October 26, 2024
By Debbie Coffey, AI Endgame
I can remember the pit in my stomach when I learned of the nuclear disasters at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
The nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979 began with a mechanical failure and a series of human operator errors that led to a partial meltdown in Unit 2. This was one of the biggest nuclear accidents in our country's history. [1]
It is little known fact that a partial meltdown occurred at a Boeing-Rocketdyne nuclear testing facility in 1959 in Santa Susana, CA (about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles), caused by a clogged coolant channel in a nuclear reactor. Afterwards, Boeing-Rocketdyne and federal agencies claimed no radiation was released, [2] After a long coverup, investigations revealed that much more radiation was leaked at Santa Susana than was released at Three Mile Island. (Another reason not to trust Boeing.) The nuclear accident at Chernobyl in 1986 was caused by operator error and design and safety problems. After an explosion at one of the reactors at Chernobyl (in what is now Ukraine), iodine-131 and caesium-137 evaporated in the air and winds carried them all over Europe. More than 77,000 square miles of land had some degree of contamination. [3]
The Fukushima meltdown in 2011 started after a 9.1 earthquake caused a tsunami, and a resulting total loss of electricity at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the cooling systems failed. This resulted in nuclear meltdown, hydrogen explosions, and a significant release of radioactive contamination. Because of concerns over radiation exposure, an area of approximately 232 square miles had to be evacuated. [4] In all, there were 465,000 evacuations, $360 billion in economic losses and increased radiation levels in Tokyo, 140 miles away. [5]
Afterwards, we learned that TEPCO, the operator of the nuclear power plant, had repeatedly ignored estimates from experts warning that the plant’s 5.1-meter seawall was insufficient, considering data on prior tsunamis.
Each of these three nuclear accidents involved mechanical failure, human error, and management problems. After the Fukushima nuclear accident, many countries started phasing out their nuclear programs, including Germany.
The current race to develop new nuclear power reactors makes it seem we haven’t learned our lessons after Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.
With the need for ever increasing power to run AI datacenters, the big tech companies are gambling on nuclear power. Before I cover the many new nuclear power deals by AI companies, see why their big deals might not be a good deal for you.
Nuclear energy today
There are currently about 440 nuclear reactors around the world. The U.S. has 95 nuclear reactors in operation.
The U.S. has only built 2 nuclear reactors in the past 20 years (both units are at the Vogtle nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, GA). [6]
Most of the nuclear power plants operating today were designed to last 25 to 40 years (with an average life of 35 years). [7] In the U.S., the average reactor is 43 years old (as of 2024). Nearly 90% of reactors in Europe have been operating for about 30 years. [8]
Problems with aging nuclear reactors
As materials in aging nuclear reactors deteriorate, the functionality and reliability of the structures, systems and components decrease, especially as the plant operates over longer periods of time. This leads to the reduction of the original safety margins and to a higher probability of failure.
Requirements to retrofit old plants to the current state of science and technology have been in place, but the retrofitting is limited in scope.
For example, it’s difficult to ascertain the condition of some aging materials. Although non-destructive testing methods can track some things like cracks or wall thickness weakening, not all components can be fully tested because some components are inaccessible or in zones with high radiation exposure. [9]
Three Mile Island is being reopened
Microsoft is partnering with Constellation Energy to revive Unit 1 at the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Pennsylvania. However, this requires federal, state, and local approvals.
Unit 1 began operation in 1974, was shut down in 1979 after the accident with Unit 2, then was restarted in 1985 and was shut down again in 2019. In all, Unit 1 has already been operational for about 39 years. Since not all components of this reactor can be tested, I’m concerned about its safety for people in Pennsylvania and nearby Maryland and New Jersey.
Three Mile Island nuclear facility (each reactor had 2 smoke stacks)
2 types of nuclear power
The next few paragraphs are technical but hang in there because the distinction between these two types of nuclear power is important to know.
There are two types of nuclear power:
Fission: Fission is the process used in every nuclear power plant in operation today. Fission occurs when a neutron, a tiny subatomic particle, is slammed into a uranium atom, splitting it. This releases more neutrons, which collide with other atoms, set off a nuclear chain reaction and release a tremendous amount of energy. [10] To illustrate the power of fission, both atomic bombs dropped in Japan in 1945 were fission.
Fission reactors have been around since the 1950s, but an unresolved challenge is the byproducts of the reaction that remain radioactive for thousands of years. A huge issue is finding storage for spent nuclear fuel and other high-level radioactive waste in the United States (nobody wants to have it near them). There have been proposals for storage at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but so far, litigation has stopped this.
Another problem is if reprocessed, the fuel source and waste could be used to make a nuclear weapon.
Fission requires uranium, a rare substance that must be mined and enriched. However, uranium mining has already caused more than 250 million tons of toxic and radioactive tailings (waste from the mining process) to be scattered into nearby communities, spilled into streams, and leaked into aquifers. [11]
Fusion: Fusion is the process that powers the Sun and stars. It’s the opposite process to fission. It occurs when atoms are fused together.
