Nuclear Engineer

If you had to orbit the earth, travel to the moon or just hover around in the outer reaches of space, you might not have fared well with normal power generation systems. The far reaches of space, with a total lack of gravity and sheer, bone-chilling cold is quite an obstacle for carrying your favorite large diesel generator for producing electric power out there.

There ought to be some way out to counter that coldness, to counter the harsh radiation effects of the sun or Jupiter’s Razzle-dazzle or even those one-off comets and hurtling meteors. Something those satellites and space-borne airships have to use, since they are really out of solar energy and other normal generators
– Nuclear Power generation systems have served us with this onerous task of providing for energy for more than two decades and radioisotope thermoelectric generators are one such way of doing the same.

The Radioisotope Thermoelectric generator consists of two parts: One part which is responsible for producing heat and the other helps in converting this heat into electricity. The heat is produced due to its self – decaying intense radioactive waves by the plutonium – 238, a radioisotope. This resulting heat is converted by a thermo electric converter by utilizing the seebeck effect, a basic thermo electric principle, founded in 1822. A voltage is formed by the diffusion of electrons across the junction of two different metals which then forms a thermocouple.

This technology is now being used on space programs and the Galileo Mission, the Mars mission and more modern space programs have employed the nuclear technology for heat and electricity production. Other examples include the Pioneer, Viking, Voyager and Apollo Missions.

Safety is a major issue when it comes to producing nuclear energy and lack of adherence to safety norms has resulted in nothing less than fatality. However, radioisotope thermoelectric generators are relatively safer and need only to be contained within secure elements or shells to avoid contamination to the neighboring surroundings. These devices require no maintenance since there are no moving parts and can generate electricity for a number of years.

A constant demand for innovation in the way electricity has to be produced for different systems in a sheer variety of situations has made a wide range of types of generators to choose from. Complicated systems have evolved over time to cater to all kinds of electrical needs. RTGs are just the beginning.

Barney Garcia
http://www.articlesbase.com/technology-articles/radioisotope-thermo-electric-generators-the-new-science-nuclear-generators-71891.html

The global electric power landscape is changing fast, and increasingly, the action in it has been shifting to Asia. On average, in each of the last three years, China alone has added as much new generating capacity as all of existing capacity in Texas. The shift to Asia will continue.

CERA’s Dawn of a New Age scenarios project that Asia will account for well over half of the increase in worldwide power generation capacity over the next 25 years. By comparison, North America will claim only a little more than 10 percent.

This move toward Asia has big implications for everyone connected to the power industry-plant developers, fuel suppliers, equipment vendors, engineering and construction companies, service providers and, of course, investors.

The biggest factor in this change is China, which is industrializing on the strength of its vast coal reserves. Over the past three years, China added 200 gigawatts of coal-fired power-generating capacity.

This is equivalent to two-thirds of total U.S. coal-fired capacity, which, by comparison, was installed over the course of half a century. The Chinese government has ambitious plans to build more hydro, nuclear, renewable and gas-fired power plants to diversify its electricity sources.

But coal-indigenous, cheap and abundant-is set to dominate new power capacity in China for years to come.

China’s current path is much like the one taken by the United States several decades ago. Rising Chinese power demand comes from both strong economic growth and increasing electricity intensity-that is, the amount of electricity consumed per unit of economic activity. In the 1990’s, one percent real growth in Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) corresponded to 0.7 percent growth in electricity consumption.

But today, one percent GDP growth corresponds to 1.4 percent growth in electricity usage. China’s recent record of 10 percent annual growth in real GDP thus translates to double digit annual growth in electricity consumption.

Many forces contribute to increasing electricity intensity: infrastructure development to sustain high economic growth; China’s move up the value-added chain into energy-intensive manufacturing; and rising middle-class incomes, which now support larger dwellings, with a full complement of air conditioners and modern appliances.

