BURTON RICHTER PAUL PIGOTT PROFESSOR IN THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES STANFORD UNIVERSITY

摘要

Fifteen years ago, nuclear reactors as a major energy source were thought to be on their way out. The oil shocks of the 70's had been forgotten, natural gas reserves were plentiful, and there was enough coal for a thousand years even with the projected increase in world energy demand. Today's energy perspective is very different. Global climate change has focused everyone's attention on carbon-free energy sources. The Kyoto Agreement has most of the nations of the industrialized world working to reduce their use of carbon-based fuels, and even in the United States there are signs that industry recognizes the necessity even if the Administration does not. The move toward carbon-free energy is urgent. The longer society waits, the more difficult the climate change problem becomes. As of now, the "renewables" (solar, wind, biomass, etc.) are in their infancy. While their development should be encouraged, they are not ready for large-scale use. Today, there are only two options in the energy arena that can be used on a large scale to reduce society's dependence on carbon-based fuels. The first of these is conservation and efficiency - simply reducing the amount of energy required to produce a given level of income. The second is nuclear power. However, if nuclear reactors are to play an important role in the future, it is clear that they must be economically competitive, safe, have an adequate fuel supply, be resistant to the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and properly secure the intensely radioactive material in the spent fuel. The transmutation program's original focus was solely on the treatment of the actinides and long-lived fission fragments in the spent fuel, but transmutation turns out to have broader impact than that. By destroying plutonium it can, in principle, reduce the long-term proliferation risks. By using the plutonium as an energy source in the process of transmutation, the fuel supply can be extended.