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Now, having learned a bit about fusion, and why fusion is nuclear,
let's now consider the specifics of the nuclear industry.
Why is it different to other industries?
When talking about industry, we have to remember
that industrial activities always bear some risks.
When we talk about the risks of industrial activities,
we mean that there is always a certain probability
that conditions or events may show up which lead to accidents.
Of course, these conditions or events are almost always unintended,
but the resulting accidents may injure people
or damage the environment. As an extreme example, this photo shows
the explosion of a chemical plant in Nevada, USA, in 1986.
We know that no industry is immune from accidents
and the effects are, of course, very different. But in general,
all industries learn from them. Let's take an example,
namely the civil aviation. Here, accidents happen every year, and each
one is meticulously analyzed. As a result, the lessons learned from
the experience of nearly one century of flight mean
that today reputable airlines are extremely safe.
And in other industries, like the chemical industry or the oil and gas
industry, major accidents have led to
improved safety in their plants today.
So now let's focus on nuclear. In connection with nuclear, we mainly
talk about energy production. Here you see a photo of the Belgian
nuclear power plant in Tihange. Or in connection with nuclear
we also talk about medical applications, for example
x-raying people either for imaging
or for therapy in the case of cancer.
In the case of energy production, the
world's most concentrated energy source
(contained in Uranium) is used to produce electrical energy
through the fission of a Uranium nucleus.
However, part of the energy is released
and transmitted as radiation. The photo shows an example
where the radiation leads to the blueish glow
of the water in a fuel pool. What's important for us is that this
radiation can also interact with the human body:
when encountering human tissue, it may produce ions.
This so-called ionization is an effect
in which radiation may kick out an
electron from the outer shell of an atom,
so that the atom becomes positively charged,
that's to say it becomes an ion.
That's why the radiation is also called ionizing radiation.
An important feature of ionizing
radiation is that it cannot be directly
observed by people. This means: you can't hear it, see it or
feel it directly, only detect it with special instruments.
The effect on the human body is that ionizing radiation may damage
cells. However, the body itself nearly
always repairs damaged cells properly.
The eventual effect on the health of people will depend, of course,
on the amount of energy transmitted by the ionizing radiation.
However, if people are properly protected,
this energy is low, so it may not
lead to any observable health effect.
For example, you may remember the protective measures used
when you've been x-rayed for medical diagnosis.
We can conclude that when nuclear energy is applied
in industrial activities, appropriate measures must be undertaken
to limit the exposure of workers,
people and the environment to ionizing radiation.
During the later stages of ITER operation
nuclear energy will be released,
so it will be necessary, here too, to undertake appropriate measures
to limit the exposure to ionizing radiation.
Therefore, in ITER suitable safety equipment must be installed
to perform important safety functions
during the nuclear operation of ITER.
Although the nuclear operation of ITER
will be started only far in the future,
it is very important for you to realize that even now
the basis for the safety equipment and the
related safety functions must already be laid.
At present in ITER the safety equipment will be manufactured,
constructed, and assembled. And these activities
are mainly those that you are engaged in.
So already, with your current activities,
you will influence considerably whether
the ITER safety functions will be available with
no interruptions during its nuclear operation!
Thank you for your attention.
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