Development Of Nuclear Power Research Articles

A Zinc Metal-Organic Framework for Concurrent Adsorption and Detection of Uranium.

Uranium is one of the principal raw materials in the nuclear industry, but if released into the natural environment, it also poses latent health risks to mankind. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a strategy that can concurrently detect and adsorb uranium to realize the sustainable development of nuclear power and protect the environment. In this work, a fluorescent zinc-based metal-organic framework (HNU-50) was designed and synthesized for the effective detection and extraction of U(VI). The amide groups on N-pyridin-4-ylpyridine-4-carboxamide ligands and two uncoordinated carboxyl oxygen atoms on pyromellitic acid ligands in HNU-50 provide potential uranium-binding sites. Consequently, HNU-50 is competent of selectively and efficiently catching uranyl ions, achieving an optimum adsorption capacity of 632 mg/g. Additionally, the adsorption of U(VI) results in fluorescence quenching of HNU-50, thus allowing sensitive and selective detection of U(VI) by fluorescence change. Note that HNU-50 exhibits a considerably low detection limit of 1.2 × 10-8 M for U(VI) in aqueous solution, which is below the World Health Organization maximum pollution standards for potable water (6.3 × 10-8 M).

Justification of VVER-1000 safety when using fuel compositions doped by protactinium and neptunium

Increasing fuel burnup is one of the important areas of nuclear power development. Currently, the most common type of light-water reactors is characterized by burnup ratios of about 5%, i.e., only a small fraction of fuel is used to generate electricity. The paper considers the possibility of a significant increase in fuel burnup due by introducing protactinium and neptunium into the fuel composition. The chains of nuclide transformations starting with protactinium and neptunium are characterized by a gradual improvement in the multiplying properties, which ensures increased fuel burnup. At the same time, a situation may be observed when the multiplying properties of a fuel composition are improved during the campaign, which indicates that at a certain point in time the accumulation rate of fissile nuclides from protactinium and neptunium exceeds the accumulation rate of fission products. While protactinium is hardly accessible in sufficient quantities, neptunium is contained in spent nuclear fuel, a significant amount of which is stored in on-site facilities. Therefore, from a practical perspective, the introduction of neptunium into fuel compositions seems to be more preferable. The novelty of the work is the analysis of the effects of protactinium and neptunium on the reactivity coefficients during fuel campaigns. The calculations were carried out for a VVER-1000 type reactor using the SCALE-6.2 software package.

Research on the Coordinated Scheduling and Development of Renewable Energy Power Generation and Nuclear Power

From 2016 to 2017, China experienced a considerable degree of wind abandoning and light abandoning. The average utilization hours of nuclear power decreased significantly and the power loss of nuclear power was serious. In regions where clean energy consumption is limited, the optimal scheduling and coordinated development of renewable energy and nuclear power will be a problem for some parts of China. According to China’s current energy-saving power generation scheduling method, wind power and photovoltaic power generation scheduling ranking before nuclear power. To maximum benefits of the whole society as a starting point, from the economic, environmental protection, power grid friendly, safe and international experience, analysis of wind power, solar and nuclear power scheduling sequence comparison, suggest the authorities to properly optimize existing power generation scheduling order, will arrange before the wind, nuclear power unit scheduling order also suggested that nuclear power provinces in the development of clean energy planning, the reasonable rhythm control of wind power development, facilitate clean energy given solution.

Research on Security Defence System of Cooling Water Source in Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear safety is the lifeline of nuclear power development, the premise and foundation of nuclear power development. The safety of cooling water source is an important part of nuclear safety. The safety of cooling water source of nuclear power plant is related to nuclear safety, and it is the final heat sink of nuclear power plant, which undertakes the safety function of reactor residual heat export. Littoral nuclear power plants take seawater as the cooling water source. When the solid suspended solids, floating objects and marine organisms in the seawater exceed the filtering and cleaning capacity of the cooling water filtering equipment, the water intake or filtering equipment will be blocked and unable to provide the required cooling water, which will cause the cooling water source safety event. In view of these problems, this paper proposes to optimize the cooling water source security defence system in depth, improve the cooling water source risk monitoring and early warning system, establish the cooling water source overall status monitoring platform, and improve the emergency response and unit control capacity of the power plant.

