CONCLUSION

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SUSTAINIBILITY and NUCLEARA Contradiction?
CONCLUSION
Christian Legrain Secretary-General Belgian
Nuclear Research Centre (SCKCEN) Brussels, May
27th, 2009
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Research towards a Sustainable Option
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The image of nuclear is
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• A little word on information
• Waste are you afraid?
• Nuclear safety issue, non proliferation
• The evolution of NPPs
• Sustainibility
• Evolution of NPPs and research towards the
  future the 4th generation
• The unknown nuclear world other applications

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The lack of information
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The lack of information

• Nuclear energy does not produce CO²
• Effects of artificial radioactivity effects of
  natural radioactivity
• Fossil fuels are limited
• Renewable energies also have disadvantages
• Nuclear energy for military applications are
  different from nuclear energy for civil
  applications
• The smoke coming out of nuclear plants is vapour
• Nuclear energy does not produce more waste than
  other industries
• Nuclear waste is strictly indexed, sorted out and
  classified

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Perception by the public

• Perception by the public gt an obstacle for a
  real dialogue?
• Risk perception subjective ? probability
• Complex technology
• Centralised nuclear projects ? local decision
• Important danger with insignificant probability
• The needs are not clearly discerned (energy,
  health care)
• Invisible radioactivity
• Loss of confidence in nuclear science
  (notwithstanding illimited faith science to find
  a solution)

? Men are afraid of what they do not understand!
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Perception

• Nuclear dangerous ? renewables all the
  qualities
• Incident NPP Tchernobyl ? other fuels (fossile,
  coal,) normal accident
• Discussion not on reality and and/or - but on
  ideology
• Nuclear lobby ? Renewables friendly
• RD nuclear a lot of ? Renewables not
  enough
• Nuclear artificial ? Renewables natural
• Confusion between civil and military use
• NIMBY

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From perception back to reality

• No one human activity exists without -
• All technologies can be used in a or way
• Biology
• Biotechnology
• Aeronautics
• Space research
• Nuclear and renewables have also limits and
  create problems environment, waste,
• Ideology cannot re-implace technics and reverse
• Not always approximations or slogans but facts,
  statistics (scientific, technical, economical,
  social approaches)
• Not only emotion
• Experts have to be professional

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The essential difference betweenemotion and
reason is thatemotion leads to action while
reason leads to conclusions.
Donald B. Calne Professor of Neurology
University of British Columbia
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IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE LION HUNTS,
DONT GO TO THE ZOO, GO TO THE JUNGLE
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The waste
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The research on the waste

• to evaluate, predict, model the behaviour of
  radioactive pollutants in the biosphere and
  geological formations
• to evaluate the radiological impact on the
  population and the environment
• to optimise decontamination and decommissioning
• to contribute to safe disposal of low, medium and
  high level waste in cooperation with the Belgian
  authorities

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valorisation
safety studies
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Radioactive Waste

• 1. Which kind of waste?
• Origin
• Characteristic
• Classification
• Volume

• 2. The management
• Treatment
• Storage
• Long term storage

• 3. Actual situation
• International
• Belgium

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Where the radioactive waste are coming from?

• 4 important sources
• Electricity production (nuclear power plants)
• Other nuclear installations research center,
  fuel manufacturing
• Other applications
• medicine, agriculture, industry
• Decommissioning of nuclear installations

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Which kind of radioactive waste?
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What is the problem?

• Radioactivity natural phenomenon

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What is the problem?

• Concentration
• Half-lived or duration of live

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What is the problem?

• Protection

How?
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Classification
LLW
MLW
HLW
Short half life (30 years or less)
Heat
Long half life (more than 30 years)
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Volumes of waste to take in consideration
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• Ex. B
• Waste all included (40 years 7 NPP other
  applications)
• Volume Activity
• A 70.000 m³ lt 5
• B 8.000 m³
• gt 95
• C 5.000 m³

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Radioactive Waste Management

• Integrated system

Reduce the volume
To limite To sort To identify
Conditioning
Storage
Manage on long-term base
Process

• Acceptation system

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Radioactive Waste Treatement

• Decrease the volume
• Stabilize and confine
• -gtconditionning

Barrel section of 400 l. We distinguish the
different wafers and the immobilisation matrix.
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Temporary Storage
Cat C
Cat B
Cat A
Wall reinforced concrete thickness 25 cm
Wall reinforced concrete thickness 80 cm
Wall reinforced concrete thickness 1.2 2
m -gt 60 years
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Long term disposal
Geological storage
Surface storage
Cat B C
Cat A
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Geological Storage Concept

• Artificial barriers
• Natural barriers

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Which is the situation in the other countries?

