physics

Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation

Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation rather than just read about it. In short: The Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) (動力炉・核燃料開発事業団, Dōryokuro Kakunenryō Kaihatsu Jigyōdan) or 動燃 (Dōnen) for short, was a Japanese nuclear energy research organization established 2 October 1967 with the Atomic Fuel Corporation as its parent organization and disbanded in 1998 to be restructured as the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute. The organization specialized in special bree…

Key takeaways

Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC) (動力炉・核燃料開発事業団, Dōryokuro Kakunenryō Kaihatsu Jigyōdan) or 動燃 (Dōnen) for short, was a Japanese nuclear energy research organization established 2 October 1967 with the Atomic Fuel Corporation as its parent organization and disbanded in 1998 to be restructured as the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute. The organization specialized in special breeder reactors and the Advanced Thermal Reactor. It also owned a nuclear reprocessing facility and its activities included uranium exploration in Australia and disposal of high-level waste.

Outline In the fast-growing 1960s Japanese business world, domestic reactor technology was mostly undeveloped, so importing reactor designs and nuclear fuel proved to be the best economic option. Uranium enrichment technology at the time also had military secrets associated with it, making importing a necessity. Since Japan had very few hydraulic energy resources, breeder reactors and renewable energy were attractive technologies. However, the organization existing at the time to do such research, the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute had been falling into an unstable situation, and tests on nuclear power plants were limited and regulated by the companies that owned the plants. Thus PNC was created and did development work for the Monju reactor and other cutting-edge projects. The breeder reactor technology was difficult to master due to the difficulty in the handling of sodium, and for a time, PNC was even called the pros of sodium. Various accidents associated with the Tokaimura site, Monju plant, and another asphalt processing plant ultimately caused reorganization yet again into the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute.

Puruto-kun video Another event from PNC's history is an image character called プルト君 (Puruto-kun), which is similar to saying "Plutonium boy". Promotional videos that PNC released showed Puruto-kun debunking various fears about plutonium, such as:

If bad guys dropped Plutonium into the ocean, it actually won't dissolve into the water well and will fall to the bottom. If you drink Plutonium mixed with water, you'll still be mostly fine since it will exit your body quickly. The image character received harsh criticisms from international press. The question of how harmful plutonium is to a human depends on the chemical form of the plutonium and the mode of exposure. Powdered plutonium dioxide (the form in MOX) is very resistant to digestion in acid; if swallowed, it is likely to pass through the digestive system and leave in the stool. However, when inhaled, finely powdered plutonium dioxide will stay in the lungs for a long time, thus exposing the person to a far higher radiation dose for a given amount of plutonium radioactivity. Water-soluble forms of plutonium can be absorbed in the digestive system, work done in the 1970s suggests that the yearly oral limit for water-soluble forms of plutonium-239 should be 830 kBq while the limit for water-insoluble forms of plutonium-239 should be 5000 kBq (5 MBq). The same study suggested that the yearly limit for water-insoluble forms of plutonium in air should be 750 Bq, which is far lower than either of the oral limits. The question of the degree of harm which is caused by "bad guys" dropping plutonium into the sea is not a simple question; the radioactive power pack containing plutonium-238 which was intended for use in space for the Apollo 13 Moon mission was wrapped in a heat-resistant package which is likely to prevent leaking of plutonium for a very long time. However, plutonium released in the form of nitrate or fine powder is likely to absorb onto mineral particles such as silt. Depending on the exact conditions this absorption onto silt could either tend to fix the plutonium in soil or the silt at the bottom of a lake (or sea), or it could enable the plutonium to migrate from one location to another with greater ease.

See also Tokaimura nuclear accident Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation

In research: Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Defunct companies of Japan, Nuclear history of Japan, Nuclear reprocessing sites, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation in simple terms?

Why does Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation.