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Future electricity systems are challenged by deep decarbonization and concurrently increasing demand and there are growing concerns that renewables cannot shoulder this alone. Starting from the proven principle of diversity, we argue for keeping the nuclear option open or even for expanding its use. However, the perspectives are dim for the current...
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... types of large reactors currently in use or being developed are represented in the SMR lines, including thermal neutron spectrum water-cooled reactors, various kinds of fast neutron spectrum reactors (FR) including liquid metal and temperature molten salt cooled reactors, and gas-cooled, graphite moderated high reactors (Figure 3). LWR-based SMR has the lowest technological and regulatory risk, while some fast SMR concepts enable longer operation before refueling, which is regarded advantageous, where appropriate. ...
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... Third, the very fact that humans bear the brunt of nuclear power's externalities means that we may manage it better, put greater safety measures in place, and in the end protect humans and wildlife even more than from other power sources. In general, nuclear power has had a remarkable safety record, that can and should be improved, and likely will with the advent of newer technologies (Gattie, 2020;Kroger et al., 2020). ...
Question: How can nuclear power and nuclear inclusive environmentalism maintain and return land to the preservation of biodiversity? Premises: (1) It's all about energy in terms of us (humans) and nature. (2) We have absconded with most of the available sunlight via land conversion, crops, lumber, pets, livestock, and harvest of non-domesticated species. (3) We will continue to use more, not less, energy. (4) We must channel more, not less, sunlight toward preserving and enhancing biodiversity. (5) Fossil fuels use "fossil" sunlight rather than current sunlight, but present harsh externalities for humans and biodiversity. (6) Renewable energy (hydro, wind, and solar) reduce carbon emissions, yet impose negative externalities for biodiversity. (7) Nuclear power may not always be the best option for humanity independent of preserving biodiversity. (8) Nuclear waste and disasters have spawned a fallacy regarding externalities insofar as externalities for nature are primarily positive. Conclusions: Nuclear power provides the best option for preserving biodiversity. Nuclear power imposes the smallest land footprint (c. 2-3 km 2 /TWh/year) when compared to fossil fuels (c. 10-45 km 2 /TWh/year), renewables (c. 35-70 km 2 /TWh/year), and biofuels (250-900 km 2 /TWh/ year). If the price for nuclear power drops 50-75%, then it becomes economical to artificially synthesize rather than grow carbohydrates. Using nuclear power along coastlines for water desalination could restore rivers, wetlands, and return massive amounts of fresh water toward promoting biodiversity. Finally, there is an inversion of externalities. While nuclear accidents, leakages, and waste can and have caused demonstrable harm to humans, the easements and exclusion zones created for safety from actual or potential hazards permit space for rewilding. Judicious coordination of nuclear power expansion and biodiversity easements offer our best chance of ending the biodiversity crisis by returning space, water, and sunlight to non-human-dominated nature.
... Throughout the history of commercial nuclear power operation, there have been only two major reactor accidents: Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi [139,141,142]. Both of these accidents resulted in significant radiation exposure to the public; however, it is important to note that these are the only major accidents to have occurred in over 18,500 cumulative reactor-years of commercial nuclear power operation in 36 countries [143]. ...
This scientific paper discusses the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the effects of climate change. The proposed strategy is to reach net-zero emissions by transitioning to electric systems powered by low-carbon sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectric power, and nuclear energy. However, the paper also highlights the challenges of this transition, including high costs and lack of infrastructure. The paper emphasizes the need for continued research and investment in renewable energy technology and infrastructure to overcome these challenges and achieve a sustainable energy system. Additionally, the use of nuclear energy raises concerns, such as nuclear waste and proliferation, and should be considered with its benefits and drawbacks. The study assesses the feasibility of nuclear energy development in Latvia, a country in Northern Europe, and finds that Latvia is a suitable location for nuclear power facilities due to potential energy independence, low-carbon energy production, reliability, and economic benefits. The study also discusses methods of calculating electricity generation and consumption, such as measuring MWh produced by power plants, and balancing supply and demand within the country. Furthermore, the study assesses the safety of nuclear reactors, generated waste, and options for nuclear waste recycling. The transition to a carbon-free energy system is ongoing and complex, requiring multiple strategies to accelerate the transition. While the paper proposes that nuclear energy could be a practical means of supporting and backing up electricity generated by renewables, it should be noted that there are still challenges to be addressed. Some of the results presented in the paper are still based on studies, and the post-treatment of waste needs to be further clarified.
