scholarly journals Global outlook on large-scale nuclear power development strategies

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-270
Author(s):  
Evgeny O. Adamov ◽  
Valeriy I. Rachkov ◽  
Andrey A. Kashirsky ◽  
Alexander I. Orlov

As of today, nuclear power together with hydropower provides three-quarters of global low-carbon electricity generation. Over the past 60 years since the time of its inception, the use of nuclear power has reduced CO2 emissions by over 60 gigatonnes. There is no doubt that nuclear power can play a major, and maybe even a decisive role in decarbonizing the electricity sector, as it is evident from the current energy mix of some European countries, especially France, and major economic powers like the Unites States, Russia and South Korea. It is also evident that in most advanced economies nuclear power has entered a phase of gradual decline with little new investment coming into new projects, regardless of the world’s desperate need for more low-carbon electricity. Although existing reactor and their corresponding fuel cycle technologies have enabled the global nuclear power fleet to reach ~ 400 GWe of net installed capacity, there is growing concern that the scale of NPP shutdowns expected in Europe and North America could offset new capacity additions in Asian markets. Theoretically, renewable energy could fill the void left by reactors taken offline but there is strong evidence that the potential of wind and solar for global decarbonization is limited by material, land and economic constraints. Large-scale renewable systems would also require massive energy storage capacity that would hamper economic sustainability of the energy supply for developing countries. Taking into account the potential benefits of developing nuclear power, some countries are determined to expand its share in their energy mix through technological innovation and application of new strategies, directed at improving or completely resolving current issues related to economics, environmental concerns or non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. There are many states in the world today pursuing some sort of nuclear power development. A limited number of countries envision expanding or transforming their nuclear energy system using truly game-changing strategies based on innovative reactor, fuel cycle and waste management technologies. The focus of this paper is to give an overview of the approaches to large-scale nuclear power development being applied today in Russia, China, USA and India.

Author(s):  
V.K. Ivanov ◽  
◽  
A.V. Lopatkin ◽  
A.N. Menyajlo ◽  
E.V. Spirin ◽  
...  

The Russian Government approved the Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation (Government Decree No.1523-r of June 9, 2020). The Strategy envisages the use of both thermal (TR) and fast (FR) reactors. The Strategy points out that the problems of nuclear power are associated with po-tential high expenses for irradiated fuel and radioactive wastes management. The previously de-signed model of the Russian nuclear energy development suggested that fast reactors only would operate at NPPs after 2010. Radiological equivalence, expressed as the equivalence of lifetime radiation risks to the public from radioactive wastes and from primary uranium ore, was shown to be achieved after 100-year storage. The burnup of 241Am, 237Np и 242Сm in closed nu-clear fuel cycle with fast reactors is a key part in the achievability of radiation risks equivalence. Scenarios of the Russian nuclear energy development through to 2100 with account of uncertain-ty factors in the measurement of contribution of fast and thermal reactors to the electric energy production are considered in the paper. The following three scenarios were developed: uncer-tainty is replaced by FRs; uncertainty is replaced by TRs; 50 per cent of FRs and 50 per cent of TRs replace uncertainty. If the energy is produced by fast reactors only (scenario 1) radiological equivalence was found to be achieved in 412 years. In two other scenarios radiological equiva-lence will be achieved after more than 1000 years. Contribution of main dose-forming radionu-clides and relevant ratios of potential biological hazards is included in models regardless of whether uncertainty in nuclear energy development is taking or not taking into account. Results of the study of conditions for radiological equivalence achievement should be used for amending Strategic plan of Russian nuclear power development through to 2100 that meets requirements of radiation ecology and radiation protection of the public.


Atomic Energy ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 86 (5) ◽  
pp. 337-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. O. Adamov ◽  
I. Kh. Ganev ◽  
A. V. Lopatkin ◽  
V. V. Orlov ◽  
V. S. Smirnov

Atomic Energy ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 569-571
Author(s):  
P. N. Alekseev ◽  
V. V. Ignat'ev ◽  
S. A. Subbotin ◽  
V. A. Stukalov

Author(s):  
Xiaomeng Dong ◽  
Zhijian Zhang ◽  
Zhaofei Tian ◽  
Lei Li ◽  
Guangliang Chen

Multi-physics coupling analysis is one of the most important fields among the analysis of nuclear power plant. The basis of multi-physics coupling is the coupling between neutronics and thermal-hydraulic because it plays a decisive role in the computation of reactor power, outlet temperature of the reactor core and pressure of vessel, which determines the economy and security of the nuclear power plant. This paper develops a coupling method which uses OPENFOAM and the REMARK code. OPENFOAM is a 3-dimension CFD open-source code for thermal-hydraulic, and the REMARK code (produced by GSE Systems) is a real-time simulation multi-group core model for neutronics while it solves diffusion equations. Additionally, a coupled computation using these two codes is new and has not been done. The method is tested and verified using data of the QINSHAN Phase II typical nuclear reactor which will have 16 × 121 elements. The coupled code has been modified to adapt unlimited CPUs after parallelization. With the further development and additional testing, this coupling method has the potential to extend to a more large-scale and accurate computation.


