The accident hazards of nuclear power plants
By: Richard E. Webb.
Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
Published: 1976
Place of publication: Amherst, MA
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 228
ISBN-13: 9780870232107
Subjects: Nuclear power plants -- Accidents; Nuclear reactor accidents
Description: Nuclear power plants present a hazard to the health and safety of the public because they are subject to accident, such as an explosion, in which harmful substances called radioactivity could be released to the atmosphere as dust and expose a large population to lethal or injurious radiation. The source of this accident hazard is the nuclear reactor, which is the heart of the plant. It generates the nuclear energy for making electricity, and in the process, it also generates the radioactivity as a by-product. This radioactivity builds up in the reactor and is even used as fuel in the case of plutonium, which is perhaps the most potent of all radioactive substances. In order to assess the hazards of nuclear power plants, therefore, we must investigate the accident potential of the various nuclear reactors in use or planned for use. - Introduction.

Arguing that the accident risk of present-day nuclear power plants has not been scientifically established, a nuclear-reactor engineer assesses three major types of reactors being used and developed in the United States and explores the potential consequences of accidents.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : The magnitude of the hazard (the WASH-740 Report); title: Present nuclear power plants (water-cooled reactors) : description and accident fundamentals; title: The classes of reactor accidents; title: Design basis accidents v. worse possible accidents; title: Accident probability and informational needs; title: The Rasmussen Report; title: The 1964-1965 reexamination of WASH-740; title: The American Physical Society Report; title: The secret hazards research recommendations of 1964 : a critical juncture; title: The explosion hazard of the advanced "Breeder" reactor (LMFBR); title: Remarks on sabotage and other considerations; title: Conclusions; title: Who should decide? : Constitutional analysis and argument; title: Appendix one : The final Rasmussen Report; title: Appendix two : Summary description of fourteen accidents and near accidents in nuclear reactors