Progress in Nuclear Energy 51 (2009) 225235

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Progress in Nuclear Energy

Review

Recent advances in nuclear power: A review

a b s t r a c t
Keywords: Nuclear power Nuclear economics Safety Reactor design Spent fuel processing Waste management

The rise in oil prices and the increased concern about environmental protection from CO2 emissions have promoted the attention to the use of nuclear power as a viable energy source for power generation. This review presents the recent advances in the eld of nuclear power and addresses the aspects of nuclear economics, safety, nuclear reactor design and spent fuel processing and waste management. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Nuclear power alone wont get us to where we need to be, but we wont get there without it. Despite its controversial reputation, nuclear power is efcient and reliable (Whitman, 2007). Nuclear power is economically feasible and meets more than 20% of the worlds demand for electricity. Whereas, the extraordinary high energy density of nuclear fuel relative to fossil fuels is an advantageous physical characteristic (IAEA, 1997). Also, it helps to reduce environmental degradation due to electricity-generation activities. For example, CO2 emissions from a nuclear power plant are by two orders of magnitude lower than those of fossil-fuelled power plants. A number of studies have been performed considering net energy analysis for electricity-generation technologies, including fossil-fuelled technologies, nuclear power and renewable energy systems (IAEA, 1994; San Martin, 1989). Full energy chain analyses demonstrate the signicant greenhouse-gas emissions that can be related to signicant fuel extraction, transport, manufacturing and construction activities (IAEA, 1995a,b). The practical operational safety of nuclear objects is of fundamental importance for assessing the future prospects under discussion and selecting a strategy for the development of nuclear power. Bennett (1991) showed that over the past 30 years, the U.S. Government has evolved a process for the safety review. This process ensures that the various postulated accident scenarios are considered so that the responses of the nuclear power systems to the accident environments are assessed. Rashad and Hammad (2000) presented a comparative assessment of the environmental and health impacts of nuclear power and other electricitygeneration systems. The authors studied normal operations and

* Tel.: 962 6 4892345x185; fax: 962 6 4894292. E-mail address: [email protected] 0149-1970/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.pnucene.2008.05.001

accidents in the full energy chain analysis and discussed the comparison of environmental impacts arising from the wastemanagement cycles associated with non-emission waste. Whereas, Aybar and Ortego (2005) reviewed the nuclear fuel performance codes and showed that recent fuel design and improvement activities are focused on to extend the burn up of fuel and the use of new materials. The excellent operating and safety records support the nuclear power as viable option for energy source. STUK (1998) and Mattila and Vanttola (2001) presented the strategy and research needs for nuclear power plant development through plant modernization and possible new construction in Finland and showed that the four nuclear power plants in Finland have been in operation for about 20 years and have a very good operating record. Also, Dazhong and Yingyun (2002) illustrated that Chinas annual energy demand is expected to amount to 3360 million tons of oil equivalent in 2050 and that a large-scale development of nuclear energy is essential and promising. The total installed capacity is expected to be over 200300 GW by around 2050, and will be an effective response measure to mitigate the energyderived environmental pollution and guarantee the national energy security (Gu and Liu, 2001). Lindenberger et al. (2006) studied the consequences of longer lifetimes of nuclear power plants currently in operation as compared to the provisions in opt-out legislation and included the effects of longer nuclear power plant lifetimes on the development of generating capacities in Germany: electricity generation, fuel consumption and fuel imports, the resultant CO2 emissions, costs of electricity generation and electricity prices as well as the associated impact on production and employment in this sector and in industry as a whole. This review presents the recent advances in the eld of nuclear power and addresses the aspects of nuclear economics, safety, nuclear design, spent fuel processing and waste management.

