Appendix XIII invites readers to check, for themselves, the quantitative claims the book rests on. It uses only the equations, constants and data in Appendix XII, with no outside sources or extra physics. It is for readers comfortable with algebra, logarithms and exponentials who want to rebuild the core arithmetic of the fuel cycle rather than take it on trust.
The thirteen problems are arranged in layers that match Appendix XII. Each layer has two warmups and a Spiral that combines the current layer's tools with earlier ones. Layer Two adds a Bateman warmup. Most problems follow one realistic object, a dry storage cask holding 24 PWR assemblies, 10 MT of heavy metal and about 100 kg of plutonium at 45 GWd/tHM:
- Layer Zero: the unit bridge from eV to kWh, the mass defect of a U-235 fission, and the energy density of uranium compared with coal.
- Layer One: balancing a fission reaction, choosing a moderator from cross-sections (heavy versus light water and CANDU), and the plutonium in the cask.
- Layer Two: the iodine-xenon chain and the reactor restart window, the 300-year threshold, decay heat and the cooling requirement, and what is in the cask now.
- Layer Three: the efficiency ceiling, an enrichment audit of the 6.2 SWU/kg figure, and a five-step synthesis: from the cask's fertile material, to a breeder, to a growing fleet, to the national stockpile and the closed-cycle case.
Answers are included. Full worked solutions follow the problems, and results within 5 to 10% of a stated figure count as confirming it.
How it supports the book: the problems test claims from Chapter 1 (Nuclear Energy), Chapter 6 (Enrichment), Chapters 8 to 10 (reactor physics and safety), Chapter 13 (Spent Nuclear Fuel), Chapter 15 (Fast Breeders), Chapter 16 (Nuclear Waste) and Chapter 27 (The Closed Cycle Endgame).
