Reducing future CO2 emissions — The role of nuclear energy

A study was made to analyze the potential of reducing CO₂ emissions and to identify important energy and technology options in future energy systems of Japan. The energy market optimum allocation model MARKAL was used for the analysis with a time horizon from 1990 to 2050.

The analytical procedures were as follows. First, a reference energy system was established by incorporating all important energy sources, energy carriers, and energy technologies that existed already or that might be introduced during the above time horizon. Second, future demand for energy services was estimated based on the two economic growth scenarios, high and low. Also, assumptions were made about the evolution of imported fuel prices, availability of energy resources, and so on. Third, under the above assumptions, the optimum energy and technology options were selected by minimizing a discounted system cost under different carbon tax schemes, and thereby the potential of reducing CO₂ emissions was analyzed.

The following results were obtained by the analysis. Without utilization of nuclear energy, the CO₂ emissions can be hardly stabilized at the 1990 emission level even in the case of the low economic growth and large scale deployment of CO₂ recovery and disposal assumed. A significant amount of fossil fuels will be used for power generation in order to meet the rapidly growing demand for electricity. Nuclear energy, by substituting fossil fuels for electric power generation, is expected to contribute to the reduction of CO₂ emissions. In addition, the average cost of reducing the emissions will be substantially lowered compared with a non nuclear scenario.     

Utilization of solar and nuclear energy for hydrogen production

Although the world-wide energy supply situation appears to have eased at present, non-fossil primary energy sources and hydrogen as a secondary energy carrier will have to take over a long-term and increasing portion of the energy supply system. The only non-fossil energy sources which are available in relevant quantities, are nuclear energy, solar energy and hydropower. The potential of H₂ for the extensive utilization of solar energy is of particular importance. Status, progress and development potential of the electrolytic H₂ production with photovoltaic generators, solar-thermal power plants and nuclear power plants are studied and discussed. The joint German-Saudi Arabian Research, Development and Demonstration Program HYSOLAR for the solar hydrogen production and utilization is summarized.     

Nuclear energy system for the global environmental regulation in Korea— Energy-economy interaction model analysis

Global environmental regulation such as limits on CO₂ emissions will change the energy cost as well as energy mix, and it will eventually affect the potential economic growth and future energy demand. The rise of energy price from the environmental regulation will encourage the efficiency increase of energy use, fuel switching and the substitution between the energy and the other factors of production like labour and capital. Such situations can be successfully simulated through an energy-economy model which permits two-way interaction between energy and economy.

An analysis on the role of nuclear energy system for meeting the global environmental constraint like CO₂ emission regulation, has been performed through an energy-economy interaction model - EFOM-MACRO-KOREA.

In case carbon taxation which is a widely discussed policy measure for CO₂ abatement should be introduced, the role of nuclear energy in the domestic sustainable energy system as well as the economic impacts has been assessed. For the analysis, various scenarios in tax rate have been considered. Levying carbon tax will decrease future economic growth, and the decrease will be bigger in case that there are some restrictions on nuclear installation. It is shown that nuclear energy system will play an important role in Korean sustainable development up to 2040 in most cases.     

Roles of nuclear energy in Japan's future energy systems

The roles of nuclear energy in Japan's future energy systems were analyzed from the viewpoint of securing stable energy supply and reducing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. The MARKAL model, developed in the Energy Technology Systems Analysis Programme (ETSAP) of the IEA, was used for establishing several energy scenarios with different assumptions on the availability of nuclear energy, natural gas, and a CO₂ disposal option. Nuclear energy was assumed to apply for synthetic fuel production as well as for conventional electric power generation. By comparing the CO₂ emission and system costs between these energy scenarios, following results were obtained. Without nuclear energy, the CO₂ emissions will hardly be reduced because of substantial increases in coal utilization. CO₂ disposal will be effective in reducing the emissions, however at much higher costs than the case with nuclear energy. The expansion of natural gas imports, if alone, will not reduce the emissions at enough low levels.     