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2. Nuclear economics Nuclear power stations are hugely expensive to build but very cheap to run, yet the economics of nuclear power still look uncertain. That is partly because its green virtues do not show up in its costs, since fossil-fuel power generation does not pay for the environmental damage it does (Economist, 2007). Hewlett (1996) examined the factors causing the escalation in the 1980s and subsequent leveling off of nuclear power plant nonfuel Operating and Maintenance (O&M) costs. The author found that the escalation in O&M costs was primarily due to increased regulatory activity by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission due to changes in the economic incentives to improve plant performance. An economic efciency of new-generation nuclear power plants was evaluated by Afanasev et al. (1996). Also, Kazimi and Todreas (1999) reviewed the economics of existing nuclear power plants which have improved in the United States and worldwide. Further economic improvements could be realized by better management of planned outages, understanding of unplanned outages, resource sharing among several plants and more efcient use of nuclear fuel. Kazachkovskii (2001) assumed that labor costs uniquely determine production costs and presented a single formula for price of the product encompassing all cost categories from running to capital. Whereas, Nisan et al. (2003) developed a code system, SEMER, to evaluate the economic impact of various nuclear reactors and associated innovations. Models for nearly all fossil energybased systems were also included to provide a basis for cost comparisons. Recently, Mitenkov et al. (2007) examined the possibility of decreasing the capital cost of building a nuclear power plant by unifying the equipment and technological processes and showed that it is desirable to adopt for nuclear power plants the most effective solutions and organizationaltechnical and technological approaches which have been implemented in the development of propulsion nuclear power systems. 3. Nuclear safety Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (ACSNI, 1993) has dened the safety culture as: The safety culture of an organization is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies and patterns of behavior that determine the commitment to and the style and prociency of an organizations health and safety management. The current methods used for safety predictions do not contain an analysis of the unavoidable errors and uncertainties of the models used or the initial and boundary conditions under which the physical processes that develop into serious accidents arise. Rumyantsev (2007) proposed the method of quantile which estimates the uncertainties and free of the drawbacks of the Monte Carlo method and increases the reliability of safety predictions in nuclear power. The general safety objective for nuclear power plants (NPPs) is to protect the individual, society and the environment by establishing and maintaining in NPPs effective measures against radiological hazards. The safety targets are: (1) no individual should bear a signicant additional risk due to nuclear power plant operation and the societal risks from power plant operation should not be a signicant addition to other societal risks (USNRC, 1986). (2) The calculated plant core-damage frequency (CDF) should be less than 104 events per reactor year (RY) (Rathbun and Modarres, 1987) and (3) the calculated large release frequency (LRF) less than 106/RY for sequences resulting in a greater than 0.25 Sv whole-body dose over 24 h at one-half mile from the reactor which correspond to the cancer risk to the people in the critical population group equal to 1010/RY (Whipple and Starr, 1988). Presently the safety objectives developed by the US and

European utilities for the new generation of NPPs include a maximum permissible CDF equal to 105/RY (NSI, 2004). Lee and Harrison (2000) studied addresses mainly attitudes and behaviors of working staff and the role of safety in three nuclear stations. The authors concluded that personnel safety surveys can usefully be applied to deliver a multi-perspective, comprehensive and economical assessment of the current state of a safety culture and also to explore the dynamic inter-relationships of its working parts. It is strongly recommended that nuclear industries adopt modern digital and computer technology to improve NPP safety, availability and operating functions (EPRI, 1990; Kwon and Ham, 1994; Kim et al., 1995, 2001). The power control system is a key control system for a nuclear reactor which directly concerns the safe operation of a nuclear reactor. Much attention is paid to the power control system performance of nuclear reactor in engineering (Zhao et al., 2002; Zhou, 1990). Whereas, Kim and Seong (2003, 2008) proposed an approach to quantify the information ow of diagnosis tasks in nuclear power plants and presented a method to quantify cognitive information ows in diagnosis tasks, integrating a stage model (a qualitative approach) with information theory (a quantitative approach). Also, Son and Seong (2002, 2003) presented a method of software requirement verication for Safety-critical software systems used in nuclear instrumentation and control (NI&C) systems in nuclear power plant. Carvalho et al. (2006) and Carvalho and Vidal (2003) investigated cultural and cognitive issues related to the work of nuclear power plant operators during their time on the job in the control room and during simulator training (emergency situations), in order to show how these issues impact on plant safety. Also, the authors focused on the relationships between the courses of action of the different operators and the constraints imposed by their working environment. Recently, Kitamura et al. (2005) reviewed the international standards related to the design for control rooms in two aspects of HMI design and hardware and software design on nuclear power plants which can be useful not only for revision of the international standards such as IEC60964 but also for users of the standards and guidelines. The human model research (Yoshikawa et al., 1999) is divided into ve areas: (a) modeling for machine system, (b) measurement and analysis of human information behavior, (c) modeling of human internal information process, (d) modeling of human interaction with machine system, and (e) between human themselves. Kang and Jang (2006) proposed a practical approach to develop a more realistic fault-tree model with a consideration of various conditions endured by a human operator. In safety-critical systems, the generation failure of an actuation signal is caused by the concurrent failures of the automated systems and an operator action. The authors proposed a condition-based human reliability assessment (CBHRA) method in order to address these complicated conditions in a practical way. A nuclear power plant is a complex system but requires high reliability. The humanmachine interface (HMI) design plays very important role in reactor safety. Chen et al. (2001, 2005) described an assessment on HMI design of a Chinese NPP, using a software system named Dynamic Interaction Analysis Support (DIAS). In the human reliability analysis of Qinshan nuclear power plant, a full-size simulator was used to conduct an experiment on the operators reliability (Zhang et al., 2007; Huang, 1993). In complex systems such as the nuclear and chemical industry, the importance of human performance related problems is well recognized. Thus a lot of effort has been spent on this area (Park and Jung, 2007; Furuta et al., 2003; Hirschberg, 2004; Stanton, 1996). Davies (2002) presented the contribution to the workshop covering risk assessment in the UK nuclear power industry and addressed the possible need for a standard for risk-based decision making. The author concluded that the benets may be limited for the UK nuclear power industry and that there are many practical

