Nuclear power in the 21st century: Challenges and possibilities

Abstract

The current situation and possible future developments for nuclear power—including fission and fusion processes—is presented. The fission nuclear power continues to be an essential part of the low-carbon electricity generation in the world for decades to come. There are breakthrough possibilities in the development of new generation nuclear reactors where the life-time of the nuclear waste can be reduced to some hundreds of years instead of the present time-scales of hundred thousand of years. Research on the fourth generation reactors is needed for the realisation of this development. For the fast nuclear reactors, a substantial research and development effort is required in many fields—from material sciences to safety demonstration—to attain the envisaged goals. Fusion provides a long-term vision for an efficient energy production. The fusion option for a nuclear reactor for efficient production of electricity has been set out in a focussed European programme including the international project of ITER after which a fusion electricity DEMO reactor is envisaged.

Space development and space science together, an historic opportunity

“…In 2006 the plan for ITER was to achieve first plasma in 2016 [104], but it is now planned for late 2025 [105], slipping 9 years in 10 years, almost year-per-year, and the previous planning was declared "totally unrealistic" [106]. Considering the significant knowledge and technology gaps that remain [107][108][109][110], and that we do not know what we do not know, there is a risk we will again find our plans have been unrealistic. Some are even arguing that economic fusion is not a reasonable goal [111].…”

Advanced Modelling of 238U(n,f) in a Fast Reactor Application

“…Alternative new sources using solar or wind energy are still expensive and not effective [1]. The most appropriate solution for future energy challenge can be considered the fission of 238 U ( 8 U) nucleus [2]. 8 U fission process in power generation IV reactors is important for a wide range of fundamental and applied researches issues [3,4].…”

Physical Properties and Light Energy Harvesting Efficiency of Silica Nanoparticles

“…Nowadays, the active field of research has focused on energy production and storage with inexpensive resources [1]. The advanced form of various methods applying in the field of energy production research at global level [2,3]. A biological phenomenon for synthesizing natural solar energy in chemical energy is photosynthesis [4].…”