Overview

The energy industries in general have much in common with the process industries in terms of the management, the plant and the hazards. This is true even of the nuclear industry, although this also has a number of unique features. Historically, the nuclear industry has often had to face particular problems before they have impinged on the process industries and has had to devise solutions for them. In consequence, there are a number of areas where work in the nuclear industry is relevant to the process industries.

In this appendix a general account is given of nuclear energy, essentially with reference to those features which are common to, or have impact on, the process industries. Accounts of the accidents at Three Mile Island and at Chernobyl and of the Rasmussen Report are given in Appendices 21, 22 and 23, spectively.

Some topics common to both industries have been dealt with already in other chapters. The account of major hazard control in Chapter 4 covers nuclear hazards. The treatment of management and management systems in Chapter 6 is applicable to nuclear as well as process systems.

General information on nuclear phenomena and on radioactivity is given in Source Book on Atomic Energy by Glasstone (1968), The Effects of Nuclear Weapons by Glasstone and Dolan (1979), Nuclear Energy Technology by Knief (1981) and A Dictionary of Nuclear Power and Waste Management by Foo-Sun Lau (1987).

Frequent reference is made in this appendix to two reports issued following...