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difculties in introducing a harmonized standard across industries and countries. Several documents on the Safety and Risk Assessment Principles for Nuclear Plants in the UK (HSE, 1992a,b; Grint and Vaughan, 1999) and USA (Garricka and Christie, 2002; Fullwood, 2000; USNRC, 1975; Carlisle, 1997; Lenard, 2006) were published. Keller and Modarres (2005) reviewed the historical development of the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methods and applications in the nuclear industry and presented a review of nuclear safety and regulatory developments in the early days of nuclear power in the United States. The omega-factor approach is a method that explicitly incorporates organizational factors into probabilistic safety assessment of nuclear power plants. Galan et al. (2007) discussed some important limitations of current procedures in the co-factor approach for either assessing conditional probabilities from experts or estimating them from data. Frisch and Gros (2001) presented the main objectives and principles in nuclear ssion reactor safety and took some examples from the FrenchGerman safety approach to demonstrate how requirements for safety improvement by means of an enhancement of the defence in-depth principle are developed. On other hand, Seidel and Rauh (2004) showed that the regulatory authorities supervising the operation of German nuclear power plants on behalf of the government have been facing increasingly the problems of safety management and safety culture. But these events have not affected the public or the environment. This is due to the fault-tolerant design of nuclear power plants and their effective supervision by government authorities. Also, Heller (2004) expressed that the older nuclear power plants offer no sufcient protection from terrorist attacks carried out by means of commercial airliners and that the competent German Federal Ministry of the Interior to this day has not been able to detect a hazardous situation for Germany which would require nuclear power plants (or other facilities) to be shutdown temporarily so as to reduce their hazard potential. An overview of status of accident management in Germany and containment strategies for severe nuclear accidents was presented by Kersting (1997). Kabakchi et al. (2002) showed that application of the concept of deeply layered protection can be used successfully for assessing the safety status of different types of storage sites. Whereas, Seidel and Straub (2002) illustrated the development of key safety requirements which can be applied to any nuclear power plant in order to provide an overview of the current safety status and the rules by which it is run. The authors identied six main areas of review for light-water reactors (safety systems; integrity of the safety barriers; risk assessment; radiation exposure of the plant personnel and the environment; plant operations management; plant safety) and the associated safety indicators. But Tarasenko (2003) showed that during the operation of safety systems at nuclear power plants, the principle of independence from the power system, which is one of the basic principles incorporated in the design of safety systems, is not satised and the power system, especially if it is decient, cannot guarantee the required electricity and protection for safety systems from general failures. Recent works on safety performance indicators were published (Saqib and Siddiqi, 2005). Strupczewski (2003) presented the results of estimates of nuclear power plant safety based on probabilistic safety analyses and discussed the means used to decrease core-damage factors, large release frequency and cancer deaths due to nuclear accidents. The latest studies, Strupczewski (2005), in molecular biology suggest an explanation for possible benecial effects of low radiation doses and that the effects of Chernobyl are shown to be much smaller than feared in original estimates after the accident. The EU Commission had developed a Nuclear Package which contains proposals on nuclear safety in an enlarged European

Union. The Nuclear Package deals with ve main items (Waeterloos, 2003):
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The safety of nuclear installations and facilities. Ensuring decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear installations. Sustainable and safe management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. Optimum research and development of new technologies. Trade in nuclear material and enrichment services.

Meanwhile, Van Goethem et al. (2003) reviewed the most important aspects of the research activities organised by the European Union (EU) in the area of reactor safety under the current 5th Euratom Framework Program 19982002 (FP-5). This area is focusing on Operational Safety of Existing Installations. The fundamental safety objective for nuclear power plants consists of protecting the public and the environment from the harmful effects resulting from ionising radiations. Recently, Kroger and Chang (2006) gave an overview of the safety of current nuclear power plants and future developments and addressed basic concepts of nuclear safety, such as defence in-depth, and the fundamentals of probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), its strengths, limitations and its role within the regulatory framework. Developing and expanding a Performance Management System (PMS) allows possible improvements in power plant processes to be recognized from realtime control information. In this way, plant operations management can be improved at all working levels (Mischke, 2006). A study was conducted on safety, legal and policy aspects of advanced nuclear power, and propulsion systems and sets recommendations for operations of space reactor systems in a safe, environmentally compliant fashion and develops a genetic set of hazard scenarios that might be experienced (Lenard, 2006). From the operational point of view, Mun et al. (2006) reviewed the literature on ruthenium tetroxide (RuO4) behavior in nuclear power plant severe accidents and its role in nuclear-safety issues.