Author(s):  
Yuelan Yan

Since introduce different technical routes, during decades of nuclear power development in our country, the French RCC series standards, American ASME standards and Russian standards are adopted, which led to the current various standards exist in their own way. To promote the building of nuclear power standards system in China, in the year of 2012, important research subject “the research on the standard system of advanced nuclear power in China” has been carried out and subject “nuclear power construction and commissioning” is one of it.. By digestion and absorption of four oversea AP1000 units of Sanmen nuclear power plant in Zhejiang province and Haiyang nuclear power plant in Shandong province, the building of standard system during nuclear power construction suitable to our national condition is studied, including the system frame and composition standards, building standard system method during construction, namely through research and example to present what kind of standard system is suitable for China standard system during construction, and what kind of method or design is used to obtain and maintain such system. The thesis is to promote the subject research methods based on examples to build China’s nuclear power standard system.


Author(s):  
Danlu Zhao

The harmonious development of economic, energy and environment is an important premise to realize the objective of China’s modernization. Currently, different parts of China have different main energy source, while nuclear power development has many opportunities and challenges. This paper considers the current trends of energy needs in China, and discusses the different influencing factors of energy needs throughout China. In addition, this paper will focus on the potential nuclear power development in China, which mainly focuses on policy, technology, nuclear security and social attitude. Then it will focus on the application in Shenzhen (Daya Bay). Based on previous analysis, technical/engineering feasibility and site feasibility are considered in this part. Finally, a number of recommendations for nuclear development management in China will be given. These recommendations will help the public to have a basic understanding of nuclear power management, and to improve the social attitude of China’s nuclear energy development. In all, this paper puts forward the management methodology of nuclear power industry, which has positive significance for the field of nuclear power education. Meanwhile, the paper will play a positive role on popularize the knowledge of nuclear power to the public.


Energies ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 584
Author(s):  
Chiara Magni ◽  
Sylvain Quoilin ◽  
Alessia Arteconi

Flexibility is crucial to enable the penetration of high shares of renewables in the power system while ensuring the security and affordability of the electricity dispatch. In this regard, heat–electricity sector coupling technologies are considered a promising solution for the integration of flexible devices such as thermal storage units and heat pumps. The deployment of these devices would also enable the decarbonization of the heating sector, responsible for around half of the energy consumption in the EU, of which 75% is currently supplied by fossil fuels. This paper investigates in which measure the diffusion of district heating (DH) coupled with thermal energy storage (TES) units can contribute to the overall system flexibility and to the provision of operating reserves for energy systems with high renewable penetration. The deployment of two different DH supply technologies, namely combined heat and power units (CHP) and large-scale heat pumps (P2HT), is modeled and compared in terms of performance. The case study analyzed is the future Italian energy system, which is simulated through the unit commitment and optimal dispatch model Dispa-SET. Results show that DH coupled with heat pumps and CHP units could enable both costs and emissions related to the heat–electricity sector to be reduced by up to 50%. DH systems also proved to be a promising solution to grant the flexibility and resilience of power systems with high shares of renewables by significantly reducing the curtailment of renewables and cost-optimally providing up to 15% of the total upward reserve requirements.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Lee ◽  
Daniel P. Schrag ◽  
Matthew Bunn ◽  
Michael Davidson ◽  
Wei Peng ◽  
...  

Climate change is a key problem of the 21st century. China, as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has committed to stabilize its current emissions and dramatically increase the share of electricity production from non-fossil fuels by 2030. However, this is only a first step: in the longer term, China needs to aggressively strive to reach a goal of zero-emissions. Through detailed discussions of electricity pricing, electric vehicle policies, nuclear energy policies, and renewable energy policies, this book reviews how near-term climate and energy policies can affect long-term decarbonization pathways beyond 2030, building the foundations for decarbonization in advance of its realization. Focusing primarily on the electricity sector in China - the main battleground for decarbonization over the next century – it provides a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers, as well as energy and climate experts.


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