A new concept for the nuclear fuel recycle system: Application of the fluoride volatility reprocessing

Hybrid Recycle System (HRS) is proposed as an advanced recycle system. The HRS consists of improved fluoride volatility reprocessing and vibration packing MOX fuel fabrication processing. For the former, a part of U is volatilized as hexafluoride with diluted F₂ gas, and then residual U and Pu are volatilized with concentrated F₂ gas. Plutonium content of the mixed fluoride gas can be adjusted as desired by controlling the U fluorination reaction in the first step. The U is highly decontaminated and the mixture gas of UF₆ and PuF₆ is not purified. The fluoride mixture is reacted with H₂O and H₂ and directly converted to the mixed oxide grain for the vibration packing. The HRS can reduce the costs of reprocessing and fuel fabrication, the amounts of radioactive wastes and the probability of Pu proliferation.     

整体式除氚催化剂的制备及催化氧化性能

针对大型核设施产生的大流量废气的处理,发展低气阻的整体式催化剂尤为必要。本工作在整体式堇青石载体上生长分子筛涂层,以离子交换法负载活性组分Pt,获得的整体式催化剂具有高的金属分散度,达到了60%。使用该催化剂,在15℃、体积空速为10 000～40 000 h^-1、1.0%(体积分数)H₂的条件下实现大于99.9%的H₂转化率;在25℃、体积空速为50 000 h^-1、1.0%H₂的条件下实现H₂的完全转化。在更低的H₂浓度下(0.1%H₂和0.5%H₂),该催化剂在湿条件下的H₂转化率低于干条件下的H₂转化率,表明水蒸气会抑制室温催化活性。由于分子筛涂层较Al₂O₃涂层具有更低的吸水性,整体式Pt/sil-cord催化剂在湿条件下具有比Pt/Al₂O₃高得多的...     

Temperature distribution in mixed ThO2–UO2 fuel rods located in blanket of an inertial fusion energy breeder

Investigations of neutronic analysis and temperature distribution in fuel rods located in a blanket driven ICF (Inertial Confinement Fusion) have been performed for various mixed fuels and coolants under a first wall load of 5 MW/m². The fuel rods containing ThO₂ and UO₂ mixed by various mixing methods for achieving a flat fission power density are replaced in the blanket and cooled with different coolants; natural lithium, flibe, eutectic lithium and helium for the nuclear heat transfer. It is assumed that surface temperature of the fuel rod increases linearly from 500 °C (at top) to 700 °C (at bottom) during cooling fuel zone. Neutronic and temperature distribution calculations have been performed by MCNP4B Code and HEATING7, respectively. In the blanket fueled with pure UO₂ and cooled with helium, M (fusion energy multiplication ratio) increases to 3.9 due to uranium having higher fission cross-section than thorium. The high fission energy released in this blanket, therefore, causes proportionally increasing of temperature in the fuel rods to 823 °C. However, the M is 2.00 in the blanket fueled with pure ThO₂ and cooled with eutectic lithium because of more capture reaction than fission reaction. Maximum and minumum values of TBR (tritium breeding ratio) being one of main neutronic paremeters for a fusion reactor are 1.07 and 1.45 in the helium and the natural lithium coolant blanket, respectively. These consequences bring out that the investigated reactor can produce substantial electricity in situ during breeding fissile fuel and can be self-sufficient in the tritium required for the DT fusion driver in all cases of mixed fuels and coolant types. Quasi-constant fission power density profiles in FFB (fissile fuel breeding) zone are obtained by parabolically increasing mixture fraction of UO₂ in radial and axial directions for all coolant types. Such as, in the helium coolant blanket and the case of PMF (parabolically mixed fuel), Γ (peek-to-average fission power density ratio) of the blanket is reduced to 1.1, and the maximum temperatures of the fuel rods in radial direction of the FFB zone are also quasi-constant. At the same time, in the case of PMF, for all coolant types, the temperature profiles in the radial direction of the fuel rods rise proportionally with surface temperature from the top to the bottom of fuel rods in the axial direction. In other words, for each radial temperature profile in the axial direction, temperature differences between centerline and surface of the fuel rods are quasi-constant. According to the coolant types, these temperature diffences vary between 30 and 45 °C.     

