Environment Institute Where ideas grow
18
Environment Institute Where ideas grow atomexpo 2013 forum: “Nuclear energy and public acceptance”, Saint Petersburg, 28 June 2013 Plentiful Energy – key advantages of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) Prof. Barry W. Brook Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change [email protected] http://bravenewclimate.com
description
a tomexpo 2013 forum: “Nuclear energy and public acceptance”, Saint Petersburg, 28 June 2013 Plentiful Energy – k ey advantages of the I ntegral F ast Reactor (IFR). Environment Institute Where ideas grow. Prof. Barry W. Brook Sir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of Environment Institute Where ideas grow
Environment InstituteWhere ideas grow
atomexpo 2013 forum: “Nuclear energy and public acceptance”, Saint Petersburg, 28 June 2013
Plentiful Energy – key advantages of the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR)
Prof. Barry W. BrookSir Hubert Wilkins Chair of Climate Change
[email protected] http://bravenewclimate.com
“Technological fixes have unforeseen and deleterious side effects –
but so do social fixes, especially revolutions”Weinberg, A.M. (1980) Technological optimism. Society 17, 17–18.
Solar CP WindWave
Coal CCSHDR Geothermal
3G Biodiesel
Gen III+ nuclearGen IV nuclear
Cheap, large-scale energy storage
Uranium Ore
100 tons
Enrichment
DepletedUranium
85 tons
1000 MWeLWR
15 tons
Spent Fuel
13.85 tons Uranium 1.00 tons Fission Products 0.13 tons Plutonium 0.02 tons Minor Actinides
Disposal(100,000 years)
Reprocessing
Disposal(100,000 years)
0.13 tons Pu
1.00 tons F.P.0.02 tons M.A.
Direct disposal is the current U.S. policy
European recycle- Saves 15% uranium- But no reduction in waste life
Annual Mass Flow for LWR
Used UraniumReserve
13.85 tons U
Unlocking ALL of uranium’s potential
What is Integral Fast Reactor (IFR)?
Current Generation
LWR
Next Generation
IFRPrincipal Impacts
Coolant Water Liquid sodium
Non-pressurized system
Neutron energy
Thermal (<1 eV)
Fast (>100 keV)
Breeding capability
Fuel type Oxide Metal Inherent passive safety
Fuel Cycle
Aqueous reprocessing
Pyro-processing
Waste management solution, proliferation-resistance, economics
EBR-II Metallic Fuel• EBR-II used a sodium bonded metallic fuel..
– Highly enriched uranium in driver fuel (63-75% U-235).
– Fuel rod immersed in sodium encased in a stainless-steel tube
– Large plenum collected fission gas
Schematic Drawing of EBR-II Fuel Element
Schematic flow sheet of electro-refining based spent fuel treatment
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
10
100
1000
10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000
Years
Rel
ativ
e R
adio
logi
cal T
oxic
ity Transuranic Elements(Actinides)
MOXSingle Pass
ExcludingMOX Spent Fuel
Fission Products(same for all cases)
Natural Uranium Ore
Relative radiological toxicity of spent fuel constituents
Comparison of IFR with Conventional SFR
IFR
Conventional SFR
Advantages
Fuel Metal Oxide Superior performance
Safety Inherent Safety
Engineered Systems
Easy licensibility Low cost
Fabrication Injection Casting
Powder Pellet
Simple remotization
Repro-cessing
Pyro- processing
Aqueous Reprocessing
Economics Proliferation-resist. Waste management
15-fold increase
50-fold increase
Realistic low-carbon 2060 energy mix?
