Misplaced Pages

#711288

123-547: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) began designing an IFR in 1984 and built a prototype, the Experimental Breeder Reactor II . On April 3, 1986, two tests demonstrated the safety of the IFR concept. These tests simulated accidents involving loss of coolant flow. Even with its normal shutdown devices disabled, the reactor shut itself down safely without overheating anywhere in the system. The IFR project

246-425: A geologic repository because some of the fission product [sic] nuclides of greatest concern in scenarios such as groundwater leaching actually have longer half-lives than the radioactive actinides. The concern about a waste cannot end after hundreds of years even if all the actinides are removed when the remaining waste contains radioactive fission products such as technetium-99, iodine-129, and cesium-135 with

369-585: A geological repository . The smaller volumes of high level waste from reprocessing could stay at reactor sites for some time, but are intensely radioactive from medium-lived fission products (MLFPs) and need to be stored securely, like in dry cask storage vessels. In its first few decades of use, before the MLFPs decay to lower levels of heat production, geological repository capacity is constrained not by volume but by heat generation. This limits early repository emplacement. Decay heat generation of MLFPs from IFRs

492-863: A half-life in the range of 100 a–210 ka ... ... nor beyond 15.7 Ma Fast reactor fuel must be at least 20% fissile, greater than the low-enriched uranium used in LWRs. The fissile material can initially include highly enriched uranium or plutonium from LWR spent fuel , decommissioned nuclear weapons , or other sources. During operation, the reactor breeds more fissile material from fertile material – at most about 5% more from uranium and 1% more from thorium . The fertile material in fast reactor fuel can be depleted uranium (mostly uranium-238 ), natural uranium , thorium , or reprocessed uranium from spent fuel from traditional LWRs, and even include nonfissile isotopes of plutonium and minor actinide isotopes. Assuming no leakage of actinides to

615-500: A " Public Ivy ". Since its inaugural 1990 reputational survey, Times Higher Education has considered Berkeley to be one of the world's "six super brands" along with the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge , Harvard University , MIT , and Stanford University . The 2010 United States National Research Council Rankings identified Berkeley as having the highest number of top-ranked doctoral programs in

738-461: A "Site-Wide Long-Term Management and Control Program". The use of the site will be industrial in nature for a 100-year period and likely in the indefinite future thereafter. The objective of the EBR-II was to demonstrate the operation of a sodium-cooled fast reactor power plant with on-site reprocessing of metallic fuel. In order to meet this objective of on-site reprocessing, the EBR-II was part of

861-478: A blue background with an imaginary yellow pen. The California Victory Cannon, placed on Tightwad Hill overlooking the stadium, is fired before every football home game, after every score, and after every Cal victory. First used in the 1963 Big Game, it was originally placed on the sidelines before moving to Tightwad Hill in 1971. The only time the cannon ran out of ammunition was during a game against Pacific in 1991, when Cal scored 12 touchdowns. The Cal Mic Men,

984-448: A complete breeder-reactor power plant with on-site reprocessing of solid metallic fuel. Fuel elements enriched to about 67% uranium-235 were sealed in stainless steel tubes and removed when they reached about 65% enrichment. The tubes were unsealed and reprocessed to remove neutron poisons , mixed with fresh U-235 to increase enrichment, and placed back in the reactor. Testing of the original breeder cycle ran until 1969, after which time

1107-546: A contract by the University of Chicago . Argonne previously had a branch campus named "Argonne West" in Idaho Falls, Idaho , that is now part of the Idaho National Laboratory . In the past, at the branch campus, physicists from Argonne West built what was known as the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II). In the meantime, physicists at Argonne designed the IFR concept, and it was decided that

1230-548: A culvert upstream of the recreational complex at the mouth of Strawberry Canyon and passes beneath California Memorial Stadium before appearing again in Faculty Glade. It then runs through the center of the campus before disappearing underground at the west end of campus. The north fork appears just east of University House and runs through the glade north of the Valley Life Sciences Building,

1353-445: A fluid which readily conducts heat from the fuel to the coolant, and which operates at relatively low temperatures, the EBR-II takes maximum advantage of expansion of the coolant, fuel, and structure during off-normal events which increase temperatures. The expansion of the fuel and structure in an off-normal situation causes the system to shut down even without human operator intervention. In April 1986, two special tests were performed on

SECTION 10

#1732771962712

1476-596: A fuel cycle that is proliferation-resistant and efficient in fuel usage, and a reactor with a high level of inherent safety, while minimizing the production of high-level waste. The practicality of these decisions has been demonstrated over many years of operation of EBR-II. Breeder reactors (such as the IFR) could in principle extract almost all of the energy contained in uranium or thorium , decreasing fuel requirements by nearly two orders of magnitude compared to traditional once-through reactors, which extract less than 0.65% of

1599-675: A long half-life, which means that they are only slightly radioactive. Neither of the two forms of IFR waste produced contain plutonium or other actinides . Due to pyroprocessing, the total volume of true waste/ fission products is 1/20th the volume of spent fuel produced by a light-water plant of the same power output, and is often considered to be all unusable waste. 70% of fission products are either stable or have half-lives under one year. Technetium-99 and iodine-129 , which constitute 6% of fission products, have very long half-lives but can be transmuted to isotopes with very short half-lives (15.46 seconds and 12.36 hours) by neutron absorption within

1722-530: A majority of the electricity and also heat to the facilities of the Argonne National Laboratory-West. The fuel consists of uranium rods 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in diameter and 33 cm (13 in) long. Enriched to 67% uranium-235 when fresh, the concentration dropped to approximately 65% upon removal. The rods also contained 10% zirconium . Each fuel element is placed inside a thin-walled stainless steel tube along with

