the Cold War. Source: Wikipedia.
However, this exotic design wasn’t without its problems as when cooled the lead-bismuth liquid would solidify inside the pipes. This meant that during maintenance and docking periods, heaters and heating infrastructure was needed to prevent the coolant from solidifying inside the reactor's cooling system. This approach was expensive and pretty incompatible with the post soviet era logistics and as such, the Alfa class’s time in service was short-lived.
Its place in the history books however, remains to this day, as its reputation as one of the fastest submerged warships ever built still remains unchallenged. A rather impressive effort all things considered.
What The Tech is our recurring, twice-monthly piece that looks at the technology that was essential in shaping our modern world.
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