Section 1. Introduction. Ionizing Radiation and its Effects on People and Environment
The value of the course and its content. World Energetic. Sources of energy. Global and national challenges in the field of energetic and environment. Basic terms and definitions in the field of radiation safety and protection against ionizing radiation. Basic dose limits set by Radiation Safety Standards (RSS). Connection between SI and off-system units. The history of the international organizations in the field of radiation protection against ionizing radiation. The International Commission on Radiological Protection. The Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation. The mechanism of ionizing radiation effects on living organisms. Features of ionizing radiation effects. Classification of the possible effects of radiation on humans. Permissible occupational radiation doses. Ways of exposure of radiation on humans. Natural sources of radiation of cosmic and terrestrial origin. Artificial sources of radiation in the environment and their sources. The average annual radiation dose of the population by its various components. Section 2. Technology fundamentals of mining and milling of uranium ores
Uranium ores and minerals. Ore grades. World reserves of uranium. Hydrometallurgical processes of ores milling. Mining and transportation. Ore reduction, grinding. Ore enrichment. Leaching of uranium from the ore mass with acids and alkalis. Selective separation of uranium from solutions or slurries by sorption, extraction and chemical precipitation. Producing of dry uranium concentrate with content in terms of uranium oxide-75% and higher. Extraction of incidental compounds. The production of pure uranium compounds (affinage). Environmental issues related to uranium mining and its hydrometallurgy.
Section 3. Fundamentals of Enrichment
Uranium hexafluoride and its basic properties. Production of uranium hexafluoride. Sublimation. Separation and enrichment factor. General characteristics of separation plants. Method of gaseous diffusion. Membrane filters. Separation stages. Centrifugation. Other methods for aerodynamic separation of uranium isotopes. Laser isotope separation. Chemical exchange. Waste of separation production and radioecological consequences of uranium enrichment.
Section 4. Fundamentals of Fuel Production
Oxide fuel. Nuclear fuel treatment: preparation of oxide fuel powders by converting uranium hexafluoride into uranium dioxide (ADU and AUC processes), grinding, final output control and gathering of pellets for fuel elements. Preparation of tubular-type fuel elements: production scheme of thin-walled tabular cladding of fuel rods. Equipment of fuel elements: the dosage and arrangement of pellets in the fuel elements, setting the end caps in place, filling tubes with helium, welding the end caps to ensure hermiticity, inspecting the quality of fuel elements. Assembly of fuel elements into the fuel assemblies: ways of connecting fuel elements in the fuel assemblies, technological methods of one-piece and separable assembly connections. Environmental aspects of fuel elements production.
Section 5. Nuclear Reactors and their Use for Energy Production
Basic principles of energy production in a nuclear reactor. Main components of a nuclear reactor: fissile material, moderator of fast neutrons, cooling system, safety system, system of regulation. Core. Requirements for fuel elements of a reactor core. Types of nuclear reactor coolants and their characteristics. Classification of the reactors according to purpose and capacity, core layout, the number of cooling circuits etc. Converter and breeder reactors. Thermal discharge of nuclear power plants. Light-water reactors: reactors with pressurized water (PWR), boiling water reactors (BWR). Heavy water reactor of the CANDU type. Gas-cooled reactors of the Magnox type, AGR, HTGR. Sodium-cooled nuclear power plants. Prospective NPP. International GIF and INPRO projects. Prospects of using plutonium and thorium for fuel cycles. MOX fuel. BREST reactor and closed nuclear fuel cycle. Prospect of a nuclear-hydrogen energetic. Small nuclear power reactors. Transport reactors. Cosmic reactors. Prospects of fusion energetic.
Section 6. Major Nuclear Accidents
Possible hypothetical accidents in nuclear reactors. A typical sequence of events for the accident at water-cooled reactor with melted core. Severe accident in gas-cooled reactors of MAGNOX and AGR type. Severe accident in a fast reactor with sodium coolant. Fire in the Windscale reactor. Three Mile Island accident. Chernobyl accident. BWR design defects. The consequences of major NPP accidents. Fukushima accident.
Section 7. Fuel Reprocessing
Liquid and dry reprocessing methods. Optimal exposure time of irradiated fuel assemblies (IFA) in spent fuel storage pools. IFA transportation, storage in the reprocessing plant. Mechanical cutting. Aqueous reprocessing methods based on the use of liquid countercurrent extraction. Distribution coefficient. Extraction and re-extraction. Difficulties in cleaning of the working solutions of zirconium, niobium and ruthenium. Reprocessing capacity of IFA existing in the world. Prospects of recycling. Environmental aspects connected with the reprocessing of irradiated nuclear fuel.
Section 8. Handling with Irradiated Fuel and Radioactive Waste
Purposes and principles of radioactive waste management. Collection and sorting of radioactive waste. Reduction of volume and disposal of radioactive waste. Conditioning of radioactive waste. Temporary storage of radioactive waste. Storage and disposal of radioactive waste. Requirements for storage and disposal. Engineering protection barriers. Geological barriers. Geological formations recommended for storage construction. Choosing a site for disposal facility. Classification of storage and disposal facilities. Near-surface storage. Poorly-depth storage. Mid-depth storage. Burial storage. Geological (depth) storage. Features of liquid radioactive waste storage. Features of IFA storage. Alternative types of disposal. Monitoring of storage. Environmental aspects of storage and disposal of radioactive waste and IFA.
Section 9. Use of Nuclear Technologies for the Purposes not related to the Production of Electricity
Research reactors and their application. The use of radionuclides in industry, geology, medicine, biology and other fields. Nuclear researches (nuclear physics, nuclear chemistry, etc.). Types of accelerators. Neutron generators and their applications. Equipment for nuclear researches. Nuclear reactions and methods of radioisotopes production. Categorization of radioactive sources. Table of isotopes, characterization of sources.