4. Reactor design The nuclear ssion reactor produces heat through a controlled nuclear chain reaction in a critical mass of ssile material. They are classied as follows: A. Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR) (Hejzlar and Kazimi, 2007; Lahoda et al., 2007; Fridman et al., 2007) B. Boiling Water Reactors (BWR) (Ortiz et al., 2007; Janney and Porter, 2007; Jessee and Kropaczek, 2007; Sarott, 2005; Sunde and Pazsit, 2007) C. Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) (Raina et al., 2006; Bhardwaj, 2006) D. High-Power Channel Reactor (RBMK) (Ilina et al., 1989; Yurova et al., 1988) E. Gas-Cooled Reactor (GCR) and Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor (AGCR) (Sub et al., 2007; van Rooijen et al., 2007; Akie, 2007; Schowalter et al., 2007; Oh et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2006) F. Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor (LMFBR) (Katsuragawa et al., 1993; Michaille et al., 1991; Suresh et al., 2005; Duan et al., 2001; Riqian et al., 2001) G. Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor (Ehn and Tamberg, 1970). Advanced reactor designs are under development. Some of these reactors are: investigation and

A. The Integral Fast Reactor with a recycling spent fuel (Hill et al., 1995; Courtney and Lineberry, 1994; Goff et al., 1993)

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B. The Pebble Bed Reactor, a High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGCR) (Koster et al., 2004; Ion et al., 2004; Bende et al., 1999; Gittus, 1999; Gerwin et al., 1989; Gerwin and Scherer, 1987; Walter et al., 2006) C. SSTAR, Small, Sealed, Transportable, Autonomous Reactor (Koo et al., 2007) D. The Clean and Environmentally Safe Advanced Reactor (CAESAR) (Filippone, 1998) E. Subcritical reactors (Salvatores, 2002; Nifenecker et al., 2001; David et al., 2000) F. Thorium-based reactors (Herring et al., 2004; Weaver and Herring, 2003; Vapirev et al., 1996; Adamson, 1978) G. Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (Raina et al., 2006; Maheshwari et al., 2001; Nayak et al., 1998) H. KAMINI, a unique reactor using Uranium-233 isotope for fuel (Usha et al., 2006; Mohapatra et al., 2004; Sunny and Subbaiah, 2004; Balakrishnan, 1991). Theoretical nuclear reactor designs currently under research are: A. Gas-cooled fast reactor (van Rooijen et al., 2007; van Rooijen and Kloosterman, 2005; Choi et al., 2006) B. Lead cooled fast reactor (Loewen and Tokuhiro, 2003; Tucek et al., 2006; Okunev, 2001; Kuznetsov and Sekimoto, 1995) C. Molten salt reactor (Mitachi et al., 2007; Mathieu et al., 2006; Soucek et al., 2005; Degtyarev et al., 2005) D. Sodium-cooled fast reactor (Hishida et al., 2007; Chikazawa et al., 2005; Ueda et al., 2005; Poplavskii et al., 2004; Mizuno and Niwa, 2004) E. Supercritical water reactor (SCWR) (Hofmeister et al., 2007; Yoo et al., 2006, 2007; Mori et al., 2006) F. Very high temperature reactor (Katanishi and Kunitomi, 2007). Controlled nuclear fusion could in principle be used in fusion power plants to produce power without the complexities of handling actinides (Sato et al. 2006; Aquaro and Zaccari, 2005; Arata and Zhang, 2004; Hoffman and Stacey, 2004; Goncharov, 2001). The issues concerned with the thermal hydraulics and neutronics of nuclear power plants still challenge the design, safety and the operation of Light-Water Nuclear Reactors (LWRs) (ENEL, 1995). The lack of full understanding of complex mechanisms related to the interaction between these issues imposed the adoption of conservative safety limits (Bousbia-Salah and DAuria, 2007). In the light of the sustained development in computer technology, it is possible to conduct advanced safety evaluations and reactor design optimizations. March-Leuba and Rey (1993) provided a review of the current state of the art on the topic of coupled neutronic thermohydraulic instabilities in boiling water nuclear reactors (BWRs). The possibility to use fusion power reactor (FPR) was considered for burning long-life elements of spent nuclear fuel in parallel with energy production and a principal design of FPR blanket was examined for transmutation of long-life minor actinides (Np, Am, Cm). Production of minor actinide isotopes is equal to 2030 kg/ 1 GW(e) year for new operating ssion reactors, and their amounts will rise with the expected growth of ssion reactor power (Serikov et al., 2002; Serikov and Sheludjakov, 2001). Uchiyama et al. (2000) conceptually designed a multipurpose reactor named Nuclear Heat Generator (NHG) which could be installed in an energy consuming area. The reactor of 1 MWt output is designed without any needs for fuel exchange and decommissioning on site. Whereas, Uto et al. (2000) conducted a technical investigation on the performance of a mixed-oxide (MOX)-fuelled small fast reactor with a reector-driven reactivity control system.

