Turkey, with a robust modern economy and growing energy needs, is pursuing a switch to nuclear power. But that shift is occurring in an environment fraught with security challenges: Turkey borders Iraq, Syria, and Iran-all states with nuclear or WMD ambitions or capabilities. As a NATO member, Turkey also hosts U.S. nuclear bombs on its territory, although some question the durability of this relationship. This dynamic has naturally led to speculation that Turkish leaders might someday consider moving beyond a civilian course to develop nuclear weapons. Yet there has been remarkably little informed analysis and debate on Turkey's nuclear future, either within the country or in broader international society. This volume explores the current status and trajectory of Turkey's nuclear program, adding historical perspective, analytical rigor, and strategic insight.

The development and implementation of an appropriate infrastructure to support the successful introduction of nuclear power and its safe, secure, peaceful and sustainable application is an issue of central concern, especially for countries that are considering and planning their first nuclear power plant. In preparing the necessary nuclear infrastructure, there are several activities that need to be completed. These activities can be split into three progressive phases of development. This publication provides a description of the conditions expected to be achieved by the end of each phase to assist with the best use of resources. 'Milestones' refer to the conditions necessary to demonstrate that the phase has been successfully completed.

The present report is a revision of Safety Series No. 75-INSAG-3 (1988), updating the statements made on the objectives and principles of safe design and operation for electricity generating nuclear power plants. It includes the improvements made in the safety of operating nuclear power plants and identifies the principles underlying the best current safety policies to be applied in future plants. It presents INSAG's understanding of the principles underlying the best current safety policies and practices of the nuclear power industry.

The United States of America ratified the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (Joint Convention) in April 2003. The Joint Convention establishes an international peer review process among Contracting Parties and provides incentives for nations to take appropriate steps to bring their nuclear activities into compliance with general safety standards and practices. The U.S. participated in Review Meetings of the Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention in November 2003, May, 2006, and May 2009, in Vienna, Austria. This Fourth Report, an update of the U.S. National Report prepared under the Joint Convention in September 2011, documents spent fuel and radioactive waste management safety in the U.S. under the terms of the Joint Convention. It was prepared by the U. S. Government for review by the Contracting Parties.

Nuclear sites become contaminated with radionuclides due to accidents and activities carried out without due consideration for the environment. Naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORM) released by industrial processes such as coal power production and fertilizer manufacture may also require clean-up. Environmental remediation and restoration aim to reduce exposure to radiation from contaminated soil or groundwater. This book provides a comprehensive overview of this area. Part 1 provides an introduction to the different types of contaminated site and their characteristics. Part 2 addresses environmental restoration frameworks and processes. Part 3 then reviews different remediation techniques and methods of waste disposal.

as this paper goes to press, Iran has just come through its longanticipated presidential election. despite predictions of a victory for a well-known clerical "moderate," former president and expediency council head akhbar hashemi-rafsanjani, the winner was the hard-line conservative mayor of tehran, Mahmoud ahmadinejad, a relative unknown. the terms hard-liner and conservative are used virtually interchangeably by many inside and outside Iran; they are relative terms, since there are no political parties in Iran, with their meaning dependent on context and issue. the election consolidated control of all branches of the Iranian government-legislative, executive, and judicial-in conservative hands. It also brought to the presidency for the first time in the republic's history a non-cleric who ran a populist-style campaign attacking corruption and non-Islamic practices that had crept into government since the death of the ayatollah Khomeini in 1989.

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and the earthquake that forced the North Anna, VA, nuclear power plant's temporary shutdown have focused attention on the seismic criteria applied to siting and designing commercial nuclear power plants. Some Members of Congress have questioned whether U.S nuclear plants are more vulnerable to seismic threats than previously assessed, particularly given the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) ongoing reassessment of seismic risks at certain plant sites. The design and operation of commercial nuclear power plants operating in the United States vary considerably because most were custom-designed and custom-built. Boiling water reactors (BWRs) directly generate steam inside the reactor vessel. Pressurized water reactors (PWRs) use heat exchangers to convert the heat generated by the reactor core into steam outside of the reactor vessel. U.S. utilities currently operate 104 nuclear power reactors at 65 sites in 31 states; 69 are PWR designs and the 35 are BWR designs. One of the most severe operating conditions a reactor may face is a loss of coolant accident (LOCA), which can lead to a reactor core meltdown. The emergency core cooling system (ECCS) provides core cooling to minimize fuel damage by injecting large amounts of cool water containing boron (borated water slows the fission process) into the reactor coolant system following a pipe rupture or other water loss. The ECCS must be sized to provide adequate makeup water to compensate for a break of the largest diameter pipe in the primary system (i.e., the socalled "double-ended guillotine break" (DEGB)). The NRC considers the DEGB to be an extremely unlikely event; however, even unlikely events can occur, as the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck Fukushima Daiichi proves. U.S. nuclear power plants designed in the 1960s and 1970s used a deterministic statistical approach to addressing the risk of damage from shaking caused by a large earthquake (termed Deterministic Seismic Hazard Analysis, or DSHA). Since then, engineers have adopted a more comprehensive approach to design known as Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA). PSHA estimates the likelihood that various levels of ground motion will be exceeded at a given location in a given future time period. New nuclear plant designs will apply PSHA. In 2008, the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) updated the National Seismic Hazard Maps (NSHM) that were last revised in 2002. USGS notes that the 2008 hazard maps differ significantly from the 2002 maps in many parts of the United States, and generally show 10%-15% reductions in spectral and peak ground acceleration across much of the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS), and about 10% reductions for spectral and peak horizontal ground acceleration in the Western United States (WUS). Spectral acceleration refers to ground motion over a range, or spectra, of frequencies. Seismic hazards are greatest in the WUS, particularly in California, Oregon, and Washington, as well as Alaska and Hawaii. In 2010, the NRC examined the implications of the updated NSHM for nuclear power plants operating in the CEUS, and concluded that NSHM data suggest that the probability for earthquake ground motions may be above the seismic design basis for some nuclear plants in the CEUS. In late March 2011, NRC announced that it had identified 27 nuclear reactors operating in the CEUS that would receive priority earthquake safety reviews.