1845-581: A new center for computing and data science. For the 2020 fiscal year, Berkeley set a fundraising record, receiving over $ 1 billion in gifts and pledges, and two years later, it broke that record, raising over $ 1.2 billion. Officially named the "University of California, Berkeley" it is often shortened to "Berkeley" in general reference or in an academic context ( Berkeley Law , Berkeley Engineering , Berkeley Haas , Berkeley Public Health ) and to "California" or "Cal" particularly when referring to its athletic teams ( California Golden Bears ). In August 2022,

1968-524: A once-through fuel cycle that induces fission (and derives energy) from less than 1% of the uranium found in nature, a breeder reactor like the IFR has a very efficient fuel cycle (99.5% of uranium undergoes fission). The basic scheme uses pyroelectric separation, a common method in other metallurgical processes, to remove transuranics and actinides from the wastes and concentrate them. These concentrated fuels are then reformed, on-site, into new fuel elements. The available fuel metals are never separated from

2091-587: A pool of liquid sodium or lead, making a loss of primary coolant extremely unlikely. The coolant loops are designed to allow for cooling through natural convection , meaning that in the case of a power loss or unexpected reactor shutdown, the heat from the reactor core would be sufficient to keep the coolant circulating even if the primary cooling pumps were to fail. The IFR also has passive safety advantages as compared with conventional LWRs. The fuel and cladding are designed such that when they expand due to increased temperatures, more neutrons would be able to escape

2214-435: A print and online edition. Berkeley's FM student radio station , KALX , broadcasts on 90.7 MHz. It is run largely by volunteers, including both students and community members. Berkeley also features an assortment of student-run publications: There are ninety-four political student groups on campus, including MEChXA de UC Berkeley, Berkeley ACLU , Berkeley Students for Life, Campus Greens, The Sustainability Team (STEAM),

2337-405: A radiological and industrially safe condition". Between 2012 and 2015, some components of the below-ground reactor were removed. The cost for removal actions in the reactor building were about $ 25.7 million. The basement with the reactor was filled with grout. The three-year decontamination and entombment project cost $ 730 million. In a later stage, the large concrete dome that surrounds

2460-476: A reactor, effectively destroying them (see more: long-lived fission products ). Zirconium-93 , another 5% of fission products, could in principle be recycled into fuel-pin cladding, where it does not matter that it is radioactive. Excluding the contribution from transuranic waste (TRU) – which are isotopes produced when uranium-238 captures a slow thermal neutron in an LWR but does not fission – all high level waste /fission products remaining after reprocessing

2583-543: A report by the DOE's Office of Nuclear Safety regarding a former Argonne employee's allegations that Argonne had retaliated against him for raising concerns about safety, as well as about the quality of research done on the IFR program. The report received international attention, with a notable difference in the coverage it received from major scientific publications. The British journal Nature entitled its article "Report backs whistleblower", and also noted conflicts of interest on

SECTION 20

#1732771962712

2706-702: A research facility and headquarters for the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences , opened. Supported by a grant from alumnus James Simons , the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing was established in 2012. In 2015, Berkeley and its sister campus, UCSF , established the Innovative Genomics Institute to develop CRISPR gene editing , and, in 2020, an anonymous donor pledged $ 252 million to help fund

2829-467: A small amount of sodium metal. The tube is welded shut at the top to form a unit 73 cm (29 in) long. The purpose of the sodium is to function as a heat-transfer agent. As more and more of the uranium undergoes fission, it develops fissures and the sodium enters the voids. It extracts an important fission product, caesium -137, and hence becomes intensely radioactive . The void above the uranium collects fission gases, mainly krypton -85. Clusters of

2952-454: A sodium-filled void inside the cladding to allow fuel expansion has been demonstrated in EBR-II. Metallic fuel makes pyroprocessing the reprocessing technology of choice. Fabrication of metallic fuel is easier and cheaper than ceramic (oxide) fuel, especially under remote handling conditions. Metallic fuel has better heat conductivity and lower heat capacity than oxide, which has safety advantages. The use of liquid metal coolant removes

3075-538: A standard at home football games, has recently expanded to involve basketball and volleyball. The traditional role comes from students holding megaphones and yelling, but now includes microphones, a dedicated platform during games, and the direction of the entire student section. Berkeley students are offered a variety of housing options, including university-owned or affiliated residences, private residences, fraternities and sororities, and cooperative housing (co-ops). Berkeley students, and those of other local schools, have

3198-532: A student regent, and a non-voting student regent-designate. Prior to 1952, Berkeley was the University of California, so the university president was also Berkeley's chief executive. In 1952, the university reorganized itself into a system of semi-autonomous campuses, with each campus having its own chief executive, a chancellor, who would, in turn, report to the president of the university system. Twelve vice-chancellors report directly to Berkeley's chancellor, and

3321-612: A system of semi-autonomous campuses, with each campus given a chancellor, and Clark Kerr became Berkeley's first Chancellor, while   Robert Sproul remained in place as the President of the University of California. Berkeley gained a worldwide reputation for political activism in the 1960s. In 1964, the Free Speech Movement organized student resistance to the university's restrictions on political activities on campus—most conspicuously, student activities related to

3444-458: A university task force was formed which recommended renaming the athletic identity to "Cal Berkeley" to further tie the athletic brand to academic prestige, and reduce public confusion. The University of California is governed by a twenty-six member Board of Regents , eighteen of whom are appointed by the Governor of California to 12-year terms. The board also has seven ex officio members,

3567-453: A variety of metallic and ceramic fuels—the oxides , carbides , or nitrides of uranium and plutonium , and metallic fuel alloys such as uranium-plutonium-zirconium fuel. Other sub-assembly positions may contain structural-material experiments. The pool-type reactor design of the EBR-II provides passive safety : the reactor core, its fuel handling equipment, and many other systems of the reactor are submerged under molten sodium. By providing

