Nuclear Power Station Environmental Concerns - Case Study Example

Nuclear Power Station Environmental Concerns Name Course Lecturer Date Biophysical Attributes of the Nuclear Power Station Development Site The proposed development site of the nuclear power station, Hinckley, has one of the most biophysically diverse attributes in United Kingdom. The climate for Hinckley indicates strong weather. The temperatures, as indicated in the diagram below, rises between April and September. The average high temperatures record temperatures of as high as 220C between June and July every year (Chenal et al., 2010). This is the time of the year when Hinckley is very hot; the weather is warm as well. The average high temperatures are lower in January and December, in these months, Hinckley receives the lowest temperatures of 70C, and it is the coldest period of the year. On the other side, the graph indicates that the average low temperatures go as high as 120C between June and July. They are also lowest in January and December as indicated in the graph. Essentially, Hinckley has predictable and adaptable climate. The climate is warm and temperature. Rainfall in this area is essential; it has precipitation during the dry months. It has roughly 661 mm of precipitation falls annually (Akolekar et al., 2013). The site has a rather temperate maritime climate. It has a typically warm instead of hot summers as well as cools to cold summers. This site rarely experiences extreme weather conditions. This means that the site is very good for development of a nuclear station. The climate would affect the station once it is build. The hottest month of the year is July during the summer while January is the coldest month during the winter. On average, rainfall falls fairly even throughout the year;February is the driest month with December the wettest month. Conversely, the weather is not predictable as with the rest of the country. The site may experience snow fall during winter but it is not a common occurrence as Council (2009)reports. Castree (2010) adds that Hinckley has an average temperature high of 13.98 degrees Celsius and a low average temperature of 5.52 degrees Celsius. The average monthly precipitation is 50.70 mm. the climate is milder during spring; this is a very good time to start the development of the nuclear power station. Some humid and overcast conditions are common especially during the summer. During the autumn, the climate varies from pleasantly mild to colder and cooler days. Interestingly, the area has longer hours of daylight particularly at the start of September. Geology Over many years, the area Hinckleywhich is in Warwickshire has been created by volcanoes, river deltas, deep seas, shallow tropical seas, swamps and glaciers. This is a far cry from the current rolling agricultural landscape. The geology of Warwickshire presents one of the most varied to be found in United Kingdom. It ranges through several geological periods and the rocky foundations are still exposed in numerous cuttings and quarries. This area boosts of excellent variety of fossils from the Cambrian triolobites to the huge range of Jurassic invertebrates. There are also special interests in unique amphibians and reptile bones and footprints from the Triassic (Lamb 2013). In addition, the remains of marine reptiles from the lower Jurassic are equally spectacular. There are many rocks that are commercially viable, mines and quarries are dug to extract them. Some of the rocks have been used as building stones while others have been used as source of metals such as manganese and iron. Coal was exploited as fuel, clays for pottery and making bricks. The presence of coal measures in the site makes it very attractive. As a result, it has been extensively explored with deep boreholes. Limestone provides sand and cement while gravels are good sources of aggregate. Hinckley has many abandonedquarries; this gives a perfect opportunity to study geology (Lamb 2013). The Jurassic rocks are mainly made of clay, limestone, sand and ironstones. They form all the higher lands. These rocks have been very useful to people in this area as they use these rocks for various purposes as indicated above. There is also a quaternary, commonly known as ice age. This is represented by large deposits of clay soil, gravel and sand. Some of the oldest rocks in this site are Cambrian, Precambrian and Ordovician periods. They are confined in the northernparts; people have exploited this area for aggregate. However, despite the presence of the Cambrian, Precambrian and Ordovician rocks, there are no Silurian rocks. The Devonian rocks are very rare. The carboniferous rocks are economically significant; this is because they contain coal (Yila 2010). Essentially, the geology of this site presents one of the most important areas in England. In addition to mining of the rocks for various economic benefits, they are rich source of history to many generations. Soils The Hinckley area consists of very deep and extensively drained soils, formed in glaciofluval materials. They are nearly level through very steep soils on outwash plains, outwash terraces, outwash deltas, kame terraces as well as eskers. There is highor very high saturated hydraulic conductivity. The slopes range from 0 to 60 percent. It has loamy sand in woodland at an elevation of roughly 240 metres. Hinckley surface is typically dark brown with sandy loam that is roughly six inches thick.The subsoil is eleven inches thick. The lower seven inches are light yellowish brown gravelly loamy sand. The permeability of the soil is rapid at the surface layer and the subsoil while it is very rapid in the substratum. Thecapacity of the available water is low; the