• Existing storage on surface
• The Manche (1979) and the Aube (1992), France,
  Cat A
• El Cabril (1992), Spain, Cat A

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Which is the situation in the other countries?

• Existing geological storages
• WIPP (United States - salt), 1999, Cat B
• Konrad (Germany clay), 2007, Cat B
• Geological storages under construction
• Sweden (granite)
• Finland (granite) Demand of authorization
• France (clay)
• Switzerland (clay) Phase of siting
• England (clay)

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• Underground laboratories

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Natural analogies
Oklo, Gabon Natural reactors
Nature showed that it could effectively contain
the radioactive waste created by the natural
nuclear reactions.
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Safety issues
The Research

• Heart of the BR2 reactor from above

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• design lifetime NPP 30 to 40 years
• pro-active preventive maintenance
• licence based op decennial SAR no end of life
  

• research since 1970s lifetime assessment of
  most crucial component the reactor pressure
  vessel

• importance irreplaceable, primary loop barrier
• problem degradation thru escaping neutrons
• guarantee of integrity under all circumstances

• surveillance program

safety
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Belgian power plant
LIMIT
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Time evolution of NPPs
Demo Training Testing
passive efficient
Gen III
Present LWR plants
LWR plants under construction
sustainable
Gen IV
Design phase
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Time evolution of reactor park
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The 6 nuclear reactor concepts G IV

• RNR Gas (Fast)
• RNR Sodium (Fast)
• RNR Lead (Fast)
• VHTR Very High Temperature Reactor (Thermic)
• RESC supercritical water-cooled reactor
• RSF molten salt reactor

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FORUM INTERNATIONAL GENERATION 4
USA UK SUISSE COREE DU SUD AFRIQUE DU
SUD JAPON FRANCE CANADA BRESILARGENTINEUE RUSSIE
(11/2006)CHINE (11/2006)
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RD anticipation ? - 25 y
act now
research activities
industrial activities
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The 4th generation towards the sustainibility

• Resources of Uranium
• Now lt1 then gt50 (x100!)
• 50 more electricity produced with the same
  quantity of Uranium
• Burning of the HLW
• nuclear safety
• Proliferation resistance
• No individual separation of sensitive products
• Waste minimization
• Cost reduction
• Use for other applications hydrogen production,
  seawater desalinisation

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supply
fast neutron source
research towards GEN IV
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The research The sub-critical MYRRHA-concept
proton- accelerator
multi-disciplinary
research towards GEN IV
transmutation longlived waste
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The sub-critical MYRRHA-concept
proton- accelerator
Pb/Bi as spallation source and coolant
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Reduction of the radio-toxicity of highly
activated waste
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Myrrha research tool (prototype)

• Reduction of toxicity of waste
• Test on materials (fission, fusion)
• Production radioisotopes
• Silicium doping (applications electronic parts
  hybrid car, windmills,

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Other applications

• Medicine (radioisotopes) diagnostic and cancer
  treatment
• Plants resistance
• New types of materials
• Propulsion of ships, submarines, satellites
• Pollution measures (smoke)
• Conservation (pieces of art in wood, Egyptian
  mummies)

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MRI
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Gammacamera
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New entries in the MVD (Mutant Variaty Database)
New entries in the MVD (Mutant Variaty Database)
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New materials elaborated per irradiation
Advanced materials Ceramic composites
Ceramic composite
Space shuttle
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Space missions propulsion and generators systems
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Thank you for your attention

It is our duty to inform you ...
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Pas de développement sans un accès minimal à
lénergie
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World energy production
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Evolution de la Population mondiale
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Population (milliards)
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6 milliards dhabitants aujourdhui
Prévision 2050 10 milliards dhabitants sur
Terre ?
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4
2
0
2050
2100
1850
1900
1950
2000
Source WEC 2000
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Prévision 2050 (x2)
Consommation dénergie dans le monde depuis 1850
La consommation dénergie a considérablement
augmenté depuis la révolution industrielle
x 100 en 150 ans
Actuellement, la consommation dénergie augmente
très rapidement dans les pays en voie de
développement et plus modérément (1 par an
environ) dans les pays développés.
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Evolution de la consommation dénergie
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