What can be learned from the French partial nuclear shutdown of 2016?

Author(s):  
Jacques Percebois ◽  
Stanislas Pommeret

The penetration of intermittent renewable energies in the electricity mixes impact the wholesale price. In the absence of electricity storing capacities at reasonable costs, the back-up of the intermittent renewable energies is ensured by fossil or nuclear power plants. In 2016 the French Nuclear Safety Authority has ordered the shutdown of a large part of nuclear units for safety reasons. This paper analyses the impact of such a decision both on the evolution of the whole-sale price of electricity and on the French commercial balance. Although the resulting mix from the partial shutdown of the nuclear power plants was able to produce the electrical energy consumed, it was unable to keep up with demand. This has resulted in a very sharp increase in the price of electricity on the spot market and in massive electricity imports at peak times. Moreover the carbon electricity footprint produced in France is much lower than the one pro-duced by its neighbors. Consequently, the nuclear partial shutdown has a negative climatic impact resulting in a deterioration of the citizen welfare. Thus, the French experience of 2016 teaches us that in the absence of electricity storage facilities, there is no point in trying to re-duce the share of nuclear and fossil fuels in the electricity mix. If the policymakers want to do so, they must ensure that massive electricity storage facilities are present and promote electrici-ty demand flexibility on a large scale. This study highlights also the divergence that can exist between the interest of the nuclear producer (higher revenues) and the collective interest (lower welfare and negative impact on the trade balance).

2021 ◽  
Vol 2083 (2) ◽  
pp. 022020
Author(s):  
Jiahuan Yu ◽  
Xiaofeng Zhang

Abstract With the development of the nuclear energy industry and the increasing demand for environmental protection, the impact of nuclear power plant radiation on the environment has gradually entered the public view. This article combs the nuclear power plant radiation environmental management systems of several countries, takes the domestic and foreign management of radioactive effluent discharge from nuclear power plants as a starting point, analyses and compares the laws and standards related to radioactive effluents from nuclear power plants in France, the United States, China, and South Korea. In this paper, the management improvement of radioactive effluent discharge system of Chinese nuclear power plants has been discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 309-314
Author(s):  
Irma Martyn ◽  
Yaroslav Petrov ◽  
Sergey Stepanov ◽  
Artem Sidorenko

Author(s):  
Juyoul Kim ◽  
Sukhoon Kim ◽  
Jin Beak Park ◽  
Sunjoung Lee

In the Korean LILW (Low- and Intermediate-Level radioactive Waste) repository at Gyeongju city, the degradation of organic wastes and the corrosion of metallic wastes and steel containers would be important processes that affect repository geochemistry, speciation and transport of radionuclides during the lifetime of a radioactive waste disposal facility. Gas is generated in association with these processes and has the potential threat to pressurize the repository, which can promote the transport of groundwater and gas, and consequently radionuclide transport. Microbial activity plays an important role in organic degradation, corrosion and gas generation through the mediation of reduction-oxidation reactions. The Korean research project on gas generation is being performed by Korea Radioactive Waste Management Corporation (hereafter referred to as “KRMC”). A full-scale in-situ experiment will form a central part of the project, where gas generation in real radioactive low-level maintenance waste from nuclear power plants will be done as an in-depth study during ten years at least. In order to examine gas generation issues from an LILW repository which is being constructed and will be completed by the end of December, 2012, two large-scale facilities for the gas generation experiment will be established, each equipped with a concrete container carrying on 16 drums of 200 L and 9 drums of 320 L of LILW from Korean nuclear power plants. Each container will be enclosed within a gas-tight and acid-proof steel tank. The experiment facility will be fully filled with ground water that provides representative geochemical conditions and microbial inoculation in the near field of repository. In the experiment, the design includes long-term monitoring and analyses for the rate and composition of gas generated, and aqueous geochemistry and microbe populations present at various locations through on-line analyzers and manual periodical sampling. A main schedule for establishing the experiment facility is as follows: Completion of the detailed design until the second quarter of the year 2010; Completion of the manufacture and on-site installation until the second quarter of the year 2011; Start of the operation and monitoring from the third quarter of the year 2011.