... and with an initial cost of €$3 billion, had its commercial operation postponed to mid-2023 and the cost increased to €$12.7 billion [4]. Licensing problems, schedule delays and rising costs led to the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) as a response to the problems of economic competitiveness of nuclear energy with other sources, with respect to costs and construction time [5] [6] [7]. SMR projects leverage five factors to be more economically competitive than large reactors: 1) Their reduced size implies a lower capital cost for construction, when compared to a large unit; 2) The Components of an SMR can be manufactured on an assembly line and shipped to site, thereby reducing the cost of construction. ...
Delays in the construction of nuclear reactors due to licensing issues have been a problem across the world, affecting projects in Finland, France, and the United States. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) emerge as a transition between Generations III+ and IV in order to make nuclear energy more competitive with other energy sources, including renewables. In this study, the SMR NuScale, one of the most promising projects today, is investigated for its conversion into a U-233-producing reactor through the Radkowsky seed-blanket fuel element concept, applied in the Shippingport reactor, in a parametric study. Initially, a validation of the reference reactor (NuScale) was carried out with data from technical documents and papers, thus demonstrating the agreement of the computational model carried out with the SERPENT code. Then, a parametric study is carried out to define the area of the seed and blanket region, proportions of enrichment and pitch length. Finally, a comparison is made between the production of U-233, TRU reduction, burn-up extension and neutronic and thermohydraulic safety parameters. This study demonstrates an improvement in the conversion factor and a considerable reduction in the production of TRU, in addition to the production of U-233 with a low proportion of other uranium isotopes that can lead to the beginning of the thorium cycle with already consolidated technologies.
... Through this study, we aim to identify the open challenges in the design, planning, and organization of future emergency responses to meet the ambitions of industry 4.0. The nuclear industry is moving towards unprecedented levels of safety, with retrofitted operating fleets, and planned advanced reactors characterized by passive safety systems, extended grace periods, sophisticated instrumentation and control, high levels of automation, and advanced containment systems [12]. However, accidents in all industries are destined to happen. ...
Post-accident mitigation and consequence analysis have been subjects of extensive research in the nuclear industry. Strict regulatory guidelines and radiation monitoring networks are usually in place to support the prompt implementation of protective actions (evacuation, sheltering, etc.) in case of emergency. However, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident has exposed the challenges in nuclear emergency responses, since the existing plans had to be adapted several times, and monitoring data as well as dispersion codes could not be used as planned, hence aggravating the situation. In this paper, we present a comprehensive retrospective analysis of the Fukushima accident, presenting the accident timeline with an explicit connection between the onsite progressions and the offsite decision-making and emergency response. Additionally, we summarize the different health consequences and radiation exposure. Furthermore, we discuss the faced managerial, organizational, procedural, as well as technological shortfalls that led to the many decision delays and response complications. Accordingly, we discuss some of the attempts made to tackle these issues. Finally, we identify the remaining gaps in the design, planning, and organization of future emergency responses to meet the ambitions of industry 4.0, with more accident-resilient societies and environments.
... Although nuclear power could offer significant contributions to a low-carbon future [68][69][70], the technology's contribution to deep decarbonization is dependent upon socio-technical enabling factors [34]. While the technology offers the ability to accommodate and support renewables [71], nuclear waste management, cost and time overruns, accidents, and market competition may diminish its overall attractiveness [72,73], particularly if safety concerns and social aversion remain unaddressed [74]. ...
Many energy systems models have sought to develop pathways for deep decarbonization of the global energy system. Most often, these pathways minimize system costs or greenhouse gas emissions; with few exceptions, they ignore the constraints imposed by political, social, and economic factors that slow transition processes, making them prone to producing implausible decarbonization pathways. This paper integrates a key socio-technical factor—social acceptance of low-carbon nuclear power—into an energy systems model to illustrate how it alters the optimal energy generation mix. The United States was chosen as the example, but the approach itself is designed to be general and applicable to any region of interest. An empirically grounded risk tolerance model is developed to characterize acceptance of nuclear power and estimate an upper-bound deployment limit for the technology. Illustrative scenarios are presented to improve our understanding of how the socio-technical constraints that exist in the real world can alter deep decarbonization pathways. The cost-optimal generation portfolio to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 primarily relies on nuclear power. If risk tolerance concerns constrain nuclear deployment to socially acceptable levels, deep decarbonization scenarios are up to 11% more expensive than the reference scenario and require low-carbon options to be available and replace the reduced nuclear share. Results from this novel framework improve our representation of the effect of social acceptance on the adoption and diffusion of energy technologies. They also contribute to a growing literature that seeks to firmly embed the social sciences in climate and energy policy.
