Abstract
The use of nuclear energy in the world represents one of the main alternatives to fossil fuels. Significant greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion could be replaced by cleaner energy such as nuclear. In this paper, by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), available databases and Analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the results in the selection of the location for the construction of nuclear power plants (NPP) in Serbia were obtained. The research area includes zones between large rivers (Danube, Sava, Tisa, Velika Morava) with an area of 8757.45 km². An analysis of natural (seismicity, geological background, hypsometry, slope of the terrain, distance from faults, ground cover, land use method) and anthropogenic conditions (distance from the state border, settlements, roads and railways) was carried out, with the elimination of protected areas from further research due to of its ecological significance. After multi-criteria analysis, weighting coefficients were assigned for each criterion using the AHP method. The results showed that 0.02% of the area is suitable, and 8.68% partially suitable for the construction of nuclear power plants. This paper provides an adequate overview of the most suitable locations for the use of nuclear energy, so that the obtained results can be applied in further research by national services in charge of nuclear sciences.
Highlights
Not so long ago, solutions to many problems of human society were expected from mastering of nuclear energy
Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process, a map of potential locations for the construction of nuclear power plants was obtained, where 88.15% of the research area was eliminated, 0.01% were extremely unfavourable areas for construction, 3.15% were unfavourable areas, 8.68% were partially favourable, and 0.002% of the territory was favourable for construction
Geographic information systems allow users to visualize, research, analyze, and interpret the vast majority of data in order to gain a better understanding of the problem (Damoom et al, 2019)
Summary
Solutions to many problems of human society were expected from mastering of nuclear energy. Nuclear energy provides about 10% of the world’s electricity from about 450 nuclear reactors (World Nuclear Association, 2021). Global energy demand is projected to grow significantly over the 50 years. Much of that demand will come from parts of the world where energy consumption is relatively low compared to developed countries and which will be increasingly included in the global economy (Kristiansen, 2017; Cvetković et al, 2021). The world community will face a serious challenge - producing enough energy to meet economic growth and improve social development while, on the other hand, the environment needs to be protected and improved. The economic, technological and social consequences of nuclear energy make every decision far more demanding and difficult. The impact of nuclear energy exploitation on population and biodiversity is studied, and on air, soil and water quality (Langović et al, 2017; Doderović et al, 2020; Durlević, 2020)
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