3690-531: A wider complex of facilities, consisting of The EBR-II has served as prototype of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR), which was the intended successor to the EBR-II. The IFR program was started in 1983, but funding was withdrawn by U.S. Congress in 1994, three years before the intended completion of the program. University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley ( UC Berkeley , Berkeley , Cal , or California )

3813-584: Is Oski the Bear , who debuted in 1941. Previously, live bear cubs were used as mascots at Memorial Stadium until it was decided in 1940 that a costumed mascot would be a better alternative. Named after the Oski-wow-wow yell, he is cared for by the Oski Committee, whose members have exclusive knowledge of the identity of the costume-wearer. The University of California Marching Band , which has served

Integral fast reactor - Misplaced Pages Continue

3936-525: Is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California , United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley , it is the state's first land-grant university and is the founding campus of the University of California system. Berkeley has an enrollment of more than 45,000 students. The university is organized around fifteen schools of study on

4059-565: Is about the same per unit power as from any kind of fission reactor. The potential complete removal of plutonium from the waste stream of the reactor reduces the concern that now exists with spent nuclear fuel from most other reactors, namely that a spent fuel repository could be used as a plutonium mine at some future date. Also, despite the million-fold reduction in radiotoxicity offered by this scheme, there remain concerns about radioactive longevity: [Some believe] that actinide removal would offer few if any significant advantages for disposal in

4182-661: Is also home to the University of California Botanical Garden , with more than 12,000 individual species. What is considered the historic campus today was the result of the 1898 "International Competition for the Phoebe Hearst Architectural Plan for the University of California," funded by William Randolph Hearst 's mother and initially held in the Belgian city of Antwerp ; eleven finalists were judged again in San Francisco in 1899. The winner

4305-490: Is an important symbol of California school spirit. The Big "C" has its roots in an early 20th-century campus event called "Rush," which pitted the freshman and sophomore classes against each other in a race up Charter Hill that often developed into a wrestling match. It was eventually decided to discontinue Rush and, in 1905, the freshman and sophomore classes banded together in a show of unity to build "the Big C." Students invented

4428-620: Is decentralized; applicants apply directly to the department or degree program. Most graduate students are supported by fellowships, teaching assistantships, or research assistantships. Doe Library serves as the Berkeley library system 's reference, periodical, and administrative center, while most of the main collections reside in the subterranean Gardner Main Stacks and Moffitt Undergraduate Library. The Bancroft Library , which has over 400,000 printed volumes and 70 million manuscripts, pictures, and maps, maintains special collections that document

4551-539: Is far less dense and far less viscous (reduced pumping costs), is not corrosive (via dissolution) to common steels, and creates essentially no radioactive neutron activation byproducts. The disadvantage of sodium coolant, as opposed to lead coolant, is that sodium is chemically reactive, especially with water or air. Lead may be substituted for the eutectic alloy of lead and bismuth , as used as reactor coolant in Soviet Alfa-class submarines . Metal fuel with

4674-456: Is that it provides the best solution to the existing nuclear waste problem because fast reactors can be fueled from the waste products of existing reactors as well as from the plutonium used in weapons, as is the case in the operating BN-800 reactor . Depleted uranium waste can also be used as fuel in fast reactors. The waste products of IFR reactors either have a short half-life, which means that they decay quickly and become relatively safe, or

4797-580: The Berkeley Student Food Collective , Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Cal Berkeley Democrats, and the Berkeley College Republicans. The Residence Hall Assembly (RHA) is the student-led umbrella organization that oversees event planning, legislation, sponsorships and other activities for over 7,200 on-campus undergraduate residents. Berkeley students also run a number of consulting groups, including

4920-501: The California Golden Bears , have also won 107 national championships, 196 individual national titles, and 223 Olympic medals (including 121 gold). Berkeley's alumni , faculty, and researchers include 55 Nobel laureates and 19 Academy Award winners, and the university is also a producer of Rhodes Scholars , Marshall Scholars , and Fulbright Scholars . Made possible by President Lincoln 's signing of

5043-673: The Civil Rights Movement . The arrest in Sproul Plaza of Jack Weinberg , a recent Berkeley alumnus and chair of Campus CORE , prompted a series of student-led acts of formal remonstrance and civil disobedience that ultimately gave rise to the Free Speech Movement, which movement would prevail and serve as a precedent for student opposition to America's involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1982,

Integral fast reactor - Misplaced Pages Continue

5166-701: The Lawrence Hall of Science . The Museum of Paleontology, found in the lobby of the Valley Life Sciences Building, showcases a variety of dinosaur fossils including a complete cast of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The campus also offers resources for innovation and entrepreneurship, such as the Big Ideas Competition, the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology, and the Berkeley Haas Innovation Lab. The campus

5289-656: The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) was established on campus with support from the National Science Foundation and at the request of three Berkeley mathematicians— Shiing-Shen Chern , Calvin Moore , and Isadore M. Singer . The institute is now widely regarded as a leading center for collaborative mathematical research, drawing thousands of visiting researchers from around the world each year. In

5412-653: The Morrill Act in 1862, the University of California was founded in 1868 as the state's first land-grant university, inheriting the land and facilities of the private College of California and the federal-funding eligibility of a public agricultural, mining, and mechanical arts college. The Organic Act states that the "University shall have for its design, to provide instruction and thorough and complete education in all departments of science, literature and art, industrial and professional pursuits, and general education, and also special courses of instruction in preparation for

5535-612: The National Register of Historic Places . Built in 1873 in a Victorian Second-Empire-style , South Hall, designed by David Farquharson, is the oldest university building in California. It, and the Frederick Law Olmsted -designed Piedmont Avenue east of the main campus, are two of the only surviving examples of the nineteenth-century campus. Other notable architects and firms whose work can be found in

