Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor versus Pressurized Water Reactor debate Essay

Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor versus Pressurized Water Reactor debate - Essay Example On the contrary, the Pressurized Water Reactors are cheaper to maintain, environmentally safe and reliable. This prompted the government to commission the Sizewell B project. Future energy generation considerations are likely to favor the use of renewable sources that are cheaper, and environment friendly. Contents 1.0 Introduction From the 1960s, there was a clarion call to develop nuclear energy in UK with Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors (AGRs) being the preferred choice. The first prototype of the advanced gas-cooled reactor was developed in 1962, but the first commercial AGR became operational in 1976. Complexities in implementation of the prototype delayed completion of the first AGR commercial plants. Other AGR projects were to be commissioned later in the 70s, and the 80s. However, they faced the same challenge (delayed implantation) compounded with a heavy cost implication. This led to an acrimonious debate about the use of AGR technology to generate electricity, when other econ omically viable means were available. The immense pressure forced the UK government to abandon building AGRs anymore and instead focused on the Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs). This led to the commissioning of Sizewell B in 1987 to 1995. The PWRs were considered to be cheaper, environmentally safer and more reliable than the AGRs. ... The AGR is designed to use carbon dioxide as a coolant and graphite as a moderator. The AGR is a specifically UK breed of reactor developed, from the design for the very first nuclear reactor, to generate electricity for commercial use, a reactor built at Calder Hall in Cumbria, UK (Breeze, 2005, p. 258). Figure 1: Schematic diagram of an AGR Source: World Nuclear Association There are several advanced gas-cooled reactors built in the UK, but they have been found to be costly to operate. Most of the AGR plants cost more at the completion than it was initially anticipated and no further units of the design are planned. Instead, the last nuclear power plant built in the UK employed a United States PWR design (Breeze, 2005, p. 258). Pressurized water reactors (PWRs) are used in light-water reactor power plants. Although, there are different manufacturers in the United States, the fundamental characteristics of the PWRs are the same: the main coolant brings up steam vapor in the heat exc hanger, known as the steam generator and this steam drives the turbines. Figure 2: Schematic diagram of a PWR Source: Tennessee Valley authority By the 1970s, United Kingdom was the only major Western Europe country yet to adopt the use of light water reactors (LWR) technology to develop. This was a result of a protracted debate between the protagonist of the AGR and the LWR. It was argued that the LWR was unsafe, thus the promotion of AGR usage. The Magnox stations in UK had for a long time been faced with the problems of low volumetric power density, low operating temperatures and low pressures. The time had come to look for an alternative, and well improved design. This led to the development of the advanced gas-cooled reactors.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Essay -- essays research papers fc