An assessment of public knowledge, perception and acceptance of nuclear energy in Ghana

Social acceptance of nuclear energy is critical for its successful implementation. Ghana has decided to develop nuclear energy to augment its growing demand for electricity. The study assesses the level of public knowledge, perceptions, risk and policy support for nuclear power development among Ghanaians. A nationally representative survey of Ghanaian adults (N = 1128), aged 18 and older, was conducted from August 1 to 2018 to November 28, 2018. The findings of the study indicate that, 72% of respondents have knowledge of nuclear energy, however only 28% of the respondents were aware of Ghana’s nuclear development plan. We observed that about 51% of the respondents support Ghana’s nuclear development plan despite the low level of awareness. Most respondents showed concern for the safety and prospects of having nuclear energy, fully adopted in the country. Social risk investment was identified as the most significant risk associated with nuclear power development. Majority of the respondents were much more ‘interested’ in how nuclear energy will impact or affect people or communities should they adopt the technology or in case of accidents. These findings provide useful insights for nuclear energy adoption and policy directions in Ghana. The Government of Ghana and other major stakeholders of nuclear power technology should develop a communication strategy to increase and sustain publicity and education of Ghana’s nuclear power development plan to citizens.

Constructing an Ion Pathway for Uranium Extraction from Seawater

Summary Uranium extraction from seawater is a major barrier for the development of nuclear power to cope with the energy and climate-change crises. Here, we report the integration of conductive chains into porous adsorbents, which provide the expended electric field to cover the micrometer-sized adsorbent particles under alternating currents. On the basis of the superiority (large accessible area and tailorable adsorption site) of porous adsorbent for chemical adsorption, the live media promote the migration and enrichment of uranyl ions into the porous architecture. The superstructure shows 2–3 orders of magnitude faster kinetics than the polymer adsorbents under physical diffusion. Such an adsorbent enables a strong affinity that captures 99.1% of uranium in 120 min (from ∼4.4 to ∼0.04 ppb). It achieves the uranium extraction standard (6.0 mg g−1) in ∼16 days and captures 13.0 mg g−1 of uranium in 56 days from natural seawater.

Effect of surface characteristics and environmental aging on wetting of Cr-coated Zircaloy-4 accident tolerant fuel cladding material

With the goal of increasing the performance and safety of existing nuclear power plants, the research and development of Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATFs) are of high priority within the nuclear community. Two widely studied ATF concepts are the replacement of currently used zirconium alloy for other cladding materials that provide resistance to hydrogen production during accident conditions or the deposition of protective functional coatings on the Zircaloy cladding that mitigate the risk. While different protective coating options are being considered, Cr-coating is predominant. In this study, Cr-coating on Zircaloy-4 substrates were produced by Plasma Assisted Physical Vapor Deposition (PAVD), aiming at investigating their surface characteristics that may have an impact on the efficiency of heat transfer. The thickness, structure, and mechanical properties of the coatings were examined by scanning electron microscopy, focused ion beam, X-ray diffraction, and microindentation. Furthermore, surface topography, surface energy conditions, and surface chemistry were assessed using contact profilometry, atomic force microscopy, contact angle goniometry, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The static contact angle reduced from 75° for as-received substrates to almost 20° after coating. This significant increase in wettability observed after chromium deposition on Zircaloy changed with aging. For instance, over time, a hydrophobic recovery on the plasma-treated surfaces was detected. Correlations between surface chemistry and surface energy studies helped to explain the variation in contact angle with aging time. Results demonstrated that the formation of chromium oxides and hydroxides, and other carbonaceous species affected the surface coating affinity with water upon ambient exposure.

