Summary

Despite the many practical ways to make electrical power using nuclear reactors, the world seems to have settled on using water heated to a boil by nuclear fission as the method of choice. There are several sub-types of nuclear reactors presently being used as energy sources worldwide.

Nuclear Fission Reactors attempts to make sense of the technical chaos by breaking it down into small parts and explaining the purpose and function of each one. Readers are taken on a tour of a General Electric boiling water reactor plant, giving them a thorough understanding of nuclear power production. Covering such topics as air pollution, thermal pollution, the ultimate availability of uranium, fuel reprocessing, and the bottom-line cost of nuclear power, this new, full-color resource gives a detailed analysis of nuclear fission reactors with an index, glossary, chronology, and further resources. Although nuclear reactors have more moving parts, pipe-runs, and information-gathering systems than could be imagined 70 years ago, this comprehensive book makes this complicated technique understandable, filling in the thin spots in our collective knowledge.

Specifications

Full-color photographs and line illustrations. Index. Glossary. Chronology. Further print and Web resources.

About the Author(s)

James A. Mahaffey, Ph.D., has more than 25 years' experience as a senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, where he was engaged in a wide variety of projects, ranging from theoretical mathematics to nuclear science. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, he completed undergraduate and master's studies and earned a doctorate there in nuclear engineering. He was director of a long-term project to design and build the Emergency Response Data System at Georgia Power's Plant Hatch nuclear power station. He has also worked on projects for the Defense Nuclear Agency, the National Ground Intelligence Center, and the Air Force Air Logistics Center.