5658-682: The Sather Tower (nicknamed "the Campanile" after its architectural inspiration, St Mark's Campanile in Venice), the tallest university clock tower in the United States. Buildings he regarded as temporary and non-academic were designed in shingle or Collegiate Gothic styles; examples of these are North Gate Hall, Dwinelle Annex, and Stephens Hall. Many of Howard's designs are recognized California Historical Landmarks and are listed on

5781-774: The Space Sciences Laboratory , the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute , an 800-acre (320-hectare) ecological preserve, the University of California Botanical Garden and a recreation center in Strawberry Canyon. Portions of the mostly undeveloped, eastern area of the campus are actually within the City of Oakland ; these portions extend from the Claremont Resort north through the Panoramic Hill neighborhood to Tilden Park . To

5904-464: The cyclotron , which won him the Nobel physics prize in 1939. Using the cyclotron, Berkeley professors and Berkeley Lab researchers went on to discover sixteen chemical elements —more than any other university in the world. In particular, during World War II and following Glenn Seaborg 's then-secret discovery of plutonium, Lawrence's Radiation Laboratory began to contract with the U.S. Army to develop

6027-475: The plutonium isotopes nor from all the fission products, and are therefore relatively difficult to use in nuclear weapons. Also, as plutonium never has to leave the site, it is far less open to unauthorized diversion. Another important benefit of removing the long- half-life transuranics from the waste cycle is that the remaining waste becomes a much shorter-term hazard. After the actinides ( reprocessed uranium , plutonium , and minor actinides ) are recycled,

6150-483: The proliferation potential of possible diversion of fissile material. In traditional light-water reactors (LWRs) the core must be maintained at a high pressure to keep the water liquid at high temperatures. In contrast, since the IFR is a liquid metal cooled reactor , the core could operate at close to ambient pressure , dramatically reducing the danger of a loss-of-coolant accident . The entire reactor core, heat exchangers , and primary cooling pumps are immersed in

6273-613: The Berkeley campus is in the city limits of Berkeley with portion of the property extending into Oakland . It encompasses approximately 1,232-acres, though the "central campus" occupies only the low-lying western 178-acres of this area. Of the remaining acres, approximately 200-acres are occupied by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; other facilities above the main campus include the Lawrence Hall of Science and several research units, notably

SECTION 50

#1732771962712

6396-519: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, billionaire Sir Li Ka-Shing , Israeli-Russian billionaire Yuri Milner , Thomas and Stacey Siebel , Sanford and Joan Weill , and professor Gordon Rausser ($ 50 million gift in 2020). Hundreds of millions of dollars have been given anonymously. The 2008–13 "Campaign for Berkeley" raised $ 3.13 billion from 281,855 donors, and the "Light the Way" campaign, which concluded at

6519-679: The CO 2 emissions by 2050 of the Generation III reactors presently under construction, it did summarize the LCA findings of in-development reactor technologies: Theoretical FBRs [ fast breeder reactors ] have been evaluated in the LCA literature. The limited literature that evaluates this potential future technology reports median life cycle GHG emissions... similar to or lower than LWRs [ light water reactors ] and purports to consume little or no uranium ore . No fission products have

6642-617: The College of California, became its first president. With the completion of North and South Halls in 1873, the university relocated to its Berkeley location with 167 male and 22 female students. The first female student to graduate was in 1874, admitted in the first class to include women in 1870. Beginning in 1891, Phoebe Apperson Hearst funded several programs and new buildings and, in 1898, sponsored an international competition in Antwerp , where French architect Émile Bénard submitted

6765-409: The EBR-II reactor would be removed and a concrete cap placed over the remaining structure. In 2018, the plans were changed. The removal of the dome was stopped and in 2019, a new floor was poured and the dome got a fresh paint to prepare the building for industrial use. The building will be used for a research facility on top of the entombed reactor. The dome is an integral part of the tomb along with

6888-602: The EBR-II would be converted to an IFR. Charles Till, a Canadian physicist from Argonne, was the head of the IFR project, and Yoon Chang was the deputy head. Till was positioned in Idaho, while Chang was in Illinois. With the election of President Bill Clinton in 1992, and the appointment of Hazel O'Leary as the Secretary of Energy , there was pressure from the top to cancel the IFR. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) and O'Leary led

7011-412: The EBR-II, in which the main primary cooling pumps were shut off with the reactor at full power (62.5 megawatts, thermal). By not allowing the normal shutdown systems to interfere, the reactor power dropped to near zero within about 300 seconds. No damage to the fuel or the reactor resulted. The same day, this demonstration was followed by another important test. With the reactor again at full power, flow in

7134-587: The Haas ( Walter A. Haas , Rhoda Haas Goldman , Walter A. Haas Jr. , Peter E. Haas , Bob Haas ) family. Berkeley has also benefited from benefactors beyond its alumni ranks, notable among which are Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan ; Vitalik Buterin , Patrick Collison , John Collison , the Ron Conway family, Daniel Gross , Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna , along with Jane Street principals; BP ;

7257-646: The Haas School of Business (1), College of Chemistry (5), College of Engineering (20), College of Environmental Design (4), College of Letters and Science (67), Rausser College of Natural Resources (10), and individual majors (2). The most popular majors are electrical engineering and computer sciences , political science , molecular and cell biology , environmental science , and economics . Requirements for undergraduate degrees include an entry-level writing requirement before enrollment (typically fulfilled by minimum scores on standardized admissions exams such as

7380-679: The IFR's positive void coefficient could be reduced to an acceptable level by adding technetium to the core, helping destroy the long-lived fission product technetium-99 by nuclear transmutation in the process. IFRs use virtually all of the energy content in the uranium fuel whereas a traditional light-water reactor uses less than 0.65% of the energy in mined uranium and less than 5% of the energy in enriched uranium . Both IFRs and LWRs do not emit CO 2 during operation, although construction and fuel processing result in CO 2 emissions (if via energy sources which are not carbon neutral, such as fossil fuels) and CO 2 -emitting cements are used in