Fusion has been difficult to achieve, but there have been breakthroughs in the past two years. Fusion requires deuterium (readily extractable from seawater), tritium (that can be made by the reactor) and lithium (for a “lithium blanket,” a solid lithium wall in which fusion neutrons slow and ultimately react to form tritium).
Is fusion the “Holy Grail” of future energy?
Whereas renewable energy like solar and wind power are unpredictable because they rely on weather, fusion is being touted as a reliable clean energy with low waste and the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions. The big tech companies and their investors also claim nuclear fusion is safe.
But is it?
The risks and problems of nuclear fusion energy
Fusion reactors burn neutron-rich isotopes that produce harmful byproducts. The neutron streams of fusion energy can cause radiation damage to structures, radioactive waste, the need for biological shielding, and the potential for the production of weapons-grade plutonium 239 (adding to the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation).
Fusion reactors also share some problems that plague older fission reactors, including tritium release, daunting coolant demands, and high operating costs.
Because fusion devices use tritium (that is not found in nature), the tritium has to be replenished by the reactor itself, and this drains power and reduces the amount of power available for actual use. [12]
Fusion technologies have only recently started to produce more energy than is needed to run the reactor.
Radiation safety
Tritium is radioactive and if there are leaks, it can cause contamination. Fusion also produces gamma radiation. Gamma radiation and neutron radiation levels can become dangerously high. The continuous fusion needed for power will produce higher amounts of radiation. [13]
Workers will need to be tested in case they accidentally inhale or ingest radioactive particles, so fusion facilities should require stringent biosafety programs to monitor workers.
Materials used for fusion energy
Mercury is used in the processing of lithium for fusion reactors, but it’s toxic, environmentally damaging and is mostly produced by China. [14]
Will fusion energy benefit you?
There are many technological ways to develop fusion, but fusion that meets the energy demands of AI might not meet the energy needs of the public. It might take 5 to 10 years to harness nuclear fusion for public consumption, but by that time, AI may be consuming most, if not all, of the energy from these new nuclear power reactors.
CEOs of tech companies heavily influence how new technology is developed, and they could restrict its use for any purposes other than their own needs. [15]
We only need to look at Monsanto’s use and abuse of U.S. patent law to control the usage of staple crop seeds by U.S. farmers, as an example of what could happen.
We should also consider this: In 5 or 10 years, AI may be controlling the operations of nuclear power reactors. Could this lead to unexpected consequences?
Next week: Details on the many new fusion nuclear reactors being built by tech companies.
Please share what you learn with others. We need more public awareness of all AI issues so that we can work together to have power over our future.
What you can do:
1) Call your representatives and tell them you “want regulations to pause AI now, until strong AI safety laws are enacted.”
Find out how to contact your Congressional representatives here:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Find out how to contact your Senators here:
https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?Class=1
2) Support (and if you can, make donations) to organizations fighting for AI Safety:
Pause AI
Center for Humane Technology
https://www.humanetech.com/who-we-are
The Center for AI Safety
Read past AI Endgame newsletters and share links with your friends:
#1 - AI Endgame: Introduction Read HERE.
#2 - AI Endgame: Risk of Human Extinction & AI regulations Read HERE.
#3 - AI Endgame: Rogue AIs Read HERE.
#4 - AI Endgame: Political Deepfakes Read HERE.
#5 - AI Endgame: Nobel prize winner Geoffrey Hinton, “The Godfather of AI,” warns of AI dangers Read HERE.
#6 - AI Endgame: AI datacenters are a massive power grab Read HERE.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/constellation-inks-power-supply-deal-with-microsoft-2024-09-20/
[2] https://www.engineering.com/americas-worst-nuclear-disaster-was-in-california-who-knew/
[3] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-far-did-chernobyl-radiation-reach.html
[4] https://www.britannica.com/event/Fukushima-accident
[5] https://www.history.com/news/fukushima-nuclear-disaster-japan-earthquake-timeline
[6] https://apnews.com/article/georgia-power-vogtle-nuclear-reactor-plant-3ef69a9f64f74410ab2dcda62981b2eb
[7] https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2020/11/23/nuclear-power-today-future/
[8] https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/04/04/1090630/old-nuclear-plants/
[9] https://energycentral.com/system/files/ece/nodes/500407/2104_risk_of_old_n.pdf
[10] https://theconversation.com/whats-the-difference-between-fusion-and-fission-a-nuclear-physicist-explains-240438
[11] https://www.propublica.org/article/uranium-mills-pollution-cleanup-us
[12] https://thebulletin.org/2017/04/fusion-reactors-not-what-theyre-cracked-up-to-be/
[13] https://www.ntanet.net/understanding-radiation-risks-in-fusion-energy/
[14] https://www.sci-nature.com/2024/07/fusion-is-coming-but-are-we-ready-for.html
[15] https://theconversation.com/tech-bosses-think-nuclear-fusion-is-the-solution-to-ais-energy-demands-heres-what-theyre-missing-240580