The results obtained from a series of neutronic and thermal hydraulic calculations show the feasibility of a small fast reactor that produces electric power of about 50 MW. Also, Kloosterman et al. (2001) presented a new type of nuclear reactor that consists of a graphite-walled tube partly lled with TRISO-coated fuel particles. Helium is used as a coolant that ows from bottom to top through the tube, thereby uidizing the particle bed. The fuel particle designed for this reactor has a temperature coefcient of reactivity that is sufciently negative. Gimenez et al. (2003) presented a new methodology to perform nuclear reactor design, balancing safety and economics at the conceptual engineering stage. This integral methodology takes into account safety aspects in an optimization design process where the design variables are balanced in order to obtain a better gure of merit related with reactor economic performance. The authors stated that this methodology turns out to be promising to internalize cost and safety issues. It also allows one to evaluate the incremental costs of implementing higher safety levels. The design of integral-type reactors is of particular interest because of their intrinsic characteristics that make them economical and safe, as shown by several designers of reactors of small and medium power, with the objective to satisfy the demands of the market (Carelli et al., 2001; Chang and Yeo, 2001; Generation IV International Forum, 2002). Jahshan and Kammash (2005) introduced material and design innovations to reduce the mass and volume of an established safe gas-cooled cermet reactor design so that it can be deployed as a multi-megawatt electric power source for plasma thrusters including the laser accelerated plasma propulsion system. Mitenkov et al. (2005) presented the results of design analysis for improving nuclear plants with fast reactors, specically, by using cartridge-vessel generators instead of sectional-modular generators. Agung et al. (2006) described several modications to the design of a uidized bed nuclear reactor in order to improve its performance. The goal of these modications is to achieve a higher power output requiring an excess reactivity of 4% at maximum expansion of the bed. The modications are also intended to obtain a larger safety margin when the reactor does not operate; a shutdown margin of 4% is required when the bed is in a packed state. The modications include installing of an embedded side absorber, changing the reactor cross-section area and modifying the moderator-to-fuel ratio. The new design based on the modications related to the aforementioned parameters achieves the desired shutdown margin and the excess reactivity. Bsebsu and Bede (2002) presented the outline of the core thermal hydraulic design and analysis (Operational Safety Analysis) of the Budapest nuclear research reactor (WWR-M2 type), which is a tank-type, light crater-cooled nuclear research reactor with 36% enriched uranium coaxial annuli fuel. The authors studied the thermal hydraulic performance and showed that the 36% enriched UAlxAl fuel elements in WWR-SM fuel coolant channel do not allow to force zip the reactor power to 20 MWt. Whereas, Sinha and Kakodkar (2003, 2006) presented the Indian nuclear experience which started with setting up the Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) based on natural uranium and pressure tube technology; in the second phase, the ssile material base will be multiplied in Fast Breeder Reactors using the plutonium obtained from the PHWRs. Considering the large thorium reserves in India, the future nuclear power program will be based on thoriumU-233 fuel cycle. The authors expressed that there is a need for the timely development of thorium-based technologies for the entire fuel cycle and the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) has been designed to fulll this need. The design of the reactor has progressively undergone modications and improvements based on the feedbacks from the analytical and the experimental R&D.

