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Sustainability
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Problems and Perspectives of Nuclear Energy Management and Development
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Problems and Perspectives of Nuclear Energy Management and Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 August 2023) | Viewed by 7354

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Michael I. Ojovan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Materials, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Interests: amorphous and crystalline materials; glass transition; vitrification; nuclear waste management; immobilisation; radiation effects
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Alexander V. Bychkov

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency), A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Interests: innovations in nuclear power and nuclear fuel cycle; sustainability of nuclear energy systems; nuclear fuel manufacturing and recycling, incl. by pyro-process; high-level waste treatment; partitioning and transmutation; molten salt processes; chemistry and technology of actinides

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Current applications of nuclear energy (NE) range from pure science to the largest-by-scale utilisation of nuclear power generation. The sustainability of NE utilisation in all applications, including medical uses of radionuclides and radiations, is crucial to ensure the sustainable development of civilisation. Identification of the most important problems and perspectives of NE management is thus the focus of many researchers and influential organisations, such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Based on the analysis of problems and perspectives of NE systems, novel technologies are being developed, aiming to support sustainable NE utilisation both at the national and international level. For example, the IAEA has established a dedicated International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO), to ensure that NE is available to contribute to meeting energy needs in a sustainable manner. The INPRO global scenarios aim to develop global and regional nuclear energy scenarios, leading to a global vision of sustainable development of nuclear power and fuel cycles. Effective management systems, knowledge management and human resource development based on robust decision-making processes are paramount to ensure the sustainable development and management of NE systems in forthcoming years, not only for power generation but also for diverse uses of NE in science, industry, food production and medicine. The NE management approaches help both newcomers and existing nuclear countries to understand the key issues in a transition to future sustainable NE systems, as well as the role that innovations and collaborations among countries could play.

This Special Issue of Sustainability will analyse issues related to sustainable NE development and strategic approaches, focusing on advantages and limitations of newly proposed schemes, such as intensive deployment of advanced-power thermal and fast breeder reactors, small modular and molten salt reactors, mobile nuclear power generation systems, and utilisation of the thorium fuel cycle. It will also include analysis of current roadmaps utilised for an effective use of NE based on both fission and fusion reactions.

Papers selected for this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous peer review procedure, with the aim of their rapid and wide dissemination. 

Prof. Dr. Michael I. Ojovan
Dr. Alexander V. Bychkov
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • nuclear energy
  • nuclear power
  • sustainable development
  • strategic approaches
  • nuclear fuel cycle
  • innovations

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1949 KiB  
Article
Forecast of 241Am Migration from a System of Deep Horizontal Boreholes
by Victor Malkovsky, Sergey Yudintsev and Michael Ojovan
Sustainability 2023, 15(20), 15134; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152015134 - 22 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 853
Abstract
Highly radioactive materials classified as high-level nuclear waste (HLW) of atomic power engineering should be disposed of deeply underground in special geological disposal facilities (GDFs), which can be of either shaft or borehole type. The advantages of borehole-type GDFs result from smaller volumes [...] Read more.
Highly radioactive materials classified as high-level nuclear waste (HLW) of atomic power engineering should be disposed of deeply underground in special geological disposal facilities (GDFs), which can be of either shaft or borehole type. The advantages of borehole-type GDFs result from smaller volumes of mining operations, a simpler construction technology, shorter construction time and cost. This allows us to consider them as an alternative to shaft-type GDFs. The parts of the boreholes in which waste containers should be placed can be both vertical and horizontal. Computer simulation of the migration of radionuclides from a group of parallel horizontal boreholes into the biosphere made it possible to conclude that horizontal GDF boreholes have significant advantages over vertical ones. We determined a forecast of 241Am migration by a method of mathematical modelling of 241Am release from vitrified HLW disposed of in several horizontal drillholes. The maximum concentrations of americium in the near-surface groundwater above the repository are calculated depending on the number of boreholes, the depth of their location and the distance between them, the permeability of rocks and the time of waste storage prior to disposal. Influence of different conditions on the safety of a GDF of borehole type is estimated. Calculations show that the heat generated by HLW causes a weaker groundwater convection near horizontal boreholes compared to vertical boreholes of the same capacity. In addition to that, at an equal thickness of the rock layer separating the HLW from the surface, the geothermal temperature of the host rocks in the near field of a horizontal borehole will be lower than the average geothermal temperature near a vertical borehole. As a result, the rate of radionuclides leaching from the waste forms by groundwaters will also be lower in the case of horizontal boreholes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Problems and Perspectives of Nuclear Energy Management and Development)
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13 pages, 1783 KiB  
Article
Challenges in Planning of Integrated Nuclear Waste Management
by Zoran Drace, Michael I. Ojovan and Susanta Kumar Samanta
Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14204; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114204 - 31 Oct 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3487
Abstract
Planning for integrated nuclear waste management (INWM) entails consideration of all generated waste from energy generation, nuclear fuel cycle and institutional facilities as well as waste from decommissioning and remediation of nuclear facilities, legacy waste, and eventual accident waste and requires establishment of [...] Read more.
Planning for integrated nuclear waste management (INWM) entails consideration of all generated waste from energy generation, nuclear fuel cycle and institutional facilities as well as waste from decommissioning and remediation of nuclear facilities, legacy waste, and eventual accident waste and requires establishment of different planning scenarios as well as control milestones to allow for adequate flexibility to address inevitable changes. An early assessment of waste management needs from development and use of advanced reactors and innovative nuclear fuel cycles is required to aid design and operation of such facilities as well as to understand their impact to overall waste management planning. Major prerequisites for approach to planning and establishment of INWM plans are discussed briefly. It is pointed out that five most important challenges in establishing and implementing the INWM plan needs to be addressed: (i) inventory; (ii) time frame for an integrated plan; (iii) assessment of facility needs; (iv) costs estimation (life-cycle cost analyses) and (v) funding and financing. The INWM has to promote strategic thinking within a broad framework resulting in a sustainable and sensible outcome for nuclear waste management at a strategic and national level. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Problems and Perspectives of Nuclear Energy Management and Development)
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10 pages, 3491 KiB  
Article
Paving the Way to Green Status for Nuclear Power
by Viacheslav Pershukov, Vladimir Artisyuk and Andrey Kashirsky
Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9339; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159339 - 29 Jul 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1993
Abstract
The paper considers a way to bring nuclear power into the category of “green” energy technologies; thus advertising its critical role in achieving the sustainable development goals adopted by the UN in 2015, and presents an option of nuclear power development based on [...] Read more.
The paper considers a way to bring nuclear power into the category of “green” energy technologies; thus advertising its critical role in achieving the sustainable development goals adopted by the UN in 2015, and presents an option of nuclear power development based on a new technological platform (NTP) with two pillars: closed nuclear fuel cycle (CNFC), and fast reactors (FR). Provisions are formulated to break through the skepticism of nuclear power opponents. The “PRORYV” (the Russian equivalent for “break-through”) project is focused on proving the industrial feasibility of the closed fuel cycle on-site of the NPP with fast reactor, thus giving the technological opportunity to establish nuclear energy systems environmentally friendly and free from the risk of proliferation of nuclear weapons. Such a nuclear energy system could contribute significantly in combating both looming energy crises and climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Problems and Perspectives of Nuclear Energy Management and Development)
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