Effective removal of U(VI) and Eu(III) by carboxyl functionalized MXene nanosheets

With the development of nuclear power, the negative environmental impact such as radioactive pollution has become an urgent issue to impede the utilization of nuclear energy. The construction of promising organic-inorganic hybrid materials is considered as an effective strategy for environmental remediation of radioactive contamination. In this work, two-dimensional transition metal carbide (MXene), an emerging inorganic layered material, has been successfully modified by carboxyl terminated aryl diazonium salt to both enhance its chelating ability to radionuclides and improve its water stability. The carboxyl functionalized Ti3C2Tx MXene (TCCH) shows excellent removal ability for U(VI) and Eu(III), evidenced by ultrafast adsorption kinetics (3 min), high maximum adsorption capacities (344.8 mg/g for U and 97.1 mg/g for Eu) and high removal percentage of radionuclides from artificial groundwater (> 90%). The adsorption of U(VI) and Eu(III) on TCCH are in good accord with the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. Ionic strength experiments, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analyses were conducted to assess the detailed adsorption mechanism. The results reveal that the adsorption of U(VI) on TCCH follows an inner-sphere configuration, whereas the adsorption of Eu(III) is determined by both inner-sphere complexation and electrostatic interaction.

РАЗВИТИЕ АТОМНОЙ ЭНЕРГЕТИКИ В РОССИИ И МИРЕ С РЕАКТОРАМИ ПОКОЛЕНИЙ 3+ И 4

In the development of nuclear power in the world, there are three stages separated by major accidents at nuclear power plants: "Three Mile Island" (USA, 1979), the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (USSR - Ukraine, 1986) and the "Kama-1" nuclear power plant (Japan, 2011). At the first and second stages, until 1990, there was a rapid development of nuclear power, when 20-30 units were introduced per year and their number increased to 391 with a total capacity of 321 GW, followed by a sharp decline, the withdrawal of many units from operation, which reached the deadline of 40 years. So for after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster from 2011 to 2016, taking into account the withdrawn (17 blocks), only 7 blocks and 13 GW of energy were added. As a result, as of 01.12.2016, the total installed capacity of 450 units was 392 GW. At the same time, prices for uranium and gas have decreased, and the latter has led to an increase in the competitiveness of gas thermal power plants (CCGT with an efficiency of up to 55-65 %). The share of world electricity production at nuclear power plants fell from 17.6 % (1995) to 10.7 % (2015). To improve the nuclear power plant's economy, it was necessary to significantly increase the level of safety while simplifying and reducing the cost of the actual projects, first of all, the reactor compartment (nuclear island-Yao), the cost of power unit equipment, construction and installation on site, and reducing operating costs. As a result, "Generation -3+" reactors were developed and are already being built: Westinghouse (USA) AR-1000, ARR-1400 (Korea), boiling-GeneralElectric (USA) ESBWR- 1650, Areva (France) EPR (1600 mw), in Russia Rosatom - NPP-2006 (1200 mw) and VVER-TOI (1250 MW). The paper presents the results of comparing the economic efficiency of these projects. In January 2000, at the initiative of the US Department of energy, the "generation IV international forum" (MFP-4) program was launched, the goal of the program was to identify the main areas of R & d for the development of promising 4th-generation nuclear power plants. As a result of the evaluation carried out by a group of leading experts in nuclear energy, six basic concepts of nuclear power plants were selected. In this paper, only three of them are considered: these are reactors cooled with sodium (SFR-BN), lead (LFR-BR), and supercritical pressure water (SCWR-VVER-SKD). SCWR reactors have been most developed abroad. In a number of countries, conceptual projects have been implemented showing the economic efficiency of these reactors by 20-40 % compared to the "P. 3+" reactors. In Russia, in order not to depend on fluctuations in uranium prices, to reduce problems with the storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and the implementation of a closed fuel cycle in the nuclear power industry, BN and BR reactors are being actively developed.

