Misc
Which country mines the most uranium (yellowcake) ?
Kazakhstan
PWR, BWR, MSR, PHWR, SMR are all examples of what?
Reactors!
PWR - Pressurised Water Reactoer
BWR - Boiling Water Reactoer
MSR - Molten Salt Reactoer
PHWR - Small Modular Reactoer
SMR - Small Modular Reactoer
Natural uranium contains only about 0.7% of the fissile U-235 isotope. What is the technical term for the industrial process used to increase this percentage so the fuel can sustain a chain reaction in commercial light-water reactors?
Enrichment
This specific isotope of uranium that is the only naturally occurring fissile isotope. It makes up approximately 0.7% of natural uranium.
Uranium-235
Name one nation with nuclear weapons
Russia, UK, USA, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel (?), North Korea
Which country produces the largest percentage of its electricity demand for domestic consumption ?
France
What is the primary physical process used to generate electricity in all current commercial nuclear power plants?
Nuclear Fission
What is the approximate half-life of Plutonium-239, one of the primary components of high-level waste that dictates why deep geological repositories must be engineered to last for millennia?
24,000 years
Isotopes are different versions of the same chemical element. While they have the same number of protons, they have a different number of which subatomic particle?
Neutrons
In what year was the first nuclear test conducted ?
1945: The historic detonation occurred at 5:29 a.m. local time on July 16, 1945, in the Jornada del Muerto desert on the White Sands Missile Range in south-central New Mexico, USA.
How many nuclear-powered submarines does the UK currently have ?
9
4 - Ballistic Missile Submarines (SSBN), nuclear warheads, nuclear propulsion
5 - Attack Submarines (SSN), conventional warheads, nuclear propulsion
In a nuclear reactor, what is the primary function of control rods?
To absorb neutrons and regulate the rate of the chain reaction.
What is approximate cost of fuel in a commercial nuclear power plant ?
Cost per Megawatt-hour (MWh): The fuel cost to generate electricity in a commercial nuclear plant is only about $6.00 to $7.50 per MWh.
Cost per Kilowatt-hour (kWh): This translates to less than 1 cent per kWh on a utility bill.
When scientists refer to specific isotopes, like "Carbon-14" or "Uranium-235", what does the number at the end represent?
The atomic mass (or mass number), which is the total combined number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
Which substance is best taken immediately in the aftermath of a nuclear explosion to reduce the chances of thyroid cancer ?
Potassium Iodide (KI)
It can help block the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine. This happens because the thyroid has already absorbed the KI, and there is no room to absorb the radioactive iodine.
The Onkalo site, located near the Olkiluoto Nuclear Power Plant in Finland, represents a major milestone in global nuclear policy and engineering. What is this facility designed to be the world's first example of?
A permanent deep geological repository for high-level spent nuclear fuel. Burrowed deep into stable granite bedrock, it is designed to safely store nuclear waste for up to 100,000 years, completely isolating it from the human environment.
As of writing, what is the spot price for a pound of uranium ?
$85
MOX fuel is an alternative to traditional low-enriched uranium fuel, often used to recycle weapons-grade material or spent reactor fuel into usable energy. What does the acronym "MOX" stand for, and what two primary radioactive elements are blended to create it?
Mixed Oxide. It is a blend of uranium and plutonium (specifically, their oxides).
Which medication formed of cyanide compounds can be used in a radiation emergency to protect against ingestion of caesium-137 ?
Accidental ingestion of caesium-137 can be treated with Prussian blue which binds to it chemically and reduces its biological half-life to 30 days.
In which city is the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) based ?
Vienna, Austria
Discovered in 1972 in the African nation of Gabon, the Oklo mine is famous for hosting a unique geological and physical phenomenon that occurred roughly 2 billion years ago. What incredible event naturally took place there?
It was the site of the only known naturally occurring nuclear fission reactors. Billions of years ago, the concentration of Uranium-235 in the rock was high enough, and naturally pooling groundwater acted as a moderator, to allow self-sustaining nuclear chain reactions to occur without any human intervention.
The atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945—code-named "Fat Man"—unleashed an immense amount of energy, primarily measured in its TNT equivalent. How much was it?
TNT Equivalent: The estimated yield of the Nagasaki explosion was approximately 21 kilotons of TNT.
What is the name of the fuel that most new generation SMR's require ?
HALEU (High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium)
5-19.75%
Which radioactive isotope was used to assassinate Alexander Litvinenko?
Name one nation that voluntarily gave up nuclear weapons
South Africa, Kazakhstan, Ukraine