耐事故燃料用于高性能压水堆的分析研究

为明确未来高性能压水堆(PWR)可采用的耐事故燃料(ATF)元件设计方案,本研究采用燃料性能、核设计、反应堆热工安全的适用分析方法,从安全性、经济性和燃料性能等方面对几种潜在的ATF设计方案进行综合分析。结果表明：采用SiC复合包壳+高铀密度燃料的方案较好;由于高铀密度燃料(包括UN、U₃Si₂及UN-U₃Si₂复合燃料)各自均具有鲜明的特点,其中UN-U₃Si₂复合燃料在理论上可以成为高铀密度燃料的一大特色,但从中子经济性的角度考虑需要将UN中¹⁵N进行富集,而目前的富集技术将大大提高该型燃料的制造成本。因此本研究建议高性能PWR的ATF燃料元件设计宜选择SiC复合包壳+U₃Si₂燃料的设计方案。     

The strategies of abating emission of CO2 and nuclear energy development in China

In China, annual coal consumption accounts for the first place all over the world in order to meet the high speed development of economy and improvement of the people's living quality. CO₂ emission from coal fire is a main contributor to the climate change. We must abate CO₂ emission besides developing economy for mitigating the global climate change. In the feasible countermeasure to reduce CO₂ emission, which includes improving energy efficiency and developing alternative energy, developing nuclear energy is an important one.     

Measurement of the H2-D mass difference with a nuclear microprobe

A 1.24 MeV deuteron (D) beam mixed with a H₂ molecular beam was separated with a microslit system of a nuclear microprobe consisting of a 100 μm diameter object and a 1 mm diameter aperture diaphragm. D was distinguished from H₂ by Rutherford backscattering (RBS) on a thin Au film. By slightly changing the magnetic field strength of the beam steerer installed in front of the object diaphragm, the maximum and the minimum RBS D/H₂ ratios were found to be 50.3 and 1.5, respectively. M/ΔM = 3.9 × 10³ was obtained as the mass resolution of the nuclear microprobe. The transmission of this system was 2 × 10⁻³.     

Co-synthesis of vertical graphene nanosheets and high-value gases using inductively coupled plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition

One-step controllable synthesis of vertical graphene nanosheets (VGs) and high-value gases was achieved using inductively coupled plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (ICPECVD). The basic physical properties of the ICPECVD process were revealed via electrical diagnosis and optical emission spectroscopy. The coil current and voltage increased linearly with the augmenting of injected power, and CH, C₂, H₂ and H were detected at a wavelength from 300 to 700 nm, implying the generation of abundant graphene-building species. The morphology and structure of solid carbon products, graphene nanosheets, were systemically characterized in terms of the variations of operating conditions, such as pressure, temperature, gas proportion, etc. The results indicated that an appropriate operating condition was indispensable for the growth process of graphene nanosheets. In the present work, the optimized result was achieved at the pressure, heating temperature, applied power and gas proportion of 600mTorr, 800 °C, 500 W and 20:20:15, respectively, and the augmenting of both CH₄ and H₂ concentrations had a positive effect on the etching of amorphous carbon. Additionally, H₂ and C₂ hydrocarbons were detected as the main exhaust gases. The selectivity of H₂ and C₂H₂ , measured in exhaust gases, reached up to 52% and 8%, respectively, which implied a process of free radical reactions and electron collision dissociation. Based on a comprehensive investigation of spectral and electrical parameters and synthesized products, the reaction mechanism of collision, dissociation, diffusion, etc, in ICPECVD could be speculated, providing a probable guide for experimental and industrial applications.     

复杂混合气体组分在低温活性炭表面的吸附特性

为实现大体积气体中微量放射性气体Kr、Xe同位素的测量,须将混合气体进行浓集并将目标气体吸附于10 mL左右的活性炭源盒中。本实验对混合气体中各组分在活性炭分离柱上的吸附性能进行研究,建立了通过去除其他杂质气体、浓集大体积气体制备放射性Kr和Xe活度源的方法。根据反应堆流出气体和核爆可能生成的气体组分,配制了模拟气体,使用活化的4A分子筛对其中的水和CO₂进行模拟去除,获得了流程中去除水和CO₂的实验条件;选择5个低温点(273、264、255、246、238 K),在低温活性炭柱上对H₂、CO、CH₄、Kr和Xe的吸附特性进行研究,测定了各气体在不同温度下的吸附穿透曲线。结果表明,室温下4A分子筛对水和CO₂有较好的吸附效果。低温下,H₂、CO不易在活性炭表面吸附;CH₄、Kr吸附性质相似;Xe吸附能力较强。低温下难以去除的CH₄可在高温下氧化去除。因此,可根据混合气体中各组分性质的不同实现杂质气体的去除和目标气体Kr、Xe的回收测量。     

热压烧结UN陶瓷芯块的性能

UN燃料具有铀密度高、熔点高、热导率高、热膨胀系数低、辐照稳定性好等优点,是未来空间核电源、核火箭、快堆和ADS的重要候选燃料。本文采用金属铀粉与氮气在300～400℃直接发生化合反应,制得单相U₂N₃粉末。粒度为38.3 μm的U₂N₃粉末在1 600 ℃真空热压烧结,制得相对密度为93.5%、存在少量金属铀相的UN陶瓷;而18.1 μm的U₂N₃粉末在1 550 ℃真空热压烧结,制得相对密度为96.1%、不残留金属铀相的UN陶瓷,U与N的总质量分数为99.57%,每个金属杂质含量均低于50 μg/g,氧含量为1 048 μg/g,碳含量为502 μg/g。U₂N₃在1 027 ℃以上将会完全分解成UN,UN在1 627 ℃以上也会发生分解。     

商用压水堆核燃料研发进展与应用展望

压水堆(PWR)是目前核电厂反应堆的主力堆型,而核燃料是反应堆的能量源泉和放射性裂变物质的主要来源,关乎核电厂的经济性和安全性。本文对当前国际上面向商用PWR应用研发的掺杂UO₂燃料、高铀密度燃料、微封装燃料和金属燃料的性能特点、技术状态及前景进行了归纳和评价。在掺杂UO₂燃料中,大晶粒燃料具有较高的技术成熟度,将在PWR实现大规模商用;高铀密度燃料和金属燃料在高温水腐蚀氧化问题以及事故下的行为仍待研究解决;具有极致安全的微封装燃料更适合特殊用途的小型反应堆。应协同开展先进燃料组件设计、建立设计准则以及研发高保真的性能分析技术等,以充分发挥新型燃料的可靠性及高燃耗优势。     

Importance of nuclear generation in the struggles to reduce CO2 emission at Kansai Electric Power Co.

It has been pointed out in recent years that the potential impacts of global warming has been becoming more and more serious because of the rapid increase of anthropogenic CO₂ emission.

Japan's annual CO₂ emissions (fiscal 1994) amounted to 343 million tons of carbon. Although CO₂ emissions caused by fossil-fuel power generation accounted for 29.4% of total, on a sector basis, those directly from the energy conversion sector accounted for only 7.7%. Most CO₂ emissions (21.7% of total) resulted from electric power use in the industrial, commercial and domestic sectors. Thus, the reduction of CO₂ emissions caused by the use of electricity is a nationwide subject.

Understanding that both supply side and demand side approaches are necessary, Kansai Electric has been deploying “New ERA Strategy” as a comprehensive strategy to seek a potential for CO₂ reduction more broadly and deeply. Among a number of action items are the promotion of nuclear power generation, and improvement of overall energy efficiency, besides such demand side measures as leveling off the peak load.

The effectiveness of action items of the New ERA Strategy was evaluated in terms of CO₂ reduction. As a result, estimated CO₂ reduction related to nuclear power amounted to 88% of the total for fiscal 1995 in comparison with 1990, and that expected in 2000 is 84%. These results reconfirm that nuclear power is always the key to practical CO₂ reduction at present and in the future.

Comparison with candidate technology alternatives revealed that photovoltaic power generation needed 7 times greater rated capacity and 280 times larger area than nuclear power, so it is not realistic as a central power station alternative. The comparison also clarified that if wind power stations were constructed at all feasible sites in the Kansai region, they would not be a viable alternative to a single nuclear unit from CO₂ reduction viewpoint.     

