Pu and MA Management in Thermal HTGRs: Impact at Fuel, Reactor and Fuel Cycle Levels

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Kuijper
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Cycle ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Forum ◽  
Reactor Technology ◽  
The Status ◽  
Fuel Reactor ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Eu

The PUMA project, a Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) of the European Union EURATOM 6th Framework Program, is mainly aimed at providing additional key elements for the utilisation and transmutation of plutonium and minor actinides (neptunium and americium) in contemporary and future (high temperature) gas-cooled reactor design, which are promising tools for improving the sustainability of the nuclear fuel cycle. PUMA would also contribute to the reduction of Pu and MA stockpiles and to the development of safe and sustainable reactors for CO2-free energy generation. The project runs from September 1, 2006 until August 31, 2009. PUMA also contributes to technological goals of the Generation IV International Forum. It contributes to developing and maintaining the competence in reactor technology in the EU and addresses European stakeholders on key issues for the future of nuclear energy in the EU. An overview is presented of the status of the project at mid-term.

scholarly journals Den Stier das Tanzen lehren?

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (168) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Fisahn
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Financial Market ◽  
Debt Crisis ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
The European Union ◽  
German Government ◽  
Capital Movements ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Eu

The crisis of the European Union cannot be solved by austerity programs. Therefore a closer look at the reasons of the crisis seems to be reasonable, which includes a description of the development of the EU from 1951 to present times. The Union started as a tariff union and evolved through different steps to an order of competitive states. The main fields of competition between the states are taxes and social costs, which leads to tax dumping and a race to the bottom in social benefits. Starting in 1990 the EU achieved the status of an open financial market, with the duty of deregulation of capital movements being stipulated in Treaties. In the end the problem is not a debt crisis but a crisis of the structure of the European Union. The solution – which especially the German government prefers – may be the first step on the way to an authoritarian state.

scholarly journals Elaboration of approach to nuclear energy systems assessment by criterion of sustainable development

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
Vladimir I. Usanov ◽  
Stepan A. Kviatkovskii ◽  
Andrey A. Andrianov
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Energy Systems ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Cycle ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Subject Areas ◽  
Key Events

The paper describes the approach to the assessment of nuclear energy systems based on the integral indicator characterizing the level of their sustainability and results of comparative assessment of several nuclear energy system options incorporating different combinations of nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The nuclear energy systems are characterized by achievement of certain key events pertaining to the following six subject areas: economic performance, safety, availability of resources, waste handling, non-proliferation and public support. Achievement of certain key events is examined within the time interval until 2100, while the key events per se are assessed according to their contribution in the achievement of sustainable development goals. It was demonstrated that nuclear energy systems based on the once-through nuclear fuel cycle with thermal reactors and uranium oxide fuel do not score high according to the integral sustainable development indicator even in the case when the issue of isolation of spent nuclear fuel in geological formation is resolved. Gradual replacement of part of thermal reactors with fast reactors and closing the nuclear fuel cycle results in the achievement of evaluated characteristics in many subject areas, which are close to maximum requirements of sustainable development, and in the significant enhancement of the sustainability indicator.

scholarly journals Gloss to the Judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C 129/18, SM versus Entry Clearance Officer, UK Visa Section

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-200
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Woch
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
Family Members ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Freedom Of Movement ◽  
State Of The Union ◽  
Legal Guardianship ◽  
The Status ◽  
Union Citizen ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

The right of family members of Union citizens to live with them in the host Member State has always been considered essential for an effective freedom of movement of citizens. However, the provisions of Directive 2004/38/EC contain a different description of the scope of rights of family members of Union citizens taking advantage of the freedom of movement of persons as to the possibility of accompanying or joining EU citizens taking advantage of the freedom of movement of persons, depending on whether they belong to the circle of ‘closer’ or ‘distant’ family members. This issue acquires particular significance in the context of family members who are not citizens of any Member State of the Union. For individuals belonging to the circle of ‘closer’ family members, the EU legislator grants the subjective right to accompany or join a Union citizen exercising the right of the freedom of movement of persons. In the latter case, the legislator only obliges the host Member States to facilitate entry and residence for such individuals in accordance with their national legislation. The glossed judgment, by determining the status of individuals under legal guardianship within the framework of the Algerian kafala system as a ‘distant’ family member of a Union citizen, clearly touches upon a significant issue in the context of the Union’s freedom of movement of persons.    

Accelerator-driven subcritical fission in molten salt core: Closing the nuclear fuel cycle for green nuclear energy

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter McIntyre ◽  
Saeed Assadi ◽  
Karie Badgley ◽  
William Baker ◽  
Justin Comeaux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molten Salt ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Cycle

9. European Union law and institutions

2021 ◽  
pp. 124-141
Author(s):  
Colin Faragher
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
Cooperation Agreement ◽  
The Status ◽  
Fundamental Rights And Freedoms ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter discusses the Treaty framework and sources of EU law as well as the institutions of the EU. It covers the legal background to the UK’s departure from the EU, the legal process through which the UK left the EU, the key provisions of the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (2020), and the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020. This chapter also discusses the effect of the UK’s departure from the EU on the status of the sources of EU law and the effect of leaving the EU on the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms as well as failure to transpose a Directive into national law and the effect of leaving the EU on the Francovich principle.