Interpreting nuclear regulations for nuclear power plants is a difficult and complex task. There is no single book that describes a proper method for this purpose, until now. This book describes a complete process for regulatory interpretation and demonstrates its application. This book is not meant as a practice guide for lawyers. This book is intended for individuals with technical backgrounds who want to learn a structured means of interpreting nuclear laws and regulations following principles generally consistent with those that would be employed by lawyers and judges.

This book deals with urgent and timely issues related to radiation health effects and protection that are examined by both young researchers as well as experts. The book is organized into three major sections: biological responses, population monitoring and approaches to protection from radiation exposure. Contributors have provided state of the art research in their respective chapters. Radiation action produces damage to multiple targets in the exposed cells or human body and understanding of molecular mechanisms of the underlying processes becomes central to the monitoring of effects and health consequences of radiation exposure. Many experts have highlighted the outcome of epidemiological studies on human populations in high background radiation areas in different locations around the world as well as consequences and scopes for mitigating radiation health effects after radiation accidents such as Chernobyl in Ukraine and the Fukushima Daiichi Accident in Japan. This book also provides important direction for treatment of radiation for exposed victims. In the concluding chapters, contributors have provided new approaches for protection against ionizing radiation exposure. This book contains rich content on basic aspects of radiation induced cellular response which may give deeper insight to beginners in research, teaching, industry and regulatory authorities for basic understanding of radiobiological processes and molecular mechanisms. The book will prove an authentic reference source for updates in radiation science. It is hoped that students, teachers, experts, safety officers, regulatory officials and policy-makers will find the book handy for gaining a broad view of radiation damage to biological systems, monitoring health consequences and for new approaches in developing effective protection against radiation exposure.

The magnitude 9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on March 11, 2011, claiming over 20,000 lives. It crippled the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, whose hydrogen-air explosions contaminated wide areas around Fukushima with radionuclides. The number of evacuees initially totaled 328,903, but has been reduced to 263,392 as of February 13, 2014. More than half of the evacuees (132,500) consist of Fukushima residents, and 67% of whom have experienced mental or physical disorders. Indeed, refugee life is so difficult that many Fukushima families have been affected by suicide, divorce, separation of family members, migration and settlement to other places, mental illness, etc. The difficulty is caused by the fear of low-dose radiation induced by the LNT model which claims that radiation cancer risk is linearly proportional to dose without any threshold. Careful scrutiny of the model, however, clearly indicates that the linearity is invalid; low dose radiation is not hazardous, but is even beneficial or hormetic because of the adaptive response to radiation. This book provides ample evidence to negate the LNT model. This book is primarily compiled to get rid of the spell of the LNT model and release Fukushima people from undue torture. The book would also be useful to the public in general who have CT scans and have concerns. In addition, the people who use radiation world-wide such as nuclear power plant workers, radiation researchers, radiologists, and X-ray operators would be relieved to learn from reading this book that the alleged risk of low-dose radiation is illusionary and that the low-dose radiation is even beneficial. Policy makers of nuclear energy and radiation who are working for governmental and/or regulatory agencies are also recommended to read this book. Severe guidelines from a safety standpoint sometimes entrap people into a fear-stricken situation rather than save them, as no one was killed by radiation directly, but more than 1,000 people have been killed by the fear of radiation secondarily in Fukushima. By the same token, this book is recommended to civil activists and journalists who emphasise dangers of low-dose radiation and raise fear of low-dose radiation. It is the time to shed new scientific light on the outdated LNT model.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant explosions and the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombings are intimately connected events, bound together across time by a nuclear will to power that holds little regard for life. In Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization? contributors document and explore diverse dispossession effects stemming from this nuclear will to power, including market distortions, radiation damage to personal property, wrecked livelihoods, and transgenerational mutations potentially eroding human health and happiness. Liberal democratic capitalism is itself disclosed as vulnerable to the corrupting influences of the nuclear will to power. Contributors contend that denuclearization stands as the only viable path forward capable of freeing humans from the catastrophic risks engineered into global nuclear networks. They conclude that the choice of dispossession or denuclearization through the pursuit of alternative technologies will determine human survival across the twenty-first century.