7503-577: The IFR. In 2022, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and TerraPower began exploring locating five Natrium SFR-based nuclear power plants in Kemmerer, Wyoming ; the design incorporates a PRISM reactor plus TerraPower's Traveling Wave design with a molten salt storage system. Research on IFR reactors began in 1984 at Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois, as a part of the U.S. Department of Energy 's national laboratory system, and currently operated on

SECTION 60

#1732771962712

7626-713: The Los Angeles branch of the California State Normal School became the southern branch of the university, which ultimately became the University of California, Los Angeles . By the 1920s, the number of campus buildings in Berkeley had grown substantially and included twenty structures designed by architect John Galen Howard . In 1917, one of the nation's first ROTC programs was established at Berkeley and its School of Military Aeronautics began training pilots, including Jimmy Doolittle . In 1926, future Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz established

7749-544: The National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. It was shut down in 1994. Custody of the reactor was transferred to Idaho National Laboratory after its founding in 2005. Initial operations began in July 1964 and it achieved criticality in 1965 at a total cost of more than US$ 32 million ($ 309 million in 2023 dollars). The original emphasis in the design and operation of EBR-II was to demonstrate

7872-532: The SAT or ACT), completing coursework on "American History and Institutions" before or after enrollment by taking an introductory class, passing an "American Cultures Breadth" class at Berkeley, as well as requirements for reading and composition and specific requirements declared by the department and school. Berkeley has a "comprehensive" graduate program, with high coexistence with the programs offered to undergraduates, and offers interdisciplinary graduate programs with

7995-494: The TRU fuel is less radiotoxic (in sieverts ) than natural uranium (in a gram-to-gram comparison) within 200–400 years, and continues to decline afterward. The on-site reprocessing of fuel means that the volume of high-level nuclear waste leaving the plant is tiny compared to LWR spent fuel. In fact, in the U.S. most spent LWR fuel has remained in storage at the reactor site instead of being transported for reprocessing or placement in

8118-458: The UC Office of the President and accounts for 12 percent of Berkeley's total revenues. Berkeley has benefited from private philanthropy and alumni and their foundations have given to the university for operations and capital expenditures with the more prominent being J. Paul Getty , Ann Getty , Sanford Diller , Donald Fisher , Flora Lamson Hewlett , David Schwartz ( Bio-Rad ) and members of

8241-700: The University of California (ASUC) is the official student association that controls funding for student groups and organizes on-campus student events. The two main political parties are "Student Action" and "CalSERVE." The organization was founded in 1887 and has an annual operating budget of $ 1.7 million (excluding the budget of the Graduate Assembly of the ASUC), in addition to various investment assets. Its alumni include multiple State Senators, Assemblymembers, and White House Administration officials. Berkeley's student-run online television station, CalTV ,

8364-469: The atomic bomb. Physics professor J. Robert Oppenheimer was named scientific head of the Manhattan Project in 1942. Along with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley founded and was then a partner in managing two other labs, Los Alamos National Laboratory (1943) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1952). In 1952, the University of California reorganized itself into

8487-459: The campus and surrounding area are Bernard Maybeck (Faculty Club); Julia Morgan (Hearst Women's Gymnasium and Julia Morgan Hall ); William Wurster (Stern Hall); Moore Ruble Yudell (Haas School of Business); Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (C.V. Starr East Asian Library), and Diller Scofidio + Renfro (Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive). Flowing into the main campus are two branches of Strawberry Creek . The south fork enters

8610-576: The college football tradition of card stunts . Then known as Bleacher Stunts, they were first performed during the 1910 Big Game and consisted of two stunts: a picture of the Stanford Axe and a large blue "C" on a white background. The tradition is continued today by the Rally Committee in the Cal student section and incorporates complicated motions, for example tracing the Cal script logo on

8733-454: The construction process. A 2012 Yale University review analyzing CO 2 life cycle assessment (LCA) emissions from nuclear power determined that: The collective LCA literature indicates that life cycle GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions from nuclear power are only a fraction of traditional fossil sources and comparable to renewable technologies. Although the paper primarily dealt with data from Generation II reactors , and did not analyze

8856-466: The core, thus reducing the rate of the fission chain reaction. In other words, an increase in the core temperature acts as a feedback mechanism that decreases the core power. This attribute is known as a negative temperature coefficient of reactivity . Most LWRs also have negative reactivity coefficients; however, in an IFR, this effect is strong enough to stop the reactor from reaching core damage without external action from operators or safety systems. This

8979-490: The current century, Berkeley has become less politically active, although more liberal. Democrats outnumber Republicans on the faculty by a ratio of nine to one, which is a ratio similar to that of American academia generally. The school has become more focused on STEM disciplines and fundraising. In 2007, the Energy Biosciences Institute was established with funding from BP and Stanley Hall,

9102-579: The deactivated components and structure in a safe condition. The reactor was shut down in September 1994. The initial phase of decommissioning activities, reactor de-fueling, was completed in December 1996. From 2000, the coolants were removed and processed. This was completed in March 2001. The third and final phase of the decommissioning activity was "the placement of the reactor and non-reactor systems in

9225-400: The deans of the fifteen colleges and schools report to the executive vice chancellor and provost, Berkeley's chief academic officer. Twenty-three presidents and chancellors have led Berkeley since its founding. Presidents Chancellors With the exception of government contracts, public support is apportioned to Berkeley and the other campuses of the University of California system through

9348-658: The end of 2023, has raised over $ 6.2 billion. Berkeley is a large, primarily residential research university with a majority of its enrolment in undergraduate programs but also offering a comprehensive doctoral program. The university has been accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior College and University Commission since 1949. The university operates on a semester calendar and awarded 8,725 bachelor's, 3,286 master's or professional and 1,272 doctoral degrees in 2018–2019. There are 1,789 full-time and 886 part-time faculty members among

