Nuclear energy: Status and future limitations

Energy

Volumn 37, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 35-40

  Dittmar, Michael ^a  

^a ETH ZURICH   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

Fusion illusions; Nuclear energy; Uranium peak; Uranium supply shortages

Indexed keywords

RADIOACTIVE WASTES; URANIUM;

ELECTRIC ENERGIES; ENERGY USE; FUSION ENERGY; LOW DEMAND; LOW ENERGIES; NON-RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES; NUCLEAR PLANT; SAFE STORAGE; STORAGE SYSTEMS; UNSOLVED PROBLEMS; URANIUM SUPPLIES;

NUCLEAR ENERGY;

ENERGY USE; FUTURE PROSPECT; HUMAN RESOURCE; NUCLEAR POWER; RADIOACTIVE WASTE; RESEARCH WORK; URANIUM;

EID: 84855601899     PISSN: 03605442     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2011.05.040     Document Type: Article

References (20)

1. For the annual IEA world energy data and outlook see and in particular the 2008 presentation at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/45/29/42414080.pdf.
2. Key world energy data for 2009 (with yearly updates) and the data for the brut electric energy production from nuclear and hydropower for 2008 are summarized at http://www.iea.org/textbase/nppdf/free/2010/key_stats_2010.pdf.
3. The 2009 edition of the bi-annual Red Book from the IAEA and the NEA was published on July 20, 2010. The corresponding press release to the report and further references can be found at http://www.nea.fr/press/2010/2010-03.html.
4. See the World Nuclear Association report about the status and future (up to 2030) of the world uranium markets at http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf22.html.
5. Data about the world nuclear reactors and their performance are available at the PRIS, the AEA data base at http://www.iaea.org/programmes/a2/
6. The 2009 update and the 2003 MIT study of " The Future of Nuclear Power" can be found at http://web.mit.edu/nuclearpower/
7. Forty years of uranium resources, production and demand in Perspective: the Red Book Retrospective, nuclear development 2006, Detailed numbers from the Red Books published over the past 40 years are summarized in the report, OECD/Nuclear Energy AgencyOECD/Nuclear Energy Agency, OECD Publishing. 10.1787/9789264028074-en.
8. See http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf63.html.
9. The report " The Future of Nuclear Energy, Facts and Fiction" in four chapters from 2009 can be found at http://europe.theoildrum.com/node/5631;5677;5744and5929.
10. For further details about the military reserves see for example the WNA document http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf13.html.
11. Details about the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) can be found at The detailed roadmap program is presented at http://www.gen-4.org/Technology/roadmap.htm.
12. The statements that the Russian Fast Reactors are not breeder reactors but simply burners with fast neutrons can be found in the WNA article about Russia at http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf45.html.
13. For the perspectives of the future GEN IV fast breeder reactors in Japan and France see http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/newsarticle.aspx%3Fid%3D27673.
14. See and the WNA document about South Africa and the PBMR reactor at http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf88.html%23PBMR.
15. See the world nuclear power Daily article on small reactors at http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Small_Modular_Reactors_No_Panacea_For_What_Ails_Nuclear_Power_999.html.
16. For a summary of latest news about the ITER project see http://fire.pppl.gov/.
17. See for example http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2010/04/italy_and_russia_fund_fusion_r.html.
18. The original article "Fusion Illusions" is published in the second edition of theThe Final Energy Crisisedited by S. Newman. For more details and many other articles about the coming energy crisis, cf. http://candobetter.org/TFEC/.
19. See for example and " Le prix Nobel de physique Georges Charpak demande l'arrêt d'Iter" http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/industrie/energie-environnement/20100810trib000537831/le-prix-nobel-de-physique-georges-charpak-demande-l-arret-d-iter.html.
20. Beerten Jef, Laes Erik, Meskens Gaston, D'haeseleer William Greenhouse gas Emissions in the nuclear life Cycle: a Balanced Appraisal. Energy Policy December, 2009, 37(12):5056-5068. The question if nuclear power is almost CO2 free, is being a subject of heated debates and very different conclusions, depending on various assumptions, can be found. These issues and many further references are analysed in detail in several more recents papers like the following two: Sovacool, BK. "Valuing the Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Nuclear Power: A Critical Survey," Energy Policy 36(8) (August, 2008), pp. 2940-2953 and.