В.И. СУББОТИН - ОСНОВАТЕЛЬ НАУЧНОЙ ШКОЛЫ «ТЕПЛОМАССОПЕРЕНОС, ФИЗИЧЕСКАЯ ХИМИЯ И ТЕХНОЛОГИЯ ТЕПЛОНОСИТЕЛЕЙ В ЭНЕРГЕТИЧЕСКИХ СИСТЕМАХ» (К 100-ЛЕТИЮ СО ДНЯ РОЖДЕНИЯ)

Biographical data on the life and activities of the academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences V.I. Subbotin, presented and analyzed are the key areas of activity of the scientific school ″Heat and Mass Transfer, Physical Chemistry and Technology of Heat Transfer Fluids in Energy Systems″, which he created, which he was the head of. During the years 1953-1975 V.I. Subbotin led the research in the field of thermal physics at the Physics and Energy Institute (Obninsk). During this period, as a result of a large complex of experimental and computational studies of heat and mass transfer, physical chemistry and technology of water and liquid metals (sodium, eutectic alloys of sodiumpotassium and lead-bismuth, lithium, lead), the scientific foundations were created in the nuclear power plant under his leadership the use of liquid metal coolants in nuclear energy. The fundamental physicochemical and thermohydraulic laws of the coolant - impurities - structural materials - protective gas system were studied. The results of these studies made it possible, together with the institutes and the OKBM of the country performing the development of nuclear power and power plants cooled by water and liquid metals, to scientifically substantiate the thermohydraulic parameters and highly efficient technological processes, to develop and practically implement apparatuses and systems, ensured the successful operation of fundamentally new nuclear power plants with original scientific and technical solutions that had no analogue in world practice. In 1975, V.I. Subbotin was transferred to work in Moscow as director of the newly created wide-profile organization NPO ″Energia″ of the USSR Ministry of Energy and Electrification. While in this position, he put a lot of effort into creating a fundamentally new institute in the nuclear energy industry - VNIIAES, and also was the initiator and achieved the creation of a new institute for the nuclear industry - VNIIAM. In 1977-1988, V.I. Subbotin worked as the head of the Department of Thermophysics at MEPhI. During his work in this position, the composition of the department grew from 39 to 120 people; three collaborators defended doctoral dissertations, more than 30 defended doctoral dissertations. In 1968, he was elected a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and in 1987 a full member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In 1988, Valery Ivanovich transferred to work at the USSR Academy of Sciences. The traditions of the scientific school are currently preserved and developed by the students, associates and followers of V.I. Subbotin.

Аналіз сценаріїв розвитку атомної енергетики України

We present results of the analysis of development of atomic generation in Ukraine in the context of substantiating ways to optimize country's electric power balance under conditions of decommissioning or extension of the life of existing nuclear power units of atomic power plants. It is emphasized that the nuclear power industry of Ukraine is a basic component in its energy supply, producing more than 40% of electricity. It is noted that the relevance of this topic is caused by the extreme importance of ensuring the energy safety of Ukraine, especially since nuclear power has become a decisive factor in Ukraine's uncompromising struggle for energy independence. The energy strategies of Ukraine and various scenarios of the development of nuclear power along with other energy-producing sectors are analyzed and compared. The restrictions and barriers hindering the development of nuclear power industry in our country are analyzed in detail. The main groups of barriers are presented according to the causes of their occurrence and the nature of manifestation, as well as other signs that must be taken into account when predicting the development of nuclear power. It is noted that the list of barriers can be supplemented, and their composition can be changed depending on the problem being solved and the hierarchical level under consideration. It is noted that the development of nuclear-power complex in Ukraine is taking place under conditions of the complication of its external and internal relationships, fundamental changes in the nature and structure of the economy, globalization, and acceleration of scientific and technological progress. According to the criteria of profitability, environmental friendliness, reliability, and provision with resources for the electric power industry, scenarios providing for the extension of life of nuclear power plants are much more acceptable than those providing for their decommissioning. It was determined that, among the important conditions for extending the life of nuclear power units, one should diversify the supply of fresh nuclear fuel.

Competitive ability of FNR NPPs: requirements and implementation in the Proryv Project Direction

A key condition for the advanced development of nuclear energy is to ensure the competitiveness of NPPs in comparison with alternative generation in solving system problems. Modern nuclear power technologies on Thermal Reactors, operating in open fuel cycle, can not guarantee long-term sustainable development of nuclear power, these technologies have almost exhausted the potential for increasing competitiveness. The report is considering the competitiveness of NPPs with thermal and fast reactors in comparison with power plants on organic fuels and renewable energy sources. The analysis performed on actual data of technical and economic indicators of competing generation types. The requirements of competitiveness for NPPs are considered, allowing to ensure development taking into account the possible improvement of technical and economic indicators of alternative generation. Determined the requirements to the criteria for competitiveness of NPPs with Fast Reactors and closed NFC. Also in the report are given facts on the evaluation of the achievement the required indicators for NPPs with BR and closed NFC on the basis of actual work in the Proryv Project.