9471-561: The energy in mined uranium, and less than 5% of the enriched uranium with which they are fueled. This could greatly dampen concern about fuel supply or energy used in mining . What is more important today is why fast reactors are fuel-efficient: because fast neutrons can fission or "burn out" all the transuranic waste components. Transuranic waste consists of actinides – reactor-grade plutonium and minor actinides – many of which last tens of thousands of years or longer and make conventional nuclear waste disposal so problematic. Most of

9594-513: The federal funding for campus research and development exceeded $ 1 billion. Thirty-two libraries also compose the Berkeley library system which is the sixth largest research library by number of volumes held in the United States. Berkeley students compete in thirty varsity athletic sports, and the university is one of eighteen full-member institutions in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Berkeley's athletic teams,

9717-550: The first Naval ROTC unit at Berkeley. Berkeley ROTC alumni include former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara , Army Chief of Staff Frederick C. Weyand , sixteen other general officers , ten Navy flag officers , and AFROTC alumna Captain Theresa Claiborne . In the 1930s, Ernest Orlando Lawrence helped establish the Radiation Laboratory (now Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ) and invented

9840-432: The fission products are eventually converted to glass and metal blocks for safer disposal. Because the combined transuranium elements and the fission products are highly radioactive, fuel-rod transfer and reprocessing operations use robotic or remote-controlled equipment. An additional claimed benefit of this is that since fissile material never leaves the facility (and would be lethal to handle if it did), this greatly reduces

9963-470: The half-lives between 213,000 and 15.7 million years. However, these concerns do not consider the plan to store such materials in insoluble Synroc , and do not measure hazards in proportion to those from natural sources such as medical x-rays , cosmic rays , or naturally radioactive rocks (such as granite ). Furthermore, some of the radioactive fission products are being targeted for transmutation , belaying even these comparatively low concerns. For example,

10086-842: The history of the western part of North America, with an emphasis on California, Mexico and Central America. The Bancroft Library also houses the Mark Twain Papers, the Oral History Center, the Center for the Tebtunis Papyri, and the University Archives. In his memoirs, Clark Kerr records Berkeley's rise in the rankings (according to the National Academies ) during the 20th century. The school's first ranking in 1906 placed it among

10209-511: The inherent safety of the core. Containing all of the primary coolant in a pool produces several safety and reliability advantages. Reprocessing is essential to achieve most of the benefits of a fast reactor, improving fuel usage and reducing radioactive waste by several orders of magnitude. Onsite processing is what makes the IFR "integral". This and the use of pyroprocessing both reduce proliferation risk. Pyroprocessing (using an electrorefiner) has been demonstrated at EBR-II as practical on

10332-637: The maintenance of the six Cal flags, the large California banner overhanging the Memorial Stadium Student Section and Haas Pavilion , the California Victory Cannon, Card Stunts and The Big "C" among other duties. The Rally Committee is also responsible for safekeeping of the Stanford Axe when it is in Cal's possession. Overlooking the main Berkeley campus from the foothills in the east, The Big "C"

10455-523: The medical schools at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University . The university offers Master of Arts , Master of Science , Master of Fine Arts , and PhD degrees in addition to professional degrees such as the Juris Doctor , Master of Business Administration , Master of Public Health , and Master of Design . The university awarded 963 doctoral degrees and 3,531 master's degrees in 2017. Admission to graduate programs

10578-426: The nation. Berkeley doctoral programs that received a #1 ranking included English, German, Political Science, Geography, Agricultural and Resource Economics, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Epidemiology, Plant Biology, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Civil and Environmental Engineering. For Fall 2022, Berkeley's total enrollment

10701-422: The need for a pressure vessel around the reactor. Sodium has excellent nuclear characteristics, a high heat capacity and heat transfer capacity, low density, low viscosity , a reasonably low melting point and a high boiling point, and excellent compatibility with other materials including structural materials and fuel. The high heat capacity of the coolant and the elimination of water from the reactor core increase

10824-589: The opposition to the reactor, arguing that it would be a threat to non-proliferation efforts, and that it was a continuation of the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Project that had been canceled by Congress. Simultaneously, in 1994 Energy Secretary O'Leary awarded the lead IFR scientist with $ 10,000 and a gold medal, with the citation stating his work to develop IFR technology provided "improved safety, more efficient use of fuel and less radioactive waste ". IFR opponents also presented

10947-596: The option of living in one of the twenty cooperative houses participating in the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC), a nonprofit housing cooperative network consisting of 20 residences and 1250 member-owners. About three percent of undergraduate men and nine percent of undergraduate women—or 3,400 of total undergraduates—are active in Berkeley's Greek system. University-sanctioned fraternities and sororities comprise over 60 houses affiliated with four Greek councils. The Associated Students of

11070-749: The original site of the Campus Arboretum. Trees in the area date from the founding of the university. The campus features numerous wooded areas, including: Founders' Rock , Faculty Glade, Grinnell Natural Area, and the Eucalyptus Grove, which is both the tallest stand of such trees in the world and the tallest stand of hardwood trees in North America. The campus sits on the Hayward Fault , which runs directly through California Memorial Stadium. The official university mascot

11193-696: The original uranium ore. The fact that 4th generation reactors are being designed to use the waste from 3rd generation plants could change the nuclear story fundamentally—potentially making the combination of 3rd and 4th generation plants a more attractive energy option than 3rd generation by itself would have been, both from the perspective of waste management and energy security. "Integral" refers to on-site reprocessing by electrochemical pyroprocessing . This process separates spent fuel into 3 fractions: uranium, plutonium isotopes and other transuranium elements , and nuclear fission products. The uranium and transuranium elements are recycled into new fuel rods , and

