The Nuclear Renaissance: Producing Environmentally Sustainable Nuclear Power

摘要

A renewed global interest in nuclear power, the so-called nuclear renaissance, is underway. Energy demand continues to rise, and it is now recognized that nuclear energy will be required to meet this demand. The long-term environmental sustainability of expanded nuclear power production will require more efficient processes for the conversion of uranium to energy. Thus, for purposes of increased efficiency of energy production and to reduce the amount of waste interred in a repository it is likely that the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, or "closed" fuel cycle, will be more widely adopted in the future. This will be a major component of the development of environmentally sustainable nuclear power. This chapter introduces the symposium book documenting the latest research from around the world with a goal of creating an environmentally sustainable nuclear power industry. Held 16-20 August, 2009 in Washington DC, USA, the symposium hosted scientists from the fuel cycle countries of Canada, China, Germany, Sweden, France, Japan and the USA. The scientists in attendance presented plans and progress for the aqueous separation of fission products and the minor actinides to improve the efficiency of power generation and to minimize the amount of material requiring geological disposal.