Study of probabilistic safety assessment for a reprocessing plant

According to China’s nuclear power development plan, the demand for construction of more large-scale spent fuel reprocessing plant (RP) is increased. Nuclear safety is very important in the whole process of nuclear fuel cycle, and the safety supervision of RPs mainly draws lessons from the safety supervision of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The industry had come to realize that it could not eliminate all risks through its defense-in-depth principle and design basis accident methodologies. All nuclear power countries with advanced reprocessing industry such as the United Kingdom, France and Japan have carried out probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) research for RPs. This paper takes Chinese pilot RP as the research object. First, failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) and master logic diagram (MLD) methodologies were adopted to identify initiating events (IEs), and then IEs were grouped. After that, fault tree (FT) analysis was performed to various accidents - red oil explosion, fire and criticality. Reliabilities of public systems - power and water and compressed air supply systems were modelled and analysed with GO methodology. And then, consequences of typical accidents were assessed. Finally, application of risk-informed technology in the reprocessing facility was investigated. In brief, PSA for a pilot RP was explored in this paper, and the results could be used as reference for Chinese commercial RP.

Analysis on the trading mode suitable for nuclear power in power market

The energy crisis in the 21st century has become the most imperative problem to be solved by human beings. Nuclear energy is a vital base-charge power supply, which has high security, clean function and high efficiency. With the gradual development of nuclear power, the power is participating in the direct trading of the electricity market step by step. However, the rules of direct trading in China is not relatively complete, which leads to the unreasonable decline of the economy of nuclear power units. And there are drawbacks in the adjustment of energy structure, which also has a negative impact on energy conservation and emission reduction. So the author analyzes the current national nuclear power policies and electricity price costs, and proposes the current problems faced by nuclear power in direct electricity market and provides the basic directions and ideas for solving measures to help nuclear power better participate in direct electricity trading.

응답 범주 순서가 원자력 발전 정책 방향 및 국가 자긍심 문항에 미치는 영향: 신고리 5‧6 호기 공론화 조사 및 2016, 2018 한국종합사회조사

응답 범주 순서가 원자력 발전 정책 방향 및 국가 자긍심 문항에 미치는 영향: 신고리 5‧6 호기 공론화 조사 및 2016, 2018 한국종합사회조사

Placing Green Energy in the Sea: Offshore Wind Farms, Dolphins, Oysters, and the Territorial Politics of the Intertidal Zone in Taiwan

The development of offshore wind farms has been a way for the state to repackage national development projects using green energy discourses. In Taiwan, where the further development of nuclear power is suspended due to public antinuclear sentiment, offshore wind farms have been heavily promoted as a way of meeting electricity demand. The planned site for offshore wind farms, mainly the intertidal zone along the coast of Changhua County, overlaps with both oyster farms and the habitat of Taiwanese humpbacked dolphins, categorized as a critically endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This has resulted in a clash between conserving the oyster farming landscape, protecting an endangered species, and developing green energy. Facing this dilemma, pro–wind farm discourses that highlight concerns about global climate change have gradually supplanted those stressing the welfare of oysters and dolphins, even though the latter have been used successfully as local icons by movements opposing previous development projects on the intertidal zone. This article reconsiders the politics of territorialization implied by the “green” label affixed to offshore wind farm projects and other forms of green energy in general. As such, the meaning of offshore wind farms, as a newly discovered energy resource, is intertwined with the changing meanings of both dolphins and oyster farms, as rival nonhuman objects of resource exploitation and natural conservation. The territorialization of such resources in the emerging discursive space of green energy has proceeded via relational placemaking with nonlinear connections among multiple human and nonhuman elements. Key Words: conservation, intertidal zone, landscape, renewable resources, resource frontier.