11316-486: The part of a DOE panel that assessed IFR research. In contrast, the article that appeared in Science was entitled "Was Argonne Whistleblower Really Blowing Smoke?". Despite support for the reactor by then-Rep. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senators Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) and Paul Simon (D-IL), funding for the reactor was slashed, and it was ultimately canceled in 1994, at a greater cost than finishing it. When this

11439-421: The pins inside hexagonal stainless steel jackets 234 cm (92 in) long are assembled honeycomb-like; each unit has about 4.5 kg (9.9 lb) of uranium. Altogether, the core contains about 308 kg (679 lb) of uranium fuel, and this part is called the driver. The EBR-II core can accommodate as many as 65 experimental sub-assemblies for irradiation and operational reliability tests, fueled with

11562-537: The primary cooling system is lost. EBR-II is now defueled. The EBR-II shutdown activity also includes the treatment of its discharged spent fuel using an electrometallurgical fuel treatment process in the Fuel Conditioning Facility located next to the EBR-II. The clean-up process for EBR-II includes the removal and processing of the sodium coolant, cleaning of the EBR-II sodium systems, removal and passivating of other chemical hazards and placing

11685-462: The professions." Ten faculty members and forty male students made up the fledgling university when it opened in Oakland in 1869. Frederick Billings , a trustee of the College of California, suggested that a new campus site north of Oakland be named in honor of Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley . The university began admitting women the following year. In 1870, Henry Durant , founder of

11808-435: The radioactive fission products produced by an IFR have much shorter half-lives : they are intensely radioactive in the short term but decay quickly. Through many cycles, the IFR ultimately causes 99.9% of the uranium and transuranium elements to undergo fission and produce power; so, its only waste is the nuclear fission products . These have much shorter half-lives; in 300 years, their radioactivity will fall below that of

11931-433: The reactor was used to test concepts for the Integral Fast Reactor concept. In this role, the high-energy neutron environment of the EBR-II core was used for testing fuels and materials for future, larger, liquid metal reactors. As part of these experiments, in 1986 EBR-II underwent an experimental shutdown simulating complete cooling pump failure. It demonstrated its ability to self-cool its fuel through natural convection of

12054-429: The remaining radioactive waste isotopes are fission products – with half-lives of 90 years ( Sm-151 ) and less, or 211,100 years ( Tc-99 ) and more – plus any activation products from the non-fuel reactor components. Integral fast reactors (IFRs) can produce much less waste than light-water reactors (LWRs), and can even utilize other waste as fuel. The primary argument for pursuing IFR-style technology today

12177-433: The same activation product problems can occur. The goals of the IFR project were to increase the efficiency of uranium usage by breeding plutonium and to eliminate the need for transuranic isotopes to ever leave the site. The reactor was an unmoderated design running on fast neutrons , designed to allow any transuranic isotope to be consumed (and in some cases used as fuel). Compared to current light-water reactors with

12300-617: The same campus, including the College of Chemistry , the College of Engineering , and the Haas School of Business . It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was originally founded as part of the university. Berkeley was a founding member of the Association of American Universities and was one of the original eight " Public Ivy " schools. In 2021,

12423-508: The scale required. Compared to the PUREX aqueous process, it is economical in capital cost, and is unsuitable for the production of weapons material, again unlike PUREX which was developed for weapons programs. Pyroprocessing makes metallic fuel the fuel of choice. The two decisions are complementary. The four basic decisions of metallic fuel, sodium coolant, pool design, and onsite reprocessing by electrorefining , are complementary and produce

12546-402: The secondary cooling system was stopped. This test caused the temperature to increase, since there was nowhere for the reactor heat to go. As the primary (reactor) cooling system became hotter, the fuel, sodium coolant, and structure expanded, and the reactor shut down. This test showed that it will shut down using inherent features such as thermal expansion, even if the ability to remove heat from

12669-417: The secondary heat exchanger and not pose a risk to the reactor itself. Alternative designs use lead instead of sodium as the primary coolant. The disadvantages of lead are its higher density and viscosity, which increases pumping costs, and radioactive activation products resulting from neutron absorption. A lead-bismuth eutectate , as used in some Russian submarine reactors, has lower viscosity and density, but

12792-516: The sodium coolant during the decay heat period following the shutdown. It was used in the IFR support role, and many other experiments, until it was decommissioned in September 1994. At full power operation, which it reached in September 1969, EBR-II produced about 62.5 megawatts of heat and 20 megawatts of electricity through a conventional three-loop steam turbine system and tertiary forced-air cooling tower . Over its lifetime it has generated over two billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, providing

12915-409: The space between the fuel and the cladding. A void above the fuel allows helium and radioactive xenon to be collected safely without significantly increasing pressure inside the fuel element, and also allows the fuel to expand without breaching the cladding, making metal rather than oxide fuel practical. The advantages of liquid sodium coolant, as opposed to liquid metal lead , are that liquid sodium

13038-435: The top six schools ("Big Six") in the nation. In 1934, it ranked second, tied with Columbia and the University of Chicago , behind only Harvard ; in 1957, it was ranked as the only school second to Harvard. In 1964, Berkeley was named the "best balanced distinguished university", meaning the school had not only the most top departments but also the highest percentage of top ranking departments in its school. The school in 1993

13161-541: The university also owns land to the northwest of the main campus, a married student housing complex in the nearby town of Albany ("Albany Village" and the "Gill Tract"), and a field research station several miles to the north in Richmond, California . The campus is home to several museums including the University of California Museum of Paleontology , the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive , and

13284-626: The university since 1891, performs at every home football game and at select road games as well. A smaller subset of the Cal Band, the Straw Hat Band, performs at basketball games, volleyball games, and other campus and community events. The UC Rally Committee, formed in 1901, is the official guardian of California's Spirit and Traditions. Wearing their traditional blue and gold rugbies, Rally Committee members can be seen at all major sporting and spirit events. Committee members are charged with

