Introduction

1.Energy use

1.1 Sources of energy

1.2 Sustainability of energy

1.3 Energy demand

1.4 Energy supply

1.5 Changes in energy demand and supply

1.6 Future energy demand and supply

2.Electricity today and tomorrow

2.1 Electricity demand

2.2 Electricity supply

2.3 Fuels for electricity generation today

2.4 Provision for future base-load electricity

2.5 Renewable energy sources

2.6 Coal and uranium compared

2.7 Energy inputs to generate electricity

2.8 Economic factors

3.Nuclear power and its fuels

3.1 Mass to energy in the reactor core

3.2 Nuclear power reactors - basic design

Panel：Components common to most types of nuclear reactor

3.3 Uranium availability

3.4 Nuclear weapons as a source of fuel

3.5 Thorium as a nuclear fuel

3.6 Accelerator-driven systems

3.7 Physics of a nuclear reactor

4.Types of nuclear power reactor

4.1 Today’s power reactors

4.2 Advanced power reactors

4.3 Floating nuclear power plants

4.4 Modular light water reactors

4.5 High temperature reactors

4.6 Fast neutron reactors

4.7 Very small nuclear power reactors

5.The ‘front end’ of the nuclear fuel cycle

5.1 Mining and milling of uranium ore

5.2 The nuclear fuel cycle

Panel：Uranium enrichment

5.3 Thorium cycle

6.The ‘back end’ of the nuclear fuel cycle

6.1 Nuclear wastes

6.2 Reprocessing used fuel

6.3 High-level wastes from reprocessing

Panel：Transporting radioactive materials

6.4 Storage and disposal of high-level wastes

6.5 Decommissioning nuclear reactors

7.Other nuclear energy applications

7.1 Transport

7.2 Hydrogen production and use

7.3 Process heat

7.4 Desalination

7.5 Marine propulsion

7.6 Radioisotope systems and reactors for space

7.7 Research reactors，making radioisotopes

8.Environment，health and safety

8.1 Greenhouse gas emissions

8.2 Other environmental effects

8.3 Health effects of power generation

8.4 Radiation exposure

8.5 Reactor safety

9.Avoiding weapons proliferation

9.1 International cooperation to achieve security

9.2 International nuclear safeguards

9.3 Fissile materials

9.4 Recycling military uranium and plutonium for electricity

9.5 Australian and Canadian nuclear safeguards policies

10.History of nuclear energy

10.1 Exploring the nature of the atom

10.2 Harnessing nuclear fission

10.3 Nuclear physics in Russia

10.4 Conceiving the atomic bomb

10.5 Developing the concepts：bomb and boiler

10.6 The Manhattan Project

10.7 The Soviet bomb

10.8 Revival of the ‘nuclear boiler’

10.9 Nuclear energy goes commercial

10.10 The nuclear power renaissance

Appendices

1.Ionising radiation and how it is measured

2.Some radioactive decay series

3.Environmental and ethical aspects of radioactive waste management

4.Some useful references

Glossary

Index