On a Strategy for the Development of Nuclear Power in Russia

The objectives of the development of reactor technologies for transitioning to two-component nuclear power with thermal and fast reactors as well as the issues arising in the analysis of development scenarios, including the uncertainty of the resource base and technical-economic performance, are discussed. It is shown that attempts to detail the structure of the nuclear power system in the second half of the 21st century do not yield unambiguous results, giving compelling reasons for strategic decisions. It is suggested that future work on strategic development be focused on the horizon periods of key decisions concerning the adoption of new reactor technologies.

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯ ПОТЕНЦИАЛА ДВУХКОМПОНЕНТНОЙ СИСТЕМЫ ЯЭ В РАЗНЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ ЕЁ РАЗВИТИЯ

The aim of the work is to study the possibility of long-term management of a developing or non-developing nuclear power system. The concept of fuel supply control is introduced. Nuclear power systems with different structural organization of generating capacities and a closed nuclear fuel cycle are considered. A comparison is made of these systems in terms of their development potential, ratio between the number of thermal and fast reactors and the possibilities of fuel supply. It is noted that the ratio is determined by the breeding characteristics, the balance of plutonium and natural uranium in the system, as well as the needs for NP development. A feature of the two-component systems of nuclear reactors considered in the work, consisting of thermal reactors of different types and fast reactors BN-1200, is that the SNF stocks of all types of reactors are completely processed during the considered time interval and all the excess separated plutonium is used to manufacture MOX fuel. The requirements to the characteristics of fast reactor breading are put forward. The important role of mastered and promising technologies with the possibility of their flexible adaptation to changes in the nuclear power development scale and rate is emphasized. It is shown that the system including advanced fast neutron sodium reactors having flexible breading can offer increased tolerance to possible changes in the nuclear power development rate. The results of simulation of fuel cycle scenarios for the considered two-component nuclear energy system are presented.

Пріоритетні напрями довгострокового розвитку національної атомної енергетики

We established that the formation of prospects of the development of national nuclear power depends, first of all, on such key factors as the term of extension of the service life of existing NPP units, the hardness of regime constraint on their operation in an energy system, and system-wide economic efficiency and environmental friendliness of a certain structure of generating capacities in the United Power System of Ukraine. We carried out an analysis of the current state of implementation of new light-water reactors of high power and promising small modular reactors. Based on the estimates of prospects of the implementation of new nuclear power units, obtained by using the mathematical model of long-term forecasting the development of structure of generating capacities in the power system, taking into account the need to replace operating NPPs, we determined the priority areas of long-term development of national nuclear power. In the formation of decisions concerning the introduction of new power units, it is quite important to take into account the dynamics of their commission and decommission with regard for their operation life and unit capacity at the projected growth of demand for electrical energy. It has been established that, in the case of hardening the requirements to carbon-intensity of electricity, including an increase in the CO2 emissions charge, it is advisable, instead of construction of new coal-fired power units of TPPs in the period 2036–2040, to increase the capacity of NPPs, including the introduction of maneuvering units with small modular reactors as a low-carbon source of electricity production with enhanced operational safety to ensure sustainability, reliability, and efficiency of the functioning of Ukrainian UPS. We also determined the feasibility of replacing existing nuclear power units that are decommissioning by new advanced third-generation powerful nuclear power units.

Science-based nuclear design and safety in the emerging age of data based analytics

Over the many decades of nuclear power development, pursuits of reason and observation, appearing as science- and data-based evaluations, have alternated in priority by technologists as they mutually serve to refine the understanding and utility of nuclear science. The rapid advancement of both of these methods principles for nuclear applications, among others, has been synergistic with advances in computing. Stimulated by recent data analytics achievements in the realm of computer visualization, machine learning and the internet-of-the-things, this paper reviews the historical trends of science- vs. data-based analytics with a focus on nuclear-thermal-hydraulics modeling and simulation. The benefit of this progress is then presented in terms of its value to the nuclear industry. An underlying assumption is maintained that sustainable progress relative to present-day investment in research and development is only possible where benefits for the commercial nuclear power industry can be realized.