Status and Perspectives of Nuclear Energy: Fission and Fusion - Proceedings of the International School of Physics "Enrico Fermi" Course CXVI, 10-20 July 1990(v. 116 Enrico Fermi International School of Physics S.)

This book reinvestigates and analyses, in various aspects and details, the scientific basis of an up-to-date 'nuclear culture' and presents the basic and outstanding problems of this field, with its important technical and social applications and consequences. The contributions are presented by leading experts in this area and the fundamental approaches related to nuclear fission and fusion have been considered and covered. In the light of public opinion regarding nuclear energy as a whole, after the Chernobyl accident, the various items, including safety and ecological problems, are treated beyond the political and social misunderstandings due to ideological and fashionable interferences. The resulting collection of papers therefore satisfy the double need of maintaining a high scientific standard and of presenting the data and the facts in such a way that they can be understood, in their essential aspects, by a more general audience.

Table of Contents:
Preface (R.A. Ricci and C. Salvetti). Enhanced nuclear reactor safety (E. Teller). Nuclear energy for space propulsion (E. Teller). Nuclear power from fission (M. Silvestri). Breeding of nuclear fuel and basic characteristics of fast neutron reactors (G. Vendryes). Technical aspects of fast breeder reactors with a special reference to safety (G. Vendryes). Past development, present situation and future prospects of fast breeder reactors (G. Vendryes). The French experience with nuclear power (R. Carle). Radioactive waste management (F.L. Parker). New concepts in power reactors in the USA (J.J. Taylor). Innovative reactors: a proposal. The MARS (Multipurpose advanced reactor inherently safe) (M. Cumo). The rationale of the system of dose limitation recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Trends in nuclear safety (F. Niehaus, L. Lederman). Nuclear power and sustainable development. The issue of climate change (F. Niehaus). On society and nuclear energy (C. Marchetti). Do we need more physics? Do we need more physicists? Do we need more nuclear physics? (J. de Boer). JET results and the approach to a fusion reactor (Ph. Rebut). The JET project: key experimental results and technical development towards breakeven plasmas (E. Bertolini). Near term experiments on advanced fusion (B. Coppi, F. Pegararo). The NET project (R. Toschi). Physics of inertial fusion (J. Meyer-ter-Vehn). Status and perspectives of heavy ion inertial fusion (R. Bock). Experimental frontiers in muon-catalyzed fusion (A. Bertin and A. Vitale). State of the art of "cold fusion" (F. Scaramuzzi).