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The AHWR incorporates several passive systems to fulll several safety functions (Sinha et al., 2000; Gupta and Lele, 2002). Also, Koley et al. (2006) presented Regulatory practices for nuclear power plants in India. Li and Bernard (2002) reported the design and evaluation via simulation of an observer for nuclear reactor fault detection. The method used allows actuator, sensor and system dynamic faults to be detected and localized by studying the asymptotic response of an error signal. Also, Adda et al. (2005) designed an intelligent controller system based on the concepts of fuzzy logic used to control the power of a nuclear reactor. Sacco et al. (2006) presented two stochastic optimization algorithms: the novel Particle Collision Algorithm (PCA), and Duecks Great Deluge Algorithm (GDA) applied to a core design optimization problem which consists of adjusting several reactor cell parameters, such as dimensions, enrichment and materials, in order to minimize the average peak factor in a three-enrichment-zone reactor, considering restrictions on the average thermal ux, criticality and sub-moderation. Cole and Bonin (2007) aimed at initiating the conceptual design of a small nuclear reactor intended to provide sufcient electrical power (similar to 150 kW) to maintain the hotel load of the Victoria-class submarine. The scope of the design is to provide the nuclear reactor system with sufcient inherent safety features so as to permit the operation of the nuclear reactor by crews with minimal training for automatic operation. The nal reactor concept, named the Near Boiling reactor, employs TRISO fuel particles in zirconium-sheathed-fuel rods. The reactor is light water moderated and cooled. The core life is specically designed to coincide with the ret cycle of the Victoria-class submarine. Recently Zrodnikov et al. (2006) presented an innovative nuclear power technology, based on the use of modular type fast-neutron reactors SVBR-75/100 having heavy liquid-metal coolant, i.e. eutectic leadbismuth alloy, and that Reactor SVBR-75/100 possesses inherent self-protection and passive safety properties that allow excluding of many safety systems necessary for traditional type reactors. The authors stated that the use of this nuclear power technology makes it possible to eliminate conicting requirements among safety needs and economic factors which are particularly found in traditional reactors. 5. Waste management and storage It is important to understand the various classications of radioactive waste to set up the proper management system. Nuclear wastes are classied as follows: 1. Very low-level waste of uranium mill tailings which are byproduct material from the rough processing of uraniumbearing ore (Sutherland et al., 1982). 2. Low-level waste (LLW) is generated from hospitals and industry, as well as the nuclear fuel cycle. To reduce its volume, it is often compacted or incinerated before disposal (Nirdosh, 1999). 3. Intermediate level waste (ILW) contains higher amounts of radioactivity and in some cases requires shielding. ILW includes resins, chemical sludge and metal reactor fuel cladding, as well as contaminated materials (Raj et al., 2006). 4. High-level waste (HLW) contains ssion products and transuranic elements generated in the reactor core (Liu et al., 2007; Ahn et al., 2007; Peters et al., 2006). 5. Transuranic waste (TRUW) which is contaminated with alphaemitting transuranic radionuclides with half-lives greater than 20 years and concentrations greater than 100 nCi/g (3.7 MBq/ kg), excluding high level waste (Silva, 1992).

The nuclear waste management plays a key role in the nuclear power industry. The NWM strategy involves short-term management which deals with immediate treatment of the waste and long-term management which involves storage, disposal or transformation of the waste into a non-toxic form (Grill, 2005; Horsley and Hallington, 2005; Fritschi, 2005). The immediate nuclear waste treatment methods are as follows: A. Vitrication where high-level waste is mixed with sugar and then calcined to evaporate the water from the waste and denitrate the ssion products to assist the stability of the glass produced (Min et al., 2007; Sobolev et al., 2005; Sheng et al., 2001; Park and Song, 1998). B. Ion exchange used for medium active wastes in the nuclear industry to concentrate the radioactivity into a small volume. For example, it is possible to use a ferric hydroxide oc to remove radioactive metals from aqueous mixtures. C. The Synroc, a synthetic Australian rock, contains pyrochlore and cryptomelane type minerals. It is used for the liquid highlevel waste (PUREX rafnate) from a light-water reactor (Deokattey et al., 2003; Luo et al., 1998, 2000; Vance, 1994). Whereas the long-term nuclear waste management has the following options: A. Storage: high-level radioactive waste is stored temporarily in spent fuel pools and in dry cask storage facilities. This allows the shorter-lived isotopes to decay before further handling (Crow, 2007; Perlot et al., 2007; Heuel-Fabianek and Hille, 2005; Bentivenga et al., 2004). B. Geological disposal: it is a process of selecting appropriate deep nal repositories. There are other options such as: sea-based options and lling empty uranium mines (Weldon, 2003; Laverov et al., 2003; Duncan, 2003). C. Transmutation: there are possible nuclear reactor designs that consume nuclear waste and transmute it to other, less-harmful nuclear waste (Hoffman and Stacey, 2004; Chen and Qiu, 1998; Qiu et al., 1994). D. Reuse of waste: there are isotopes in nuclear waste that can be reused, such as cesium-137 and strontium-90 in the food irradiation and radioisotope thermoelectric generators (Hayashi, 2007; Kunstadt et al., 1993; Standring et al., 2007). E. Space disposal is an attractive option where it permanently removes nuclear waste from the environment. But economic and risk-based reasons make it unviable option (Rice et al., 1982; Walthert, 1981). Riley (2004) showed that the development of nuclear energy is hampered by the absence of a clear and unequivocal policy regarding the storage and disposal of radioactive waste. The actinide management has become a key issue in nuclear energy. Recovering and ssioning transuranium elements reduce the long-term proliferation risks and the environmental burden. But managing nuclear power waste has distinct advantages as the quantities are remarkably small relative to the energy produced (IEA, 1995). In USA, there is a serious concern about how the industry will dispose (56,000) tons of highly radioactive waste that has already piled up at power plants across the country. Until the waste issue is resolved, the expansion of the nuclear industry is questionable (Kriz, 2007). Nuclear energy sustainability will depend on the actual capability of reducing the inventory and long-term radiotoxicity of nuclear waste, mainly dominated by the amount of transuranic isotopes remaining on the spent fuel. Rahman (2001) presented a broad overview of the French nuclear industry in general and the nuclear wastemanagement strategy in particular and the regulatory conditions