John Fitzgerald Kennedy John F. Kennedy ( JFK ) was known throughout the world for his heroic deeds. He has helped many Americans many different ways from saving a mans life and keeping him from drowning, to helping African Americans. He had come from a very political family, and knowing that he felt that he had to carry on the tradition of that after his brother Joe had past away. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917, the second oldest in a family of nine children. Although their families had not come to the United States with much money, both of John Kennedy's grandfathers became political leaders in Boston. One of them, John Fitzgerald (for whom he was named), was elected mayor in 1905. John Kennedy's father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy became a very wealthy businessman, an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the United States Ambassador to Great Britain from 1938 to 1940. John Kennedy (his family called him "Jack") moved to New York when he was ten years old. Since the family spent the summer months at their home in Hyannis, Cape Cod, Jack still lived a good part of his life in Massachusetts. As a boy and a young man, he traveled to other parts of the United States and to other countries. After graduating from the Choate School in Connecticut in 1935, he went on to Harvard College and graduated in 1940. That same year he wrote a best-selling book, Why England Slept, about some of the decisions which led to World War II. Kennedy described himself as â€Å" an idealist without illusion â€Å". He considered his best quality to be curiosity, and he worst irritability. Kennedy’s charm, grace, and wit were to a great extent responsible for his immense popularity as president. He remained a bit detached from things in order to counter his extremely sensitive side, for the most part he controlled his temper. Kennedy met his future wife at a dinner party in Washington, D.C. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was the daughter of a wealthy Wall Street broker, John V. Bouvier III. She had attended Vassar College and the Sorbonne in Paris. When she met Kennedy, she was a student at George Washington University in Washington. Later, she worked as an... ...uals, like the African Americans. He treated people equally, no matter who they were or what color there skin was. As the years have gone by and other Presidents have written their chapters in history, John Kennedy's brief time in office stands out in people's memories--for his leadership, personality, and accomplishments. Many respect his coolness when faced with difficult decisions--like what to do about the missiles in Cuba. Others admire his ability to inspire people with his eloquent speeches. Still others think his compassion and his willingness to fight for new government programs to help the poor, the elderly and the ill were most important. Like all leaders, John Kennedy made mistakes, but he was always optimistic about the future. He believed that people could solve their common problems if they put their country's interests first and worked together. Bibliography Michael D. Cole John Kennedy President of New Frontier Springfield, 1996 Andrew Langley John F. Kennedy New York, 1985 Zachary Kent Encyclopedia of Presidents John F. Kennedy Chicago, 1987 Scott Fetzer Company The World Book Encyclopedia Chicago, London, Sydney Toronto, 1992 John Fitzgerald Kennedy Essay -- essays research papers fc John Fitzgerald Kennedy John F. Kennedy ( JFK ) was known throughout the world for his heroic deeds. He has helped many Americans many different ways from saving a mans life and keeping him from drowning, to helping African Americans. He had come from a very political family, and knowing that he felt that he had to carry on the tradition of that after his brother Joe had past away. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts on May 29, 1917, the second oldest in a family of nine children. Although their families had not come to the United States with much money, both of John Kennedy's grandfathers became political leaders in Boston. One of them, John Fitzgerald (for whom he was named), was elected mayor in 1905. John Kennedy's father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy became a very wealthy businessman, an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the United States Ambassador to Great Britain from 1938 to 1940. John Kennedy (his family called him "Jack") moved to New York when he was ten years old. Since the family spent the summer months at their home in Hyannis, Cape Cod, Jack still lived a good part of his life in Massachusetts. As a boy and a young man, he traveled to other parts of the United States and to other countries. After graduating from the Choate School in Connecticut in 1935, he went on to Harvard College and graduated in 1940. That same year he wrote a best-selling book, Why England Slept, about some of the decisions which led to World War II. Kennedy described himself as â€Å" an idealist without illusion â€Å". He considered his best quality to be curiosity, and he worst irritability. Kennedy’s charm, grace, and wit were to a great extent responsible for his immense popularity as president. He remained a bit detached from things in order to counter his extremely sensitive side, for the most part he controlled his temper. Kennedy met his future wife at a dinner party in Washington, D.C. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier was the daughter of a wealthy Wall Street broker, John V. Bouvier III. She had attended Vassar College and the Sorbonne in Paris. When she met Kennedy, she was a student at George Washington University in Washington. Later, she worked as an... ...uals, like the African Americans. He treated people equally, no matter who they were or what color there skin was. As the years have gone by and other Presidents have written their chapters in history, John Kennedy's brief time in office stands out in people's memories--for his leadership, personality, and accomplishments. Many respect his coolness when faced with difficult decisions--like what to do about the missiles in Cuba. Others admire his ability to inspire people with his eloquent speeches. Still others think his compassion and his willingness to fight for new government programs to help the poor, the elderly and the ill were most important. Like all leaders, John Kennedy made mistakes, but he was always optimistic about the future. He believed that people could solve their common problems if they put their country's interests first and worked together. Bibliography Michael D. Cole John Kennedy President of New Frontier Springfield, 1996 Andrew Langley John F. Kennedy New York, 1985 Zachary Kent Encyclopedia of Presidents John F. Kennedy Chicago, 1987 Scott Fetzer Company The World Book Encyclopedia Chicago, London, Sydney Toronto, 1992

How to Achieve Your Goals

Achieving Your Goals â€Å"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind. † – Lee Iacocca In today’s work world you have to be aware and be prepared for survival. Awareness starts with accepting the breathless pace of the ever growing technology and the fact that corporations can no longer guarantee job security. The job requirements keep changing with the advancements in technology. Lifelong learning is essential if you want to go with the flow and not drown in it. Up and ahead is not the only direction to move in an organization.If your sole definition of success is getting promoted or advancing in pay/status/job title, then you are not thinking broadly enough. In the new world of work, it is important to consider multiple directions in which your career could move and to focus on those moves that help you develop your employability the most. Focus on progress, not perfection. Flexibility is the key to it all. Self-Managed learning gives us that flexibility. Below are some pointers which will help get us to focus on achieving our goals: Aims & Requirements: First things first. Write down clearly what you are aiming at.What do you want to do? Why do you want to do it? Who do you want to be? What would you get out of it? Where do you want to reach? What all would you need to know to get there? Now picture yourself there. Keep that in mind always even when you face with failures. This will help you keep moving forward. Set achievable and realistic goals. Creating a Time Table: Whatever may be our goal, making a time table always helps us manage our time properly. For example, If we were on a ‘weight loss’ goal keeping a record of all our calorie intakes, the time we take to work out along with our daily routine will help us a great deal.We will know where we are going wrong, where we need to improve, what all could be done to help us improve ourselves. It k eeps us in check and helps us know our progress. There could be a column in which we can self-assess ourselves (give grades and fun remarks) to motivate and encourage us to go on. Yes, it would be a pain keeping tabs, but hard work pays more than short cuts ever will. Personal Orientation: Personal Orientation helps us to understand how we relate to an environment/situation/relationship. It gives us the opportunity to discover our aptitudes, interests and aspirations.When we are looking for a job in a company, this could help us to know what we can give to them. It could also help us to align our interests to what the company is looking for. For personal orientation you should learn to explore your world. Make mistakes and learn from them. It will help you make better choices suiting your interests. In short, personal orientation will help you feel more sure of yourself in this complex and ever changing technological world. Deadlines: Deadlines help us to make use of our time more e fficiently so as to get maximum output. It also helps to keep laziness at bay.When you know something has to be done within the specified time limit you tend to work harder to get it done. When things get hard we tend to keep it off until the next day. Deadlines keep a check on that. Without the urgency of a hard deadline pushing your work to completion, it’s easy for you to lose focus. As illustrator Christoph Niemann pointed out in a 99% interview, â€Å"Deadlines can actually help us by creating a fixed window of opportunity that requires us to be focused, pragmatic and decisive: In advertising, and also editorial, when people have 2 days, the briefing is much better, and the discussion is much better.It’s not that people just sign off on anything because they’re in a hurry. They’re just really looking at what they have, and trying to make the best product, and get it done. The problem is when people have too much time on their hands. Because then at some point everybody’s going to question, â€Å"Why did you make it red, not green? † and â€Å"Could we try it upside-down, or left to right? † and then at some point it becomes arbitrary. If the anxiety is about the deadline, then the energy really focuses on the result. If there is not anxiety about a deadline, all of the anxiety goes right to the creative part. Review your progress regularly Keep reviewing your progress daily. This will help you get back on track if you go off course. Monitoring your progress might also motivate you to work harder. These could be included in the Time table. Celebrate! Congratulate yourself when you manage to get through an especially tough spot. Give yourself a treat. Self-Reflection & staying true to your goals: â€Å"By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is the easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter. –  Confucius How true the se words ring. No matter what goals we have set for ourselves or how efficient we have made our time table unless we really truly believe we are capable of it, we will most probable fail. Self-reflection is important. We have to understand and conquer our fears, come to terms with our inner self and strengths. This might seem a waste of time for most people but that’s not so. Being able to remove all those thoughts and feeling which are holding us back from giving our 100% can open so many doors for us. We will not be afraid to take the next step. It will help us grow as a person.We have to believe we can do it. And then we will become what we believe. Making goals is easy, but working towards achieving them might not be so. Anything worth having takes time and effort. So be prepared to face challenges to get what you want. Don’t let obstacles damper your desire for success. Even after having set your goals getting started is often the hardest thing to do. But doesnâ⠂¬â„¢t success taste the sweetest after some hard work? Try to follow your plans with a true heart and I’m sure you’ll success in every walk of life. And yes, pray to God! He will help you with it all!

