Nuclear fission: the interplay of science and technology.
When the UK's Calder Hall nuclear power station was connected to the grid in 1956, the programmes that made this possible involved a powerful combination of basic and applied research. Both the science and the engineering were novel, addressing new and challenging problems. That the last Calder Hall reactor was shut down only in 2003 attests to the success of the work. The strengths of bringing basic science to bear on applications continued to be recognized until the 1980s, when government and management fashions changed. This paper identifies a few of the technology challenges, and shows how novel basic science emerged from them and proved essential in their resolution. Today, as the threat of climate change becomes accepted, it has become clear that there is no credible solution without nuclear energy. The design and construction of new fission reactors will need continuing innovation, with the interplay between the science and technology being a crucial component.
Stoneham
A M
AM
London Centre for Nanotechnology, and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK. a.stoneham@ucl.ac.uk
D057231:Climate Change; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004560:Electricity; D004736:Energy-Generating Resources; D004738:Engineering / Q000639:trends; D009678:Nuclear Energy; D009680:Nuclear Fission; D055848:Nuclear Power Plants; D011850:Radioactive Waste; D013672:Technology / Q000639:trends
D011850:Radioactive Waste