GLOSSARY
- BWR
- boiling water reactor - a direct-cycle thermal fission reactor used to produce electricity.
- CANDU
- CANada Deuterium Uranium Reactor - an indirect-cycle thermal fission reactor moderated with heavy water and used to produce electricity.
- cGy
- centigray - a measure of radiation intensity.
- EJ
- exajoule - a very large unit of energy, equal to 1 billion (1 000 000 000) gigajoules, and equivalent to approximately 23.5 million tonnes of oil.
- FBR
- fast breeder feactor - a reactor that operates with fast neutrons instead of slow neutrons and is fueled with plutonium and uranium, capable of breeding more plutonium than it consumes.
- GDP
- gross domestic product - a measure of the economic output of a country or region.
- GJ
- gigajoule - a large unit of energy, equal to 1 billion (1 000 000 000) joules, and equivalent to about 27.5Żlitres of gasoline.
- Gtoe
- gigaton oil equivalent.
- GWe
- gigawatt electric - a measure of electrical generating capacity, equal to 1 million kWe, or 1000 MWe.
- IAEA
- the International Atomic Energy Agency of the United Nations.
- INSAG
- the International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group.
- kWe
- kilowatt electric - equal to 1 kilowatt of electricity.
- mSv
- millisievert - a measure of radiation dose. The average person receives about 3 mSv per year from natural background and medical procedures.
- MWe
- megawatt electric - a measure of electrical generating capacity, equal to 1000 kWe.
- NPT
- the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
- PWR
- pressurized water reactor - an indirect-cycle thermal fission reactor used to produce electricity.
- plutonium
- an element that is produced by bombarding uranium with neutrons. The term plutonium is often used to mean the fissionable isotope, plutonium-239, which is produced in reactors and can be used as fuel for generating electricity. It can also be used in weapons.
- Purex
- a liquid solvent extraction method of reprocessing used nuclear fuel to separate fission products from uranium and plutonium.
- uranium-233
- a fissionable isotope of uranium that does not occur in nature but can be produced by bombarding thorium with neutrons.
- uranium-235
- a fissionable isotope of uranium, comprising about 0.7% of the natural uranium mined from the earth. When separated from the uranium-238, it can also be used in weapons.
- uranium-238
- a fertile isotope of uranium comprising about 99.3% of the natural uranium mined from the earth. Uranium-238 can be converted to a fissionable isotope of plutonium by bombardment with neutrons.
- UNSCEAR
- the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation.
- WANO
- the World Association of Nuclear Operators.
- WEC
- the World Energy Council - an international body of organizations involved in the production and use of energy.