• To develop an ability which allows educated and well informed opinions to be formed by the next generation of physicists on a wide range of issues in the context of the future energy needs of man
• To describe and understand methods of utilising renewable energy sources such as hydropower, tidal power, wave power, wind power and solar power.
• To give knowledge and understanding of the design and operation of nuclear reactors
• To give knowledge and understanding of nuclear fusion as a source of power
• To give knowledge and understanding relevant to overall safety in the nuclear power industry
• To describe the origin of environmental radioactivity and understand the effects of radiation on humans

At the end of the module the student should have:

• Learned the fundamental physical principles underlying energy production using conventional and renewable energy sources
• Learned the fundamental physical principles underlying nuclear fission and fusion reactors
• Studied the applications of these principles in the design issues power generation
• An appreciation of the role of mathematics in modelling power generation
• Learned the fundamental physical principles concerning the origin and consequences of environmental radioactivity
• Developed an awareness of the safety issues involved in exposure to radiation
• Developed problem solving skills based on the material presented
• Developed an appreciation of the problems of supplying the re quired future energy needs and the scope and issues associated with the different possible methods

Energy, global development and the Earth (3 Lectures)

Energy and societal development, CO₂ emission, optical absorption, black body radiation, greenhouse effect, radiative forcing. Heat transfer mechan isms.

Thermodynamics, energy cycles, heat conversion (3 Lectures)

Revision of thermodynamic concepts. The thermal properties of water and steam. Carnot, Rankine and Brayton thermodynamic cycles.

Fluid mechanics and turbines (3 lectures)

Bernoulli''s equation, Mass continuity equation, Euler''s turbine equation.  Principles of turbine operation and energy extraction.

Hydropower, Tidal Power and Wave Power (3 Lectures)

Resources. Power output from a dam and flow rate using a weir. Turbines, the Fourneyron turbine, impulse, efficiency. Tidal Power - Cause of tides estimate of tidal height, Tidal waves, Power from a tidal barrage, Tidal resonance. Wave Power - Wave energy derivations, Wave Power devices.

Wind Power (3 Lectures)

Source of Wind Energy and Global Patterns. Modern Wind turbines. Kinetic Energy of wind. Principles of maximum extraction efficiency. Blade design. Horizontal Wind Turbine Design and Fatigue. Turbine control and operation. Wind Characteristics. Power of a Wind Turbine. Wind farms and the environment.

Solar Energy (3 Lectures)

Introduction - overall power - comparison. Solar Spectrum. Semiconductor junctions and photovoltaic devcies. Efficiency limiting mechanisms. Commercial device technologies. Developing technologies. Solar modules. Economics, environmental outlook for photovoltaic cells. 

Basics of Nuclear Physics (3 Lectures)

Nuclear binding energy, nuclear reactions, cross sections. Interaction probability. Attenuation, mean free path. Radioactive decay (various forms), decay chains, secular equilibrium. Stability curve, neutrons and their interactions, fission - energy release, mass distribution, neutron emission.

Principles of Nuclear Fission Reac tors (3 Lectures)

Chain reactions, reproduction constant, moderation, thermal reactors. Kinematics of moderators, neutron cycle in infinite reactors, energy production, consumption of 235U. Fast reactors, breeder reactors, breeder cycle.

Reactor Theory (3 Lectures)

Neutron diffusion theory and the diffusion e quation. The reactor equation. Buckling parameter. Boundary conditions and solutions of the reactor equation. Migration length. Improvements to the model. Boundary extrapolation.

Reactor Operations (2 Lectures)

Real reactors - layout, thermodynamics, Magnox, AGR, PWR and accelerator driven fission. Operating characteristics, delayed neutrons, control systems, reactor kinematics and reactor poisons.  

Energy from Fusion (3 Lectures)

Advantages over fission, thermonuclear approach, amplification factor, conditions for fusion. Energy production in a plasma, energy losses, break even temperature, Lawson condition. Magnetic confinement, tokomak, pinch effect, heating of plasma, present status and outlook.  

Radiation Issues (2 Lectures) < /p>

Interaction of radiation with matter, units, biological effects, radiation weighting factors. Effects on humans, calculation of doses, monitoring radiation. radiation protection. Shielding nuclear reactors. Reactor accidents. Radioactive fission products and their effects. Sources of environmental radiation - decay chains of uranium and thorium - Radon - 40K - cosmic rays. Recommended limits above the natural level.

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