Page - 87 - in Water, Energy, and Environment - A Primer

When a heavy (i.e., high atomic weight) nucleus (such as uranium or plutonium) is hit by a neutron it can split (fission) into lighter nuclei (fission products) and release additional neutrons. The mass of these fission products and released neutrons is less than themass of the original target nucleus, and the lostmass is converted into energy according to the Einstein equation e=mc2. This energy manifests as heat in a nuclear power reactor in which the target fuel, enclosed in fuel rods, is surrounded by water. The heated water turns into steam which is then converted to electricity in a turbine-generator. The fission products are radioactive, some with extremely long half-lives, and must be separated from human or other ecosphere contact. 7.1.2 Introduction tonuclear issues I was reintroduced to the nuclear power issue in 1969 as a young physics professor at the University of Massachusetts. Given the strong feelings on all sides of the nuclear power debate, a fewwords on how I got into this issuemaybe helpful in understanding my personal views. I discussed this background in a 1982 speech at the University of Delaware (43), part ofwhich I reproducehere. ‘BeforeIget intothesubstanceofmytalk, letmetellyoualittleaboutmy background andmy involvement with energy issues. I am trained as a low-temperature solid-state physicist, who was happily engaged in teaching and setting up and operating a new laboratory at the University ofMassachusetts in 1969when I first became involvedwith energy as a social issue. New England utilities, because of heavy dependence on imported oil, had early on looked to nuclear power as a response to this dependence. As a result, organized opposition to nuclear power alsodeveloped early inNewEngland. Thus it was in December 1969 that a colleague in the physics department asked me to attend an all-day seminar on the problems of nuclear power, which he could not attend because of a prior commitment. I did so, more out of respect for my colleague than curiosity, but that event surely has had its impact onmy career. For the Nuclearpower 87