H_2O_2调价UTEVA树脂对钚的分离方法

研究了H2O2调节钚价态至Pu(Ⅳ)的条件,对于钚质量浓度在10-3 g/L量级的溶液,适量H2O2可以将钚价态稳定在Pu(Ⅳ)。采用粒径为50~100μm的UTEVA树脂填充的柱体积为2mL的萃取色层柱,在6mol/L HNO3浓度下,使用w=1.5%H2O2作为氧化还原剂对10-2 g/L的钚进行预处理,能将钚吸附上柱。通过适当条件的洗脱,在铀、镎、钚混合溶液中,得到钚的回收率约为108%。     

钯催化H2O2分解的机制探讨

高放废物（HLW）处置库近场地下水的辐解能够产生H₂O₂,其被裂变产物合金颗粒（ε-颗粒）的催化分解属于多相表界面反应。本工作选用钯粉模拟ε-颗粒,采用高压反应釜研究体系总压和H₂分压对反应的影响,并按一级动力学模型拟合实验数据。添加HO·的捕获剂和淬灭剂的实验证明无H₂反应过程中存在HO·的生成步骤。钯的催化活性及形态变化与反应时间的关系表明,产物氧吸附在钯的表面对反应具有毒化作用。通过持续监测滤液中H₂O₂浓度的变化,发现溶液中存在类似于Haber-Weiss的反应持续消耗H₂O₂。推导出钯对H₂O₂分解的机制过程和影响因素,为处置库的安全评估提供基础数据。     

South Africa's opportunity to maximise the role of nuclear power in a global hydrogen economy

Global concern for increased energy demand, increased cost of natural gas and petroleum, energy security and environmental degradation are leading to heightened interest in using nuclear energy and hydrogen to leverage existing hydrocarbon reserves. The wasteful use of hydrocarbons can be minimised by using nuclear as a source of energy and water as a source of hydrogen. Virtually all hydrogen today is produced from fossil fuels, which give rise to CO₂ emissions. Hydrogen can be cleanly produced from water (without CO₂ pollution) by using nuclear energy to generate the required electricity and/or process heat to split the water molecule. Once the clean hydrogen has been produced, it can be used as feedstock to fuel cell technologies, or in the nearer term as feedstock to a coal-to-liquids process to produce cleaner synthetic liquid fuels. Clean liquid fuels from coal - using hydrogen generated from nuclear energy - is an intermediate step for using hydrogen to reduce pollution in the transport sector; simultaneously addressing energy security concerns. Several promising water-splitting technologies have been identified. Thermo-chemical water-splitting and high-temperature steam electrolysis technologies require process temperatures in the range of 850 °C and higher for the efficient production of hydrogen. The pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR), under development in South Africa, is ideally suited to generate both high-temperature process heat and electricity for the production of hydrogen. This paper will discuss South Africa's opportunity to maximise the use of its nuclear technology and national resources in a global hydrogen economy.     

含钆堆芯平衡循环优化技术研究

通过对平衡循环燃料管理技术进行分析,确定对钆棒采用两端装UO₂芯块的轴向分区设计并提高UO₂-Gd₂O₃芯块中235U富集度的优化方法。根据钆棒两端不同长度UO₂芯块对堆芯轴向功率分布的影响初步确定了钆棒两端UO₂芯块的长度,根据UO₂-Gd₂O₃芯块中235U富集度对燃料经济性和制造的影响初步确定了UO₂-Gd₂O₃芯块中的235U富集度。分析了钆棒轴向分区和提高UO₂-Gd₂O₃芯块中235U富集度各自及综合相对于比较基准方案对堆芯功率分布的影响,优化方案相对于比较基准方案在Ⅰ和Ⅱ类反应性事故工况下对安全性的影响,并对优化方案中的UO₂-Gd₂O₃芯块进行了安全验证。研究结果表明,通过在钆棒两...     

Economics of nuclear electricity and inter-fuel competition

The costs of generating base-load electricity are compared on a unified costing basis assuming the plants' size for the different fuel alternatives—nuclear, coal, gas, biomass and peat—to vary according to the infrastructure requirements. Fuel costs are assumed to reflect the market values in Europe to as realistic an extent as possible. Recognizing that there may be a substantial local or regional differences, it is concluded that nuclear electricity generally enjoys a narrow competitive edge, which can become more significant if fossil fuel prices escalate or if energy and carbon taxes are introduced.