Interpreting nuclear regulations for nuclear power plants is a difficult and complex task. There is no single book that describes a proper method for this purpose, until now. This book describes a complete process for regulatory interpretation and demonstrates its application. This book is not meant as a practice guide for lawyers. This book is intended for individuals with technical backgrounds who want to learn a structured means of interpreting nuclear laws and regulations following principles generally consistent with those that would be employed by lawyers and judges.

The NASA History Program was first established in 1959 (a year after NASA itself was formed) and has continued to document and preserve the agency's remarkable history through a variety of products. The NASA History Division serves two key functions: fulfilling the mandate of the 1958 "Space Act" calling for NASA to disseminate aerospace information as widely as possible, and helping NASA managers understand and thus benefit from the study of past accomplishment and difficulties. NASA publishes documents on topics such as: Documentary History, Memoirs, Aeronautics and Space Report of the President, and many more. This is one of those documents.

Provides timely and up-to-date facts, context, perspectives, and tools to make informed decisions about nuclear energy. In the 21st century, nuclear power has been identified as a viable alternative to traditional energy sources to stem global climate change, and condemned as risky to human health and environmentally irresponsible. Do the advantages of nuclear energy outweigh the risks, especially in light of the meltdown at the Fukushima plant in 2011? This guide provides both a comprehensive overview of this critical and controversial technology, presenting reference tools that include important facts and statistics, biographical profiles, a chronology, and a glossary. It covers major controversies and proposed solutions in detail and contains contributions by experts and important stakeholders that provide invaluable perspective on the topic. Surveys five decades of controversy and examines the effects of nuclear disasters Explains why nuclear power is being proposed as an important solution to the problem of global climate change Supplies opinions from experts and advocates regarding the future of the nuclear industry Provides overview information on technical topics such as the nuclear power cycle, from uranium mine to waste storage; and the differences between reactor designs and their associated benefits and risks

Built in the 1940s and 1950s, the Y-12 National Security Complex, located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) primary site for enriched uranium activities. Because Y-12 facilities are outdated and deteriorating, NNSA is building a more modern facility--known as the Uranium Processing Facility (UPF). NNSA estimates that the UPF will cost up to $3.5 billion and save over $200 million annually in operations, security, and maintenance costs. NNSA also plans to include more advanced technologies in the UPF to make uranium processing and component production safer. GAO was asked to (1) assess NNSA's estimated cost and schedule for constructing the UPF; (2) determine the extent to which UPF will use new, experimental technologies, and identify resultant risks, if any; and (3) determine the extent to which emerging changes in the nuclear weapons stockpile could affect the UPF project. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed NNSA technology development and planning documents and met with officials from NNSA and the Y-12 plant. The UPF project costs have increased since NNSA's initial estimates in 2004 and construction may be delayed due to funding shortfalls. NNSA's current estimate prepared in 2007 indicates that the UPF will cost between $1.4 and $3.5 billion to construct--more than double NNSA's 2004 estimate of between $600 million and $1.1 billion. In addition, costs for project engineering and design, which are less than halfway completed, have increased by about 42 percent--from $297 to $421 million--due in part to changes in engineering and design pricing rates. With regard to the project's schedule, NNSA currently estimates that UPF construction will be completed as early as 2018 and as late as 2022. However, because of a funding shortfall of nearly $200 million in fiscal year 2011, NNSA officials expect that the UPF will not be completed before 2020, which could also result in additional costs. NNSA is developing 10 new technologies for use in the UPF and is using a systematic approach--Technology Readiness Levels (TRL)--to gauge the extent to which technologies have been demonstrated to work as intended. Industry best practices and Department of Energy (DOE) guidance recommend achieving specific TRLs at critical project decision points--such as establishing a cost and schedule performance baseline or beginning construction--to give optimal assurance that technologies are sufficiently ready. If critical technologies fail to work as intended, NNSA may need to revert to existing or alternate technologies, possibly resulting in changes to design plans and space requirements that could delay the project and increase costs. Changes in the composition and size of the nuclear weapons stockpile could occur as a result of changes in the nation's nuclear strategy, but NNSA officials and a key study said that the impact of these changes on the project should be minor. For example, the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty signed in April 2010 by the leaders of the United States and Russia would, if ratified, reduce the number of deployed strategic warheads from about 2,200 to 1,550. According to NNSA officials, NNSA and DOD have cooperated closely and incorporated key nuclear weapons stockpile changes into UPF's design. Also, an independent study found that most of the UPF's planned space and equipment is dedicated to establishing basic uranium processing capabilities that are not likely to change, while only a minimal amount--about 10 percent--is for meeting current stockpile size requirements. GAO is making five recommendations for, among other things, improving the UPF's cost and funding plans, ensuring that new UPF technologies reach optimal levels of maturity prior to critical project decisions, and for improving DOE guidance. NNSA generally agreed with the recommendations.