If we look at in those terms, this pattern starts to look familiar. And it should. The United States experienced something like it half a century ago. In the 1960’s, coal-indigenous and abundant- was the leading option for expansion of U.S. power generation capacity. Real GDP grew 4.2 percent annually during that decade, while electricity consumption grew 7.3 percent, driven by industrial expansion, and by widespread adoption of air conditioning and electric heating.

Electricity consumption continued to grow faster than real GDP during the first half of the 1970’s. But this changed quickly after the first oil shock of the mid-1970’s. High oil prices led to improvements in end-use efficiency, and the recession of 1980-82 shook up the manufacturing sectors and led to the closing down of less competitive factories. These forces pushed growth in electricity demand below the rate of real GDP growth, where it remains today.

But China is still at the stage the U.S. was in the 1960’s and early 1970’s and so is likely to move along its current path of rapidly growing power demand for the coming decade, and perhaps longer.



What does the shift to Asia mean to those in the power business? Sustained economic growth in Asia has strengthened Asian power developers and produced financial institutions capable of handling the expansion of the Asian power system. Homegrown Asian firms are increasingly winning businesses away from their Western competitors.

In addition, heightened concerns for energy security have reinforced the government’s role in the power sector and an emphasis on using power generation equipment and design, engineering and construction services provided by Asian companies or by Western companies that work closely with Asian partners.

For example, China’s objective of self reliance means that all the resources needed for coal-fired power plants-such as plant design, boilers and turbines, and construction-are coming from Chinese companies.

Nuclear power development is proceeding along two tracks: indigenous reactor designs and resources on one, and imports of Western technologies with heavy technology transfer requirements on the other.

Sustained growth of the Chinese power sector, combined with the government objective of self reliance and technology transfer, will likely lead over the coming decade to the growth of strong local companies in equipment manufacturing, design and engineering, construction, services and project development.

These companies will compete not only in the domestic Chinese markets, but also in the regional Asian market. The rise of strong Asian competitors in the power sector will intensify competition for Western firms. Some Western firms have sought business opportunities in Asia through partnerships, but many have found it difficult to get a foot in the door, and as they share technology, they fear that they also risk strengthening their competitors.

Eventually, Western firms will face the prospect of competing with Asian players in Western markets. How will Western power companies respond?

Western utilities focusing on domestic markets will source components and services worldwide. Western firms that provide equipment and services will strive to maintain their competitive advantage by staying on the innovation frontier. Even with their much faster GDP growth, China and India will still have lower per capita income than North America and most of Western Europe for the next two decades.

Higher incomes in the West will support research, development and the use of advanced technologies, giving Western firms opportunities to stay at the technology frontier.

We can think of North American companies that are doing well amid fierce competition from Asia. These companies flourish not because they can pare costs to the bone, surviving on high volumes and thin margins, but because they remain at the frontier of technology and product design.

If Western firms in the electric power business can follow this strategy, they will find it a very competitive approach in a world of intensified competition.

Daniel Yergin
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/the-future-of-electricitycenter-of-gravity-shifting-to-asia-136901.html

This CD-ROM application is designed by colleges and e-learning experts for the education sector and is aligned to the core curriculum and syllabus at technical certificate and NVQ Level 2/3.

* Hours of interactive study time
* Easy to use and very cost effective
* Engaging and interactive
* Virtual reality game-based

It is intended to help simplify the process of understanding key concepts related to Gas and Plumbing, and it can be run in a classroom format or individually.

The programme content is divided into seven modules as follows:
* Module 1 – Introduction
* Module 2 – Health & Safety
* Module 3 – Soft Soldering Techniques
* Module 4 – Copper Tube Bending


* Module 5 – Core Gas Safety (Gas Controls)
* Module 6 – Central Heating Design Principles
* Module 7 – Condensing Combination Boilers

Our bespoke training packages are tailored to suit all domestic gas engineers, electricians and tutors. These innovative packages are developed by top experts and designed to test your comprehension, letting you learn at your own pace. Delivered on CD-ROM, they are a highly cost effective form of training. For more information please see our website: http://www.skills2learn.com

Duration : 0:1:7

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Technorati Tags: Bending, Boilers, Central, Certification, Combination, Condensing, Controls, Copper, core, Design, Gas, health, Heating, NVQ, Plumbing, Principles, safety, Skills2Learn, Soft, Soldering, Techniques, training, Tube

A short introductory film which emphasises that Export Control is a serious responsibility which affects us all. Find out more and take appropriate action where necessary.