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and research undertakings to solve problems important to the nuclear industry. Accelerator-Driven Systems can play a role in Radioactive Waste Transmutation Scenarios and in innovative nuclear power plant concepts in particular, in order to simplify the nuclear fuel cycle. Their improved safety characteristics are also a benecial feature in the perspective of very innovative reactor concept. Salvatores et al. (2001) illustrated a number of arguments on the role of Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADSs) and gave some characteristics of an innovative ADS (TASSE), based on a Th-molten salts fuel. Gudowski et al. (2001) reviewed the European project on the Impact of Accelerator based Technologies on Nuclear Fission Safety (IABAT) and assessed the potential of Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADSs) for transmutation of nuclear waste and for nuclear energy production with minimum waste generation. Reliability studies of a highpower proton accelerator for accelerator-driven system applications for nuclear waste transmutation were presented by Burgazzi and Pierini (2004, 2007). Reactor operation is much less problematic in subcritical reactors as is the case of ADS, providing a safe subcriticality margin (Schikorr, 2001). Neutron energies in current ADS concepts (Gudowski, 1999) can operate from thermal to fast spectra. Most of the ongoing international projects are converging into fast-neutron systems. Previous designs of ADS transmuters have been essentially derived from the Accelerator Transmutation of Wastes (ATWs) in the United States (ATW Roadmap, 1999) and the European Energy Amplier Concept (Rubbia et al., 1995), the latter initially intended to produce energy using the thorium cycle. Park et al. (2000) presented what is so called HYPER (HYbrid Power Extraction Reactor) program for the transmutation of nuclear waste and energy production through the transmutation process (National Research Council, 1996; OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, 1994). On-power fueling concepts are employed to keep system power constant with a minimum variation of accelerator power. A hollow cylinder-type metal fuel is designed for the on-line refueling concept. Leadbismuth (PbBi) is adopted as a coolant and spallation target material. Salvatores (2005) showed that there is widespread concern about radioactive waste management promoted interest during the last decade for the potential role of Partitioning and Transmutation strategies, in order to alleviate the burden on future deep geological repositories. The authors illustrated some examples on the regional approach, and some considerations made on the use of Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADSs) in the frame of a progressive strategy from present nuclear power eets to future systems. Wigland (2004) pointed out the benecial effects of Partitioning and Transmutation on a specic repository (Yucca Mountain) from the point of view of its design and operation, accounting for both thermal constraints and peak dose rate constraints. Fast critical reactors and Accelerator Driven Systems (ADSs) are the two main options to reduce the nuclear waste inventory and the nal requirements for their deep geological disposal facility. Abanades and Perez-Navarro (2007) explored the transmutation of nuclear wastes for its application to waste management, a fundamental issue for the nuclear industry, and to enhance the efciency of the nuclear fuel cycle. The new recycling technology should be able to achieve good economy with smaller plants which can process fuels from different types of reactors on a common technical basis. Ease in handling the higher heat load of transuranium nuclides is also important. Pyroprocesses with the use of molten salts are regarded as the strong candidate for such recycling technology (Ogawa et al., 2007). The Commissions Euratom research program supported several projects which focus on socio-economic as opposed to narrower technical issues. These projects are concerned with risk governance in general, the governance of nuclear waste management and