water runoff is also slow. Importantly, the soils are very acid through to average acidic. Essentially, the soil in Hinckley is suitable for community development. However, the septic system onsite need careful design and installation in order to prevent pollution of the ground water. There are unstable slopes of the excavated areas. The shallow rooted trees, lawn grasses and shrubs need watering during summer. In essence, soil in Hinckley is suitable for cultivation of crops; most of the areas are idle. However, there is doughtiness; this is a major limitation althoughirrigation can be used. The area is best suited for development of a nuclear power station as it is idle with soils that favour such a development (Gosling et al., 2010). Vegetation The Hinckley has good vegetation. The site has many trees, shrubs, rivers, slopes and other plantations. These make the site to be much vegetated. In order to start the development of nuclear power station in The Hinckley, the site has to be cleared in order to allow the development. The site is not habited by human beings as people prefer to settle in the greater Warwickshire area (Greig 2014). Water Hinckley has water available during the rainy seasons. Water is the most important natural resource in Hinckley. However, it is dry during the dry seasons especially during February when it is usually very dry. Significantly, there are available sources of water in the near areas of Warwickshire. There are water catchments such as river Avon and its several tributaries. The river and its tributaries are a very source of water for development of nuclear power station. It does no go dry (Council & Street 2013). FaunaResources There are several fauna resources found in Hinckley as well as the greater Warwickshire area. Some of the notable wildlife found in this areais animals and birds, macaw, owl, god and red fox. There are many species of wildlife found in Hinckley (Bloom 2012). The Major Degradation Issues That Have Arisen From the Development There are several degradation issues that have arisen from the development of nuclear power station in Hinckley.Nuclear reactors have very harsh effects to the environment. The development of the nuclear power station involved building a dam. This dam, although at a wider benefit, had some disadvantages to the environment. As indicated above, this area receives an average rainfall throughout the year. It does not receive extreme weather conditions. As such, there no flooding, river Avon and its tributaries correct water from the various parts. There river does not break its banks. In this light, the dam will come at a cost in this area. This is because water supply will reduce. The dam will take in large amount of water. This is the same water that is used by the residents in the greater Warwickshire are for drinking, watering and irrigation (Deudney 2014). The area is not very fertile, it is full of rocks and there are many mines and quarries. There are many open places left out after mining and extracting of minerals. As such, the area is not used for farming. However, the dam and the whole project are taking away the little available land that could be used for farming. The area is very rich in water supply through the river Avon and its tributaries. This makes it a very good land for irrigation as well as fish farming. Although nuclear power station is equally economically viable, it will not benefit the people living around. In fact, they will be forced to move away from the site due to the effects of the station. This is just adding salt to injury;their land will be taken away while they will be forced to move to other areas (Botkin, Keller & Rosenthal 2012). Notably, the whole project will have complex degradation effects to the surrounding environment. The project will use more than 25 types of metal alloys. These metal alloys will be within the primary and secondary systems. Moreover, there will be concrete containment vessel, control and instrumentation as well as other support materials. All these materials have degradation effects to the environment. When all these materials are placed in the harsh and complex site, when combined with load, there will be degradation over an extended life as Armaroli & Balzani (2011) asserts. Essentially, the degradation of materials will also affect the nuclear plant. This will affect its safe operation, availability, and potential as well as reactor reliability. There is possibility of concrete problems being experienced at the station. The concrete could crack the walls in the containment site. This presents another problem which could affect not only the operation of the plant but also the environment. The clearance and digging of dams as well as setting up of the other facilities will lead to degradation of the soil. The soil will be depleted severely, this will but increases risks of malnutrition to animals and birds as well as farmers who depend on the soil for nourishment.This area has good arable land for irrigation which is practiced though sparsely. Soil degradation is a primary loss which will affect a considerable percentage of the productivity of the Hinckley area. Farmers and persons who use this area will be forced to look for other means or other areas for livelihood (Cutter 2012). Pollution of water and water scarcity are some of the degradation problems that will be witnessed. The station will use a lot of water; this area does not have excess rainfall or sources of water to supply the station and the other users’ water adequately. There will be water rationing, this is a scenario that the residents were not used to hence it will lead to water shortage. Productivity will be highly affected due to the cost of