Nuclear High-level Waste Tank Explosions: Potential Causes and Impacts of a Hypothetical Accident at India's Kalpakkam Reprocessing Plant

Ramana, M. V.; Nayyar, A. H.; Schoeppner, Michael

doi:10.1080/08929882.2016.1237661

Cited by 6 publications

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“…In a case study of a hypothetical accident at a waste tank at the Kalpakkam reprocessing plant, the dispersal of 30 PBq of Cesium-137 was found to result in nearly 97,000 excess cancers that would develop over decades in the exposed population, with about 47,000 fatalities (Ramana, Nayyar, and Schoeppner 2016). This result is in part due to much of the Cesium-137 being deposited in the densely populated city of Chennai.…”

Section: Accidents and Their Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear Submarines in South Asia: New Risks and Dangers

Миан

Ramana

Nayyar

2019

Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament

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The South Asian nuclear race is moving to sea, with India's government announcing that it has successfully put nuclear weapons at sea, and evidence suggesting that Pakistan is preparing to do so. This article traces India's decision to deploy nuclear-powered submarines, some armed with nuclear weapons, and the debate in Pakistan on the utility of nuclear-armed submarines and the possible acquisition of nuclearpowered submarines. The article then reviews the global history of submarine accidents, especially those where nuclear-powered submarines were involved, and looks in particular at the consequences of a potential naval reactor accident where radioactivity might be released into the environment. Such naval reactor accidents constitute a major but unappreciated challenge associated with the deployment of nuclear submarines in addition to new pathways for escalation to nuclear war that are more widely recognized.

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Section: Accidents and Their Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear Submarines in South Asia: New Risks and Dangers

Миан

Ramana

Nayyar

2019

Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament

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“…Finally, thinking of reprocessing as a way to solve the nuclear waste problem misses out on the fact that reprocessing facilities might well be opposed by members of the public too, in part because there is the risk that an accident at these might release large quantities of radionuclides and these might get dispersed over vast areas (Ramana, Nayyar, & Schoeppner, 2016;Thompson, 2014). The protests in 2016 over the proposed reprocessing plant in Lianyungang in China, because of the health and safety concerns of residents (Hornby, 2016;Hornby & Lin, 2016), leading to the cancellation of the project, offers an illustration of public concern about reprocessing facilities.…”

Section: Reprocessingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical and social problems of nuclear waste

Ramana

2018

WIREs Energy & Environment

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Despite decades of effort, the nuclear industry does not yet have a working solution for managing spent fuel and high level waste, the most radioactive products generated by nuclear power plants. Although many scientific and technical bodies have endorsed geological disposal as the preferred solution to this problem, there remain significant uncertainties about the long-term performance of repositories and behavior of the nuclear wastes to be stored in these facilities. Apart from a minority of countries, most countries have not chosen any sites for a repository. Further concerns about the long-term safety of repositories arise from the experiences of failures and accidents at pilot facilities. One reason for the absence of operating repositories decades after they were first proposed is widespread public opposition to such facilities. Polls have revealed that substantial majorities of people consider nuclear waste with dread and do not approve plans to dispose of radioactive wastes near them, or, often, far away either. Nuclear power advocates have typically dismissed public concerns as resulting from a lack of understanding of scientific facts but this explanation does not withstand scrutiny. Technical approaches to dealing with nuclear waste, such as reprocessing of spent fuel, mischaracterize the social concerns and therefore do not help gain public acceptance. Concern about radioactive waste has contributed to the failure of the propaganda effort by the nuclear industry to market nuclear power as a solution to climate change. The absence of a solution to waste negatively affects the future expansion of nuclear energy.

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Why Technical Solutions are Insufficient

Ramana

2019

Energiepolitik Und Klimaschutz. Energy Policy and Climate Protection

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Nuclear High-level Waste Tank Explosions: Potential Causes and Impacts of a Hypothetical Accident at India's Kalpakkam Reprocessing Plant

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Nuclear Submarines in South Asia: New Risks and Dangers

Nuclear Submarines in South Asia: New Risks and Dangers

Technical and social problems of nuclear waste

Why Technical Solutions are Insufficient

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