Export Control Organisation (ECO) is the UK’s licensing authority responsible for assessing and processing export control licences for so-called “strategic” goods. A wide range of items fall under Export Control Legislation including so-called dual-use goods (such as nuclear, chemical or communications goods), torture goods, radioactive sources, as well as military items (such as firearms and ammunition).Companies looking to export are advised to contact the ECO for advice and if necessary apply for a licence.

For more information visit:
www.berr.gov.uk/exportcontrol
Or email: eco.help@berr.gsi.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7215 4594
To apply for a licence:

https://www.spire.berr.gov.uk

A transcript is available here:
http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file51298.doc

Duration : 0:8:23

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Technorati Tags: Arms Trade, BERR, BERRTUBE, Business, Chemicals, Defence, Export Control, Exports, industry, International, Legislation, military, Nuclear, Trade, WMD

The elimination of the B53 by Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is consistent with the goal President Obama announced in his April 2009 Prague speech to reduce the number of nuclear weapons. The President said, “We will reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, and urge others to do the same.” The dismantlement of the last remaining B53 ensures that the system will never again be part of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile.

As a key part of its national security mission, NNSA is actively responsible for safely dismantling weapons that are no longer needed, and disposing of the excess material and components.

Duration : 0:5:52

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Technorati Tags: air, atomic, b53, Barack, bomb, cold, force, history, military, nnsa, Nuclear, Obama, pantex, physics, technology, texas, war, weapon, weapons, workers

Press the cc button on the player to view the translation…

Terrorists – from the Syrian opposition – assassinated another scientist; this time they assassinated the nuclear engineer “Aws Abdel Karim Khalil” who works for Al-Baath university in Homs…

They shot him directly in the head as he was accompanying his wife to work…

Duration : 0:1:52

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Technorati Tags: Abdel, Arabiya, army, Asad, Aws, democracy, demonstration, Engineer, Freedom, Homs, Jazeera, Karim, Khalil, media, mislead, Nuclear, peaceful, Syria, Syrien, terrorism, terrorists

Post Fukushima: All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men…

http://fairewinds.com/content/post-fukushima-all-kings-horses-and-all-kings-men

Fairewinds’ Chief Engineer Arnie Gundersen testifies to the NRC Petition Review Board detailing why the 23 BWR Mark 1 nuclear power plants should be shut down following the accidents at Fukushima. True wisdom means knowing when to modify something and knowing when to stop. Sometimes, all the King’s horses and all the King’s men should not try to put Humpty Dumpty together again.

Archived webcast of Beyond Nuclear’s emergency enforcement petition to NRC on Mark 1s now available
The archived webcast of Beyond Nuclear’s October 7th, 2011 NRC Petition Review Board meeting on its 10CFR2.206 emergency enforcement petition is now available. Beyond Nuclear was joined by numerous allies from various grassroots anti-nuclear groups who live in the shadows of General Electric Mark 1 boiling water reactors — identical twins to the design at Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4.

http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nrc/2011/10/11/archived-webcast-of-beyond-nuclears-emergency-enforcement-pe.html

excellent new source for Fukushima Updates

http://fukushimaupdate.com/

*Note: Single radiation dose of 2,000 millisieverts (200,000 millirems) and above causes serious illness. See also exposure list below.
Half-life of some radioactive elements

[NOTE: Half-life is the time taken for a radioactive substance to decay by half.] * Cesium-134 ~ 2 years * Cesium-137 ~ 30 years * Iodine-131 ~ 8 days * Plutonium-239 ~ 24,200 years * Ruthenium-103 ~ 39 days [Ruthenium is a fission product of uranium-235.] * Ruthenium-106 ~ 374 days * Strontium-90 ~ 28.85 years [Strontium-90 is a product of nuclear fission and is found in large amounts in spent nuclear fuel and in radioactive waste from nuclear reactors.] * Uranium-234 ~ 246,000 years * Uranium-235 ~ 703.8 million years * Uranium-238 ~ 4.468 billion years