water, there will be constrains of water as well as water pollution. Iwata, Okada& Samreth (2010) indicate that this will affect environmental resources such as decline of fisheries as well as depletion of aquifer leading to irreversible compaction. Essentially, there is deforestation, the surrounding trees and other vegetation would be cleared in order to set up the dams and other facilities. This would lead to the destruction of habitat of the wild animals and birds. Later, it would lead to the extinction of animal, birds and plant species. The adaptability of the ecosystem will be greatly reduced and this will lead to loss of genetic resources. This loss of biodiversity is a very serious issue in this area. The deforestation could also result to loss of life. Moreover, the carbon sequestration that is provided by trees will be a major impact of the development. The development of the nuclear plant in Hinckley could have devastating effects on social, environmental and economic systems of the site (Zinkle & Was 2013). Strategies to Mitigate Or Reduce the Degradation Issues To address the issue of degradation of materials within the power plant, it is very important to develop a progressive materials degradation approach. This approach should intend to come up with a foundation for appropriate actions of keeping the material degradation from impacting the integrity of the components as Abu-Khader (2009) reports. This approach would also ensure safety as well as identify the materials and locations where degradation can be expected to happen. This will not only prevent degradation of materials but also will increase the reliability, availability and potential of the station. This is in addition to ensuring safety operation of the plant. It is essential to carryout routine surveillance and replacement of components; this would mitigate degradation of materials. While it is not economically favorable to replace all the materials before the lifespan of the plant, understanding, mitigating and controlling material degradation processes are crucial priorities for the station, this would increase life extension and power uprate as well (Apergis et al., 2010). The development of the nuclear power plant caused a lot of clearance of the vegetation on the site and around the site. While it is not possible to bring back the dead species of animals and plants, it is important for the developers to compensate the deforestation with planting more species of trees in other parts of the area where they would not use for the development (Zinkle& Busby2009). The clearance of the vegetation took away the breathtaking presence and all its biodiversity that came with rainfall as well as other wooded lands. They provided clean air, medicinal value as well as stable environment. As such, it is important to ensure that the developers compensate the loss by planting more trees probably of different species; this will create a stable environment. Planting more species of trees will not only increase the population of trees species but also will increase vegetation and its benefits(Zinkle & Busby 2009). Another mitigation approach is to stop mining and quarrying around the nuclear plant. The developers should stop mining or quarrying of any kind around the power plant. This will not only prevent destruction of the site but also will conserve the area. The developers in conjunction with the government authorities should set a radius around which there should be not mining or quarrying as well as habitation by any human being. The vegetation cover around the area will therefore increase as it will not be disturbed by human, this will greatly contribute to water catchment and availability to the facility. Additionally, the increased vegetation would prevent erosion of soil. As indicated above, the area is sloppy and hence susceptible to soil erosion. The vegetation would prevent soil erosion hence no loss of soil (Deudney 2014). As indicated above, the area is rich in arable land and water supply. The developers should compensate for this land by rewarding the residents with an alternative arable land or purchase the land at the prevailing market rate. This would enable them to start well on their new environments. The project should not make the displaced persons disadvantaged but it should enrich or leave them at the same state they were before (Cutter 2012). The nuclear power plant will pose threat to drinking water. The plant will also consume huge quantities of water. As such, substantial amount of water used will continue to be dangerously contaminated as it will not be possible to completely control radiation. To prevent consumption of contaminated water, the plant should recycle the water and use it severally (Botkin et al., 2012). The plant should have a cooling system where water is cooled and used again. Although it would use much water, only little water will be released to the environment. Conversely, the water released to the environment should not be mixed with water sources. It should be directed at a certain point where it is treated and evaporated to avoid it mixing with ground water. This would prevent consumption of water contaminated with radiation (Zinkle & Was 2013). Still, the developers and operators of the plant should install and maintain a proven fish and marine protection technologies at cooling intake structure. The use of the special technologies will take in to consideration the species in the area, its location, the water body as well as the design and operational characteristics of the station. 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J., & Was, G, S, 2013, Materials challenges in nuclear energy: Acta Materialia, 61(3), 735-758. Read More