13407-421: The university's academic enterprise which is organized into fifteen colleges and schools that comprise 180 departments and 80 interdisciplinary units offering over 350 degree programs. Colleges serve both undergraduate and graduate students, while schools are generally graduate only, though some offer undergraduate majors or minors: The four-year, full-time undergraduate program offers 107 bachelor's degrees across

13530-561: The upscale residential neighborhoods of the Berkeley Hills . Immediately southeast of campus lies fraternity row and beyond that the Clark Kerr Campus and an upscale residential area named Claremont . The area south of the university includes student housing and Telegraph Avenue , one of Berkeley's main shopping districts with stores, street vendors and restaurants catering to college students and tourists. In addition,

13653-475: The waste stream during reprocessing, a 1 GWe IFR-style reactor would consume about 1 ton of fertile material per year and produce about 1 ton of fission products . Experimental Breeder Reactor II 43°35′42″N 112°39′26″W  /  43.595039°N 112.657156°W  / 43.595039; -112.657156 Experimental Breeder Reactor-II ( EBR-II ) was a sodium-cooled fast reactor designed, built and operated by Argonne National Laboratory at

13776-455: The west of the central campus is the downtown business district of Berkeley ; to the northwest is the neighborhood of North Berkeley, including the so-called Gourmet Ghetto , a commercial district known for high quality dining due to the presence of such world-renowned restaurants as Chez Panisse . Immediately to the north is a quiet residential neighborhood known as Northside with a large graduate student population; situated north of that are

13899-494: The winning design for a campus master plan. Although the University of California system does not have an official flagship campus , many scholars and experts consider Berkeley to be its unofficial flagship. It shares this unofficial status with the University of California, Los Angeles . In 1905, the University Farm was established near Sacramento , ultimately becoming the University of California, Davis . In 1919,

14022-486: Was 45,745: 32,831 undergraduate and 12,914 graduate students, with women accounting for 56% of undergraduates and 49% of graduate and professional students. It had 128,226 freshman applicants and accepted 14,614 (11.4%). Among enrolled freshman, the average unweighted GPA was 3.90. Berkeley's enrollment of National Merit Scholars was third in the nation until 2002, when participation in the National Merit program

14145-682: Was Frenchman Émile Bénard , who refused to personally supervise the implementation of his plan and the task was subsequently given to architecture professor John Galen Howard . Howard designed over twenty buildings, which set the tone for the campus up until its expansion in the 1950s and 1960s. The structures forming the "classical core" of the campus were built in the Beaux-Arts Classical style, and include Hearst Greek Theatre , Hearst Memorial Mining Building , Doe Memorial Library , California Hall, Wheeler Hall , Le Conte Hall, Gilman Hall, Haviland Hall, Wellman Hall, Sather Gate , and

14268-541: Was brought to President Clinton's attention, he said "I know; it's a symbol." In 2001, as part of the Generation IV roadmap, the DOE tasked a 242-person team of scientists from DOE, UC Berkeley , Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford, ANL, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Toshiba , Westinghouse , Duke , EPRI , and other institutions to evaluate 19 of the best reactor designs on 27 different criteria. The IFR ranked #1 in their study which

14391-493: Was canceled by the US Congress in 1994, three years before completion. The proposed Generation IV sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR) is its closest surviving fast breeder reactor design. Other countries have also designed and operated fast reactors . S-PRISM (from SuperPRISM), also called PRISM (power reactor innovative small module), is the name of a nuclear power plant design by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy based on

14514-448: Was demonstrated in a series of safety tests on the prototype. Pete Planchon, the engineer who conducted the tests for an international audience, quipped "Back in 1986, we actually gave a small [20 MWe] prototype advanced fast reactor a couple of chances to melt down. It politely refused both times." Liquid sodium presents safety problems because it ignites spontaneously on contact with air and can cause explosions on contact with water. This

14637-606: Was discontinued. For 2019, Berkeley ranked fourth in enrollment of recipients of the National Merit $ 2,500 Scholarship (132 scholars). 27% of admitted students receive federal Pell grants . Berkeley students are eligible for a variety of public and private financial aid. Inquiries are processed through the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office, although schools such as the Haas School of Business and Berkeley Law , have their own financial aid offices. Much of

14760-493: Was formed in 2005 and broadcasts online. It is run by students with a variety of backgrounds and majors. Since the mid-2010s, it has been a program of the ASUC . Berkeley's independent student-run newspaper is The Daily Californian . Founded in 1871, The Daily Cal became independent in 1971 after the campus administration fired three senior editors for encouraging readers to take back People's Park . The Daily Californian has both

14883-468: Was released April 9, 2002. At present, there are no integral fast reactors in commercial operation. However, the BN-800 reactor , a very similar fast reactor operated as a burner of plutonium stockpiles, became commercially operational in 2014. The IFR is cooled by liquid sodium and fueled by an alloy of uranium and plutonium . The fuel is contained in steel cladding with liquid sodium filling in

15006-533: Was the case at the Monju Nuclear Power Plant in a 1995 accident and fire. To reduce the risk of explosions following a leak of water from the steam turbines , the IFR design (as with other sodium-cooled fast reactors ) includes an intermediate liquid-metal coolant loop between the reactor and the steam turbines. The purpose of this loop is to ensure that any explosion following the accidental mixing of sodium and turbine water would be limited to

15129-549: Was the only remaining member of the original 1906 "Big Six", along with Harvard; in that year Berkeley ranked first. The American Council on Education , a private non-profit association, ranked Berkeley tenth in 1934. However, by 1942, private funding had helped Berkeley rise to second place, behind only Harvard, based on the number of distinguished departments. In 1985, Yale University admissions officer Richard Moll published Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities which named Berkeley

#711288