2011 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 56, Number 12
Wednesday–Saturday, October 26–29, 2011;
East Lansing, Michigan
Session JB: The Fukushima Nuclear Plant: Assessment and Future Alternatives
2:00 PM–3:48 PM,
Friday, October 28, 2011
Room: Auditorium
Chair: Andrei Afanasev, The George Washington University
Abstract ID: BAPS.2011.DNP.JB.2
Abstract: JB.00002 : Key Assets for a Sustainable Low Carbon Energy Future
2:36 PM–3:12 PM
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Abstract
Author:
Frank Carre
(French Commission for Nuclear and Alternative Energies, CEA - Research Centre of Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France)
Since the beginning of the 21st century, concerns of energy
security and climate change gave rise to energy policies focused
on energy conservation and diversified low-carbon energy sources.
Provided lessons of Fukushima accident are evidently accounted
for, nuclear energy will probably be confirmed in most of today's
nuclear countries as a low carbon energy source needed to limit
imports of oil and gas and to meet fast growing energy needs.
Future challenges of nuclear energy are then in three directions:
i) enhancing safety performance so as to preclude any long term
impact of severe accident outside the site of the plant, even in
case of hypothetical external events, ii) full use of Uranium and
minimization long lived radioactive waste burden for
sustainability, and iii) extension to non-electricity energy
products for maximizing the share of low carbon energy source in
transportation fuels, industrial process heat and district
heating. Advanced LWRs (Gen-III) are today's best available
technologies and can somewhat advance nuclear energy in these
three directions. However, breakthroughs in sustainability call
for fast neutron reactors and closed fuel cycles, and
non-electric applications prompt a revival of interest in high
temperature reactors for exceeding cogeneration performances
achievable with LWRs. Both types of Gen-IV nuclear systems by
nature call for technology breakthroughs to surpass LWRs
capabilities. Current resumption in France of research on sodium
cooled fast neutron reactors (SFRs) definitely aims at
significant progress in safety and economic competitiveness
compared to earlier reactors of this type in order to progress
towards a new generation of commercially viable sodium cooled
fast reactor. Along with advancing a new generation of sodium
cooled fast reactor, research and development on alternative fast
reactor types such as gas or lead-alloy cooled systems (GFR \&
LFR) is strategic to overcome technical difficulties and/or
political opposition specific to sodium. In conclusion, research
and technology breakthroughs in nuclear power are needed for
shaping a sustainable low carbon future. International
cooperation is key for sharing costs of research and development
of the required novel technologies and cost of first experimental
reactors needed to demonstrate enabling technologies. At the same
time technology breakthroughs are developed, pre-normative
research is required to support codification work and harmonized
regulations that will ultimately apply to safety and security
features of resulting innovative reactor types and fuel cycles.
To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2011.DNP.JB.2