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Agenda 21, Read it.
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/english/Agenda21.pdf

Duration : 0:6:30

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Technorati Tags: arnie arnold gundersen, boiling water reactors, burn, bwr, containment overpressure, dai-ichi, daichi, Daiichi, fairewinds and assoc., Fire, fuckushima, Fukushima, mark1 mark 1 reactors, melt out, melt through, mox fuel, NRC, pilgrim, plutonium, pressure, pressure vessel, radiation, release stack, unsafe design, us, usa

this is my story it has to be three pages long. it is an english assessment so i had no choice but to shorten it i have no desire to become an author but maybe helping me out will improve my grade

Illusion of the mind
Chapter 1
Darkness surrounded me like a thick fog making it impossible to see. I stretched my arms out in front of me in vain; hoping to find a way out of this labyrinth, a bead of sweat trickled down my forehead. I’ve been here before I know I have I just don’t know when it’s like a memory lost in the sea of my mind. I was hesitant to continue on, I sensed a presence behind me……suddenly I felt as if there were a blade pressed against my throat daring me to move, the cold piece of metal was taunting me almost dancing on my neck swaying side to side, waiting for the right moment to strike, Gripped by fear I was released only to find…………………………………
The sound of the bell rang throughout the school bouncing across the corridors thus piercing the ears of the pupils and teachers, conclusively bringing me back to reality. I instinctively grabbed my throat as if the knife was still compelled against it, I sighed had I been sleeping in class again well I’d been prone to nightmares ever since I was a little…….
‘MISS JONES!’
A stern voice interrupted my thoughts. I turned slowly almost dramatically to face my teacher who was absolutely seething with rage.
‘How would you like to take a trip to the head masters office after school’ yelled miss bevja
‘WHAT’ I replied
‘I don’t know where you THINK you are but we do not tolerate sleeping in class’
Why did I feel like it was the end of that conversation, I felt as if she only picks on me!
‘She is such a stupid cow’ Kate whispered under her breath, but to her dismay Miss Bevja heard.
‘What did you say!’ bellowed Miss Bevja
‘Ummmmm….nothing ‘Kate replied
I almost laughed as if she’d believe that pathetic excuse.
‘Well done Miss Gardener you’ve won yourself a trip to the principal’s office too’
I groaned I really hate it when teachers punish you but act as if you are being praised.
Kate took it surprisingly well but when I saw her clenching her fist I knew that she was restraining herself from punching out a couple of misses teeth

I yawned as miss resumed teaching .The day slipped by and soon it was the end of the day…..for most kids, time to have a ‘talk’ with the head teacher. Kate and I were walking down the hall, although she was talking to me, I barley heard a thing my mind was replaying the dream I had, what it meant as I did the previous times, before I could explore it further Kate was called in.
‘Miss Gardner the principle will see you now’ said the PA assistant.
‘Wish me luck’ she murmured
I sniggered how could she be so cool with it, I was sweating so much I could barely see! I stared at the clock intently counting the seconds go by until I couldn’t bear it any longer ,what was she taking so long for, the PA assistant was on coffee break so I crept up to the door of the principal’s office and listened.
‘You can’t do that, she deserves to know!!!’
That was Kate.
‘Don’t be ridiculous she is doing fine we don’t have to risk exposing her or they WILL find her’
‘They know she is the key there is no way we can hide her’
‘T here is no need to hide her if she gone’
‘What are you saying……?’
‘Well….. it’s come to my attention that people have found new ways to track people down and well it’s time to take out the trash’ he reasoned
What were they on about? My stomach clenched up like my fist and I suddenly felt sick.
‘What! Do you mean kill…’ I heard the words choke in her throat
‘I am sorry there is no other way’
‘Just list…’
‘No scarlet will cease to exist by morning its over’ he roared
‘Her safety was put into our hands ‘Kate cried
‘And we will do with it what we please’ he replied
I gasped…a little too loud
‘For all we know she could be listening to us right….now’
sorry too much word i can’t fit the second chapter here is the question you should write to find chapter two…Chapter two my story hope you finsh it before commenting

Oooh! I’m seriously intrigued by the storyline! Punctuation needs working on though, but maybe that’s just ’cause you typed it up :L
Has great potential and only needs the teeniest tweak here and there.

