ID | 110366 |
Title Proper | Comparative study of different nuclear fuel cycle options |
Other Title Information | quantitative analysis on material flow |
Language | ENG |
Author | Park, Byung Heung ; Gao, Fanxing ; Kwon, Eun-ha ; Ko, Won Il |
Publication | 2011. |
Summary / Abstract (Note) | As a nation develops its nuclear strategies, it must consider various aspects of nuclear energy such as sustainability, environmental-friendliness, proliferation-resistance, economics, technologies, and so on. A nuclear fuel cycle study could give convincing answers to many questions in regard to technical aspects. However, one nuclear fuel cycle option cannot be superior in all aspects. Therefore a nation must identify its top priority and accordingly evaluate all the possible nuclear fuel cycle options. For such a purpose, this paper examined four different fuel cycle options that are likely to be plausible under situation of Republic of Korea: once-through cycle, DUPIC recycling, thermal recycling using MOX fuel in PWR (pressurized water reactor), and SFR (sodium cooled fast reactor) employing fuel recycling by a pyroprocess. The options have been quantitatively compared in terms of resource utilization and waste generation based on 1 TWh electricity production at a "steady-state" condition as a basic analysis. This investigation covered from the front-end of the fuel cycles to the final disposal and showed that the Pyro-SFR recycling appears to be the most competitive from these material quantitative aspects due to the reduction of the required uranium resources and the least amount of waste generation. |
`In' analytical Note | Energy Policy Vol. 39, No.11; Nov 2011: p. 6916-6924 |
Journal Source | Energy Policy Vol. 39, No.11; Nov 2011: p. 6916-6924 |
Key Words | Nuclear Fuel Cycle ; Comparative Study ; Material Flow Analysis |