Approaches to the law applicable to proprietary effects of transactions in securities taken in uniform law: a lesson for the EU

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-723
Author(s):  
Michael F Müller
Keyword(s):  
Status Quo ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Conflict Of Laws ◽  
The Status ◽  
Uniform Solution ◽  
Uniform Law ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Securities Trading ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The modern practice of securities trading has led to almost insurmountable tensions with classical conflict-of-laws doctrine. The Hague Securities Convention set out to provide for a new and uniform solution. In a recent communication from the Commission, the topic has resurfaced on the European agenda. Against this background, this article poses the question of whether the discussion around the Convention can serve as a lesson for the European Union (EU). It is submitted that neither the status quo of EU law is satisfactory nor does the adoption of the Convention offer a fully convincing solution but that the problem should be targeted at its root: the outdated concept of some national substantive laws in intermediated securities.

Scenario Analysis on the Benefits of Multi-National Cooperation for the Development of a Common Nuclear Energy System Based on PWR and LFR Fleets

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Ciotti ◽  
Jorge L. Manzano ◽  
Vladimir Kuznetsov ◽  
Galina Fesenko ◽  
Luisa Ferroni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Proper Time ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Cycle ◽  
Levelized Cost Of Electricity ◽  
Base Load

Financial aspects, environmental concerns and non-favorable public opinion are strongly conditioning the deployment of new Nuclear Energy Systems across Europe. Nevertheless, new possibilities are emerging to render competitive electricity from Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) owing to two factors: the first one, which is the fast growth of High Voltage lines interconnecting the European countries’ national electrical grids, this process being triggered by huge increase of the installed intermittent renewable electricity sources (Wind and PV); and the second one, determined by the carbon-free constraints imposed on the base load electricity generation. The countries that due to public opinion pressure can’t build new NPPs on their territory may find it profitable to produce base load nuclear electricity abroad, even at long distances, in order to comply with the European dispositions on the limitation of the CO2 emissions. In this study the benefits from operating at multinational level with the deployment of a fleet of PWRs and subsequently, at a proper time, the one of Lead Fast Reactors (LFRs) are analyzed. The analysis performed involves Italy (a country with a current moratorium on nuclear power on spite that its biggest utility operates NPPs abroad), and the countries from South East and Central East Europe potentially looking for introduction or expansion of their nuclear power programmes. According to the predicted evolution of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) a forecast of the electricity consumption evolution for the present century is derived with the assumption that a certain fraction of it will be covered by nuclear electricity. In this context, evaluated are material balances for the front and the back end of nuclear fuel cycle associated with the installed nuclear capacity. A key element of the analysis is the particular type of LFR assumed in the scenario, characterized by having a fuel cycle where only fission products and the reprocessing losses are sent for disposition and natural or depleted uranium is added to fuel in each reprocessing cycle. Such LFR could be referred to as “adiabatic reactor”. Owing to introduction of such reactors a substantive reduction in uranium consumption and final disposal requirements can be achieved. Finally, the impacts of the LFR and the economy of scale in nuclear fuel cycle on the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) are being evaluated, for scaling up from a national to a multinational dimension, illustrating the benefits potentially achievable through cooperation among countries.

Australia’s Atomic Past

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 98-111
Author(s):  
David Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
Nuclear Fuel Cycle ◽  
Uranium Mining ◽  
Educational Materials ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Parliamentary Committee ◽  
Pros And Cons ◽  
Atomic Testing

Abstract I ask in this article whether the legacies of Australia’s nuclear past, including the great secrecy surrounding testing of weapons in the 1950s and 1960s, and subsequent clean-ups, have impacted in particular ways that have ongoing ramifications for policy relating to uranium mining and nuclear energy. My starting point is the sustained examination of the pros and cons of developing the nuclear fuel cycle in Australia, a Parliamentary Committee Inquiry from 2006. Contrasting the submissions and discussions of this committee with exhibition and educational materials relating to the legacies of atomic testing, I suggest that one of the biggest opportunities for constructive policy conversation on nuclear energy suffered from the absence of trust among different groups. This derived, in good measure, from distinctive features in popular remembering of Australia’s atomic past. In 2006, it fed the exasperation of nuclear advocates who did not, and perhaps still do not, appreciate that the neat separation of uranium mining and energy generation from Australia’s earlier encounters with the atom is very hard. Relatedly, I argue that the secrecy around governments’ involvement in atomic testing, and its legacies, is likely to be seized on regularly; and likely to sustain what is a reservoir of public mistrust of government policy.

The fast-neutron breeder fission: development, operational experience, and implications for future design in the United States

1990 ◽  
Vol 331 (1619) ◽  
pp. 323-338
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Fuel Cycle ◽  
The United States ◽  
Commercial Application ◽  
Operational Experience ◽  
Market Penetration ◽  
Future Design ◽  
Reactor Technology ◽  
The Status ◽  
Design Activities

As the need for breeder technology in the United States has receded into the more distant future, it has become clear that an alternative justification must be found for continued priority development of sodium-cooled fast-reactor technology. Both the modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor and the liquid-metal-cooled reactor (LMR) have technical attributes that provide more simple and transparent solutions to some of the problems confronting the nuclear enterprise, in addition to their potential for greater market penetration, resource extension, and waste management improvements. For the past five years, the LMR development programme in the United States has attempted to use these technical attributes in more innovative ways to provide more elegant solutions for the practical commercial application of nuclear energy. This paper discusses the reasons and status of the technological approaches that have evolved to support these policy considerations. For the LMR, efforts are focused on four interrelated development thrusts: (1) increased use of standardization; (2) passive safety approaches; (3) modularity; and (4) improved fuel cycle approaches. The paper also discusses the status of related design activities being conducted by the General Electric Company and a team of U. S. vendors.

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