Daddy Longlegs Arachnids, but Not Spiders

People often mistake a daddy longlegs, also called a harvestman, for a spider. Daddy longlegs do have some spider-like qualities since, like spiders, they are classified as  arachnids. Like all arachnids, they do have eight legs and tend to skitter about the way spiders do. We often see them in the same places where we see spiders. In fact, daddy longlegs are more like scorpions than spiders. Arachnids Other critters that are arachnids include scorpions, mites, and ticks, and those arthropods are certainly not spiders. In fact, arachnids are not insects either. Insects are animals with six legs, wings, or antennae. Arachnids have none of the above. Opiliones Compared to Araneae The  daddy longlegs  belongs to the order  Opiliones.  Unlike in spiders, the number of eyes of daddy longlegs, as well as body type, sex organs, and defensive mechanisms, are all different. In opilionids, the head, thorax, and abdomen are fused into one thoracic cavity. Spiders, of the order  Araneae, have a distinct waist between the cephalothorax and the abdomen. Opilionids have just two eyes, compared to the usual eight in spiders. Daddy longlegs also do not produce silk, unlike spiders. They do not spin webs, and they do not use webs to capture prey. If you find a harvestman in a web, it does not live there. It probably would like to be rescued from the spider that is about to eat it. Finally, daddy longlegs are not venomous. They do not have fangs, nor venom glands. Most spiders, with only a few exceptions, produce venom. Special Adaptations Daddy longlegs stink when threatened, thanks to defensive stink glands, which have been observed to repulse predators. Daddy longlegs are usually extremely well camouflaged. During the day, many of them hide in crevasses, and when disturbed, they usually curl up and remain motionless for several minutes by playing dead—which works extraordinarily well. Anyone who has tried to catch a daddy longlegs knows they have a tendency to shed their legs. Grab one by the foot, and it promptly lets go of the entire leg and runs off. They will voluntarily shed legs to get away from predators, but sadly a new appendage does not grow back if it is already full grown. There is some hope if it is in the nymph stage that the leg might grow back. Its legs are not just vital to locomotion, they are also nerve centers. Through its legs, the daddy longlegs may sense vibrations, smells, and tastes. Pull the legs off a harvestman, and you might be limiting its ability to make sense of the world. Mating Behavior and Sex Organs Unlike spiders that use an indirect method of transferring sperm to females, the harvestman does tend to have elaborate mating rituals and a specialized organ capable of depositing sperm directly into the female. In some harvestman species, there are sneaky males also known as beta males, who camouflage themselves as females, get close to a female and plant its seed into unwitting females. Other Daddy Longlegs Some of the confusion over whether the daddy longlegs is a spider comes from the fact that there are two are small creatures with that name, and one actually is a spider. The daddy longlegs spider is the cellar spider. It is pale gray or tan and has banding or chevron markings. Crane flies, which resemble large mosquitoes, are sometimes called daddy longlegs as well.