... Apart from modeling support, operational experience has been used to aid improvements and post-design modifications. For example, major accidents in the nuclear power industry have triggered industry-wide retrofits and stress tests [7], with the most prominent being the post TMI control room changes, post Chernobyl RBMK design changes, and the post Fukushima "Diverse and Flexible Coping Strategies FLEX" backfits [8]. ...
We analyze the ETH Zurich open curated database of 1250 worldwide nuclear events focused on safety significance with potentials for precursors, presented in the companion paper. We find that major accidents always trigger a wave of “reactive” reporting as well as changes in regulatory or corporate management that last 5 to 6 years, mostly due to increased alertness, improved transparency, uncovering latent design errors, and heightened public pressure. The leading causes for multi-unit events are found to be external triggers and design issues, confirming the need to adapt PSAs to cover multi-unit events accordingly. Common-cause failures (CCF) are found to occur fairly frequently, at different levels, and can significantly erode the safety of the plant. From the lessons learned from this analysis, we suggest that frequent review of components design and operating procedures, employing different teams for testing and maintenance activities on redundant trains, and sharing operational experience between plants of similar designs, are some of the steps that should be taken in order to limit future occurrences of CCFs and beyond that further improve plant safety. We identify some quantitative signs of aging for plants after the age of 25. Our findings stress the need for larger recording, reliance, and sharing of operational data to support learning from experience and avoid reoccurrence of accidents and events.
This paper presents a multidisciplinary analysis of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Along with the latest observations and simulation studies, we synthesize the time-series and event progressions during the accident across multiple disciplines, including in-plant physics and engineering systems, operators’ actions, emergency responses, meteorology, radionuclide release and transport, land contamination, and health impacts. We identify three key factors that exacerbated the consequences of the accident: (1) the failure of Unit 2 containment venting, (2) the insufficient integration of radiation measurements and meteorology data in the evacuation strategy, and (3) the limited risk assessment and emergency preparedness. We conclude with new research and development directions to improve the resilience of nuclear energy systems and communities, including (1) meteorology-informed proactive venting, (2) machine learning-enabled adaptive evacuation zones, and (3) comprehensive risk-informed emergency planning while leveraging the experience from responses to other disasters.
The opposition in some countries to including nuclear power in future sustainable energy portfolios—in part due to “nuclear dread”—often has limited quantitative scientific foundation of the real benefits and risks. This has been amplified by the lack of sound estimates of operational risk due to the scarcity of the relevant empirical data. In order to address this gap, we use the largest open database on accident precursors along with our in-house generic probabilistic safety assessment models to conduct a comprehensive statistical study of operational risks in the civil nuclear sector. We find that the distribution of precursor severities follows a Pareto distribution, and we observe a runaway Dragon Kings regime for the most significant events. Based on our findings, we have determined that exogenous factors account for 95% of the risk associated with nuclear power. By addressing these factors in new reactor designs, we estimate that the frequency of accidents similar to the Fukushima Daiichi level can be reduced to about one every 300 years for the global fleet. Finally, our study highlights the importance and need for international cooperation focused on constructing comprehensive blockchains of accident precursors.
This manuscript deals with the development of ICP-OES based methodology for the determination critical elements: B, Cd, Eu, Sm, Gd and Dy in U3Si2 matrix. The sample was dissolved in HNO3 with catalytic amount of HF. To avoid spectral interference of uranium, five contacts of TOPO-CCl4 have been given for preferential separation of U, leaving behind the critical elements into the aqueous phase. Though measurable quantity of Si was also co-extracted with U into the organic phase; however, the critical elements remained in aqueous phase. Five contacts of organic phase were found to be sufficient in bringing down concentration of U below tolerance level in aqueous raffinate. This methodology was validated using synthetic samples. The optimization was done by choosing interference free analytical lines of the analytes, determination of detection limits, linear dynamic range, sensitivity and precision. Actual samples were analyzed using the optimized methodology and the results were found to be satisfactory.