=) and thanks for reading mine x

Did You Know?

Did you know that non-Jewish Israelis cannot buy or lease land in the Zionist entity?

Did you know that Palestinian license plates in Zionist entity are color coded to distinguish jews from non-jews?

Did you know that Israel allots 85% of the water resources for jews and the remaining 15% is divided among all Palestinians in the territories? For example in Hebron, 85% of the water is given to about 400 settlers, while 15% must be divided among Hebron’s 120,000 Palestinians?

Did you know the United States awards the israel $5 billion in aid each year?

Did you know that yearly US aid to israel exceeds the aid the US grants to the whole African continent?

Did you know that the israel is the only country in the Middle East that has nuclear weapons?

Did you know that the israel is the only country in the Middle East that refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections from its sites?
Did you know that israel currently occupies territories of two sovereign nations (Lebanon and Syria) in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions?

Did you know that israel has for decades routinely sent assassins into other countries to kill its political enemies?

Did you know that high-ranking military officers in the israeli Defense Forces have admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war were executed by the IDF?
Did you know that israel refuses to prosecute its soldiers who have acknowledged executing prisoners of war?

Did you know that israel routinely confiscates bank accounts, businesses, and land and refuses to pay compensation to those who suffer the confiscation?

Did you know that israel blew up an American diplomatic facility in Egypt and attacked a U.S. ship in international waters, killing 33 and wounding 177 American sailors?
Did you know that the second most powerful lobby in the United States, according to a recent Fortune magazine survey of Washington insiders, is the jewish AIPAC?
Did you know that israel stands in defiance of 69 United Nations Security Council Resolutions?

Did you know that today’s israel sits on the former sites of more than 400 now-vanished Palestinian villages, and that the israeli’s re- named almost every physical site in the country to cover up the traces?

Did you know that it was not until 1988 that israelis were barred from running "jews Only" job ads?

Did you know that four prime ministers of israel (Begin, Shamir, Rabin, and Sharon) have taken part in either bomb attacks on civilians, massacres of civilians, or forced expulsions of civilians from their villages?

Did you know that the israeli Foreign Ministry pays two American public relations firms to promote israel to Americans?
Did you know that Sharon’s coalition government includes a party — Molodet — which advocates expelling all Palestinians from the occupied territories?
Did you know that israel’s settlement-building increased in the eight years since Oslo?

Did you know that settlement building under Barak doubled compared to settlement building under Netanyahu?

Did you know that israel once dedicated a postage stamp to a man who attacked a civilian bus and killed several people?

Did you know that recently-declassified documents indicate that David Ben-Gurion in at least some instances approved of the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948?
Did you know that despite a ban on torture by israel’s High Court of Justice, torture has continued by Shin Bet interrogators on Palestinian prisoners?

Did you know that Palestinian refugees make up the largest portion of the refugee population in the world?

And finally do you know who is the terrorist now ?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article6558.htm

I knew about all of these and tell other people. Unfortunately, people ignorantly give Israelis a permanent "get out of jail free" card regardless of how repugnant, murderous and terroristic their actions are.

No doubt you have been call "anti-semetic" as much as I have for saying these things, and no doubt you defend Israel’s right to exist, as I do.

Oh, that’s right: any criticism of Israel means you’re a "nazi", no matter how factual your words are….

Do you feel that people’s safety is compromised when they live near a nuclear power plant?

Just let’s say; I would never live near them if I could possibly avoid it. It’s not worth the risk.