stakeholder involvement in the off-site management of accidents (Forsstrom and Kelly, 2002). Butler (2002) illustrated all the aspects of nuclear power in the UK specially the issue of nuclear waste and its management. Whereas, Ryhanen (2003) presented the nish experience on nuclear waste management, and showed that a longterm program and stepwise advancement have kept the annual costs of nuclear waste management moderate. Nuclear power plant areas have been found to be suitable even for location of waste storage and disposal facilities which means benets concerning infrastructure. The advanced management of spent nuclear fuel process focuses on two issues of permanent disposal: minimization of a repository area and reduction of the probabilities of fatal risks. The advanced management of spent nuclear fuel process removes heat sources such as Sr and Cs (Hwang, 2005; Hwang et al., 2007). Poinssot et al. (2005) presented the current state of the knowledge on spent nuclear fuel long-term evolution in both longterm dry storage and geological disposal while presenting the current major scientic issues on R&D. The new Nuclear Power Act, which entered into force on February 1, 2005, imposes clear political boundary conditions on the solution to be found for the geologic underground storage of radioactive waste. After 30 years of studies and research, comprehensive knowledge and a basis for decision making have been elaborated for this nal step in the waste-management chain (Fritschi, 2005). The storage of spent fuel is considered a critical issue. Saegusa et al. (2007) discussed topics of research and development (R&D) being challenged for realization of concrete cask storage of spent nuclear fuel in Japan, and addressed the comparison between metal cask storage and concrete cask storage. Economical comparison between metal cask and concrete cask is found in the literature (Lambert et al., 1993). Nagano (2007) and Nagano and Yamaji (1989) carried out an assessment which attempts to draw quantitative prospects of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) management in Japan, with emphasis on uncertainty of storage needs for SNF up to the year 2050. Chang et al. (1997, 2000) and Chang and Dong (1999) discussed the fuel storage facilities and inspection for 200-MW nuclear heating reactor. 6. Spent fuel processing There are several serious Nuclear-safety Problems for spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants (Vnukov and Ryazanov, 2001). Most of the hazards from the spent fuel stem from only a few chemical elements plutonium, neptunium, americium, curium, and some long-lived ssion products such as iodine at concentration levels of grams per ton. At present approximately 2500 t of spent fuel are produced annually in the EU, containing about 25 t of plutonium and 3.5 t of the minor actinides (MAs) neptunium, americium, and curium and 3 t of long-lived ssion products (out of a total of about 100 t of ssion products) (Salvatores, 2005). The disposal of the nuclear spent fuel, the transuranic elements and the highly enriched uranium represents a major problem under investigation by the international scientic community to identify the most promising solutions. Gohar (2001) focused on achieving the top rated solution for the problem, the elimination goal which requires complete elimination for the transuranic elements or the highly enriched uranium and the long-lived ssion products. To achieve this goal, fusion blankets with liquid carrier, molten salts or liquid metal eutectics (McWherter, 1970; Thoma, 1968, 1971) for the transuranic elements and the uranium isotopes are utilized. The generated energy from the fusion blankets is used to provide revenue for the system. The United States Department of Energys Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) is developing advanced separation technologies to process spent light-water reactor fuel. The purpose of these separation processes is to remove the bulk of the mass of spent

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nuclear fuel (uranium) and the primary heat generating elements which limit the amount of material that can be placed in a given amount of repository space (Todd and Wigeland, 2006). Ladd-Lively et al. (2005) developed computer model of a simple aqueous dissolution process to separate two high-heat ssion products, cesium and strontium, from SNF uoride residues and focused on the uoride residues from the voloxidation and uorination steps of the uoride volatility process and was limited to SNF from commercial light-water reactors. Dey and Bansal (2006) showed that the success of the three stage Indian nuclear energy program (Anil Kakodkar, 2002) is interlinked with the establishment of an efcient closed fuel cycle approach with recycling of both ssile and fertile components of the spent fuel to appropriate reactor systems. The authors stated that the spent fuel reprocessing based on PUREX technology has reached a matured status and can be safely deployed to meet the additional reprocessing requirements to cater to the expanding nuclear energy program. Side by side with the developments in the spent natural uranium fuel reprocessing, irradiated thoria reprocessing is also perused to develop THOREX into a robust process.

7. Conclusion The real technical progress in the nuclear industry is considered to be slow compared with other traditional sciences. This is mainly due to the secrecy and limited number of research groups involved. Building nuclear plants still evolve within a closed circle of safety, waste management, and spent fuel processing and optimized reactor design. From the examined literature, it is clear that the safety level of nuclear power in several international locations has been successfully achieved. Also, the risks associated with nuclear power plants are much less than those due to any other available energy sources. Nuclear energy sustainability will depend on the actual capability of reducing the inventory and long-term radiotoxicity of nuclear waste, mainly dominated by the amount of transuranic isotopes remaining on the spent fuel. Also, Partitioning and Transmutation imply the need of the development of sophisticated technologies such as the use of Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADSs). At present, there is a strong need to review educational requirements for under and post-graduate studies at universities to provide applied engineering skills required to design, build and operate simulated nuclear systems. At the short term, evaluation of carbon abatement options for power generation, carbon capture and storage for nuclear power plants is at a high priority. On the long-term basis, national and international R&D programs are ought to be developed through the international forums to ensure the highest safety and security measures in nuclear power plants and waste management.

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