“Someday man will harness the rise and fall of the tides, imprison the power of the sun, and release atomic power.’’

—Thomas Alva Edison

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Introduction

There is no doubt that energy has been driving and will drive the technological prog­ress of the human civilization. It is a very vital component for the economic devel­opment and growth, and thus our modern way of life. Energy has also been tied to the national security concerns. It has been projected that the world energy demand will almost double by the year 2040 (based on 2010 energy usage), which must be met by utilizing the energy sources other than the fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Fossil fuel power generation contributes to significant greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere and influences the climate change trend. Although several research and development programs (e. g., carbon sequestration and ultrasupercrit­ical steam turbine programs) have been initiated to make the fossil power genera­tion much cleaner, they alone will not be enough to fend off the bigger problem. Therefore, many countries worldwide have recognized the importance of clean (i. e., emission-free) nuclear energy, and there are proven technologies that are more than ready for deployment. The use of nuclear energy for the power genera­tion varies widely in different parts of the world. The United States produces about 19% (2005 estimate) of its total energy from nuclear sources, whereas France pro­duces ~79% and Brazil and India rely on the nuclear energy for only about 2.5% and 2.8% of their energy needs, respectively. Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and Ukraine produce 30%, 35%, 48%, and 40%, respectively, of their energy require­ments from the nuclear sources. It is important to note that the fast growing econo­mies like China, India, and Brazil produce relatively less electricity from the nuclear sources. Hence, there are tremendous opportunities for nuclear energy growth in these emerging economies as well as many other countries. Nuclear reactors have been built for the primary purpose of electricity production, although they are used for desalination and radioisotope production.

An Introduction to Nuclear Materials: Fundamentals and Applications, First Edition.

K. Linga Murty and Indrajit Charit.

© 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA. Published 2013 by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.

There are now about 440 nuclear power reactors worldwide generating almost 16% of the world electricity needs; among them, 104 nuclear reactors are in the United States. Since the first radioactive chain reaction that was successfully initiated at the University of Chicago research reactor in the 1940s, the field has seen an impressive growth until Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents happened. Following these incidents, the public confi­dence in the nuclear power dwindled, and the nuclear power industry saw a long stagnation. However, the US government’s decision to increase energy security and diversity by encouraging nuclear energy generation (as laid out in the US government’s Advanced Energy Initiative in 2005) has rekindled much hope for the revival of the nuclear power industry in the United States, and as a matter of fact, the Nuclear Renaissance has already begun — the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved an early site permit application for the Clinton Power Station in Illinois (Exelon Power Corporation) in March 2007. As the scope of the nuclear energy is expanded, the role of materials is at the front and center. Recent (2011) accidents in Japan due to earthquakes and tsunami are now pointing toward further safeguards and development of more resistant materials. Thus, this book is devoted to addressing various important fundamental and application aspects of materials that are used in nuclear reactors.

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