Author(s):  
Yuchen Hao ◽  
Yue Li ◽  
Jinhua Wang ◽  
Bin Wu ◽  
Haitao Wang

Abstract In nuclear power plants, the amount of spent fuel stored on-site is limited. Therefore, it is necessary to be shipped to off-site storage or disposal facilities regularly. The key risk in the transfer of spent fuel involves a release of radiation that could cause harmful effects to people and the environment. Transfer casks with impact limiters on both ends are always employed to ensure safe containment of radioactive materials, which should be verified by the 9 meters drop test onto an unyielding surface according to IAEA SSR-6. In this paper, we focus on the influence of the impact-limiter parameters, including geometry dimensions and mechanical properties, on the results of drop events to achieve an optimized approach for design. The typical structure of impact limiter is bulk energy-absorbed material wrapped by thin stainless-steel shells. Compared to traditional wood, foam has advantages of isotropy and steady quality. In this paper, theoretical and numerical methods are both adopted to investigate the influence of impact limiters during hypothetical accidental conditions for optimizing buffer influence and protecting the internal fuel components. First of all, a series of polyurethane foam is selected according to the theoretical method, because its mechanical property is related to density. Therefore, using explicit finite element method to investigate the influence of parameters of foam in impact limiter. These discrete points from the above result can be utilized to establish damage curves by date fitting. Finally, a design approach for spent fuel transfer cask is summarized, to provide a convenient formula to predict the damage and optimize structure design in drop condition. Furthermore, this design approach can be applied in the multi-module shared system of SNF, which can contain different fuel assemblies.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 141-154
Author(s):  
Marcus Vitlin ◽  
Miroshan Naicker ◽  
Augustine Frederick Gardner

Generation III+ reactors are the latest generation of Nuclear Power Plants to enter the market. The key evolution in these reactors is the introduction of stringent safety standards. This is done through thorough incident scenario analysis and preparation, resulting in the addition of novel active and passive auxiliary safety systems, affecting the power consumption in the balance of plant. This paper analyses the parameters of PWR power plants of similar design, to determine the parameters for optimal efficiency, regarding gross and net electrical output, determining the impact the balance of plant has on this efficiency. While two of the three main factors affecting the Rankine cycle – boiler pressure and steam temperature – behaved as theoretically expected, there was a notable point of departure with the third parameter – condenser pressure. The relationship between steam temperature and gross electrical efficiency was linear across all reactors but the relation between the steam temperature and the net electrical efficiency ceased to be linear for secondary loop steam temperatures above 290°C. The relationship between boiler pressure and both gross and net electrical efficiency was linear, proving the Rankine cycle. A relationship was not observed between the condenser pressure and either the gross or net electrical efficiency


2014 ◽  
Vol 521 ◽  
pp. 530-535
Author(s):  
Meng Wang ◽  
Jian Ding ◽  
Tian Tang ◽  
Zhang Sui Lin ◽  
Zhen Da Hu ◽  
...  

The current situation of nuclear power plants at home and abroad is described, and the impact of large-scale nuclear power accessing to the grid is analyzed, specifically in the aspects of nuclear power modeling, simulation, load following, reliability, fault diagnosis, etc. Nuclear power accessing to the grid will bring a series of problems, the causes of each problem, the main solutions and future development directions are summarized.


Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Gros

AREVA has been running since decades nuclear reprocessing and recycling installations in France. Several industrial facilities have been built and used to this aim across the time. Following those decades and with the more and more precise monitoring of the impact of those installations, precise data and lessons-learned have been collected that can be used for the stakeholders of potential new facilities. China has expressed strong interest in building such facilities. As a matter of fact, the issue of accumulation of spent fuel is becoming serious in China and jeopardizes the operation of several nuclear power plants, through the running out of space of storage pools. Tomorrow, with the extremely high pace of nuclear development of China, accumulation of spent fuel will be unbearable. Building reprocessing and recycling installations takes time. A decision has to be taken so as to enable the responsible development of nuclear in China. Without a solution for the back end of its nuclear fuel cycle, the development of nuclear energy will face a wall. This is what the Chinese central government, through the action of its industrial CNNC, has well understood. Several years of negotiations have been held with AREVA. Everybody in the sector seems now convinced. However, now that the negotiation is coming to an end, an effort should be done towards all the stakeholders, sharing actual information from France’s reference facilities on: safety, security, mitigation measures for health protection (of the workers, of the public), mitigation measures for the protection of the environment. Most of this information is public, as France has since years promulgated a law on Nuclear transparency. China is also in need for more transparency, yet lacks means to access this public information, often in French language, so let’s open our books!


Kerntechnik ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 84-87
Author(s):  
H. R. V. de Oliveira ◽  
A. S. Martinez

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