Conclusion
Fuel Type:
- A single nuclear fuel is not feasible in the long term due to limited reserves and increasing demand.
Advantages/Disadvantages of Nations using the same Fuel Type
Individual
Availability of Uranium
Summary
Breakdown of the World’s known uranium resources (recoverable at <130 $/kg of uranium)
There are political advantages to operating individually, or as part of a group of nations
Fuel Types
- Less trust required
- Look after own interests
- Can choose most favourable solution for them
Independent Development
Interpretation
Should nations work closer together to develop a single nuclear fuel cycle that is accepted throughout the world?
Political
Gaining Nuclear technology is an important step in the development of a nation
Choice of Fuel Type
- Maturity of a nation can be judged by a stable economy, good healthcare and by fair elections
- If countries develop nuclear technology solo it usually means the country is mature enough to possess the power and responsibility which comes with nuclear technology
- The graph shows that uranium reserves are more widely distributed between countries
- However, there has not been significant exploration of thorium reserves due to low demand
- Countries with significant uranium reserves generally also have large thorium reserves
(eg. Australia, Kazakstan, USA)
- The choice of fuel type is generally governed by the following factors:
- Availability of raw materials
- Reactor type (is the technology established?)
- Existing infrastructure
Joint Development
Independent
- Costs shared
- Stronger position
- Arguably Safer
Each nation is responsible for its own waste and ensuring it doesn't get into the wrong hands.
This requires stricter controls on who has nuclear technology
Countries need to be more mature to guarantee they can be responsible for the waste over the extremely long time periods necessary
- Countries may be tempted to spend vast amounts of money gaining nuclear knowledge, diverting money which would have been spent solving problems within the country
- If the possibility exists for countries to join a 'nuclear club' measures need to be in place to ensure the country is actually mature enough before being admitted
Group
Comparison of Reserves
There are of course safety issues related to nations working independently or collaboratively
Background
Nations sharing technology and responsibilities means that they can keep tabs on each other and even share waste repositories if necessary
Since there is a joint responsibility costs will be shared which means security and planning are likely to be better
- There are three main nuclear fuel types:
- Uranium
- Thorium
- Plutonium
- Historically, uranium has been the most widely used fuel type
Joint
Availability of Uranium
Individually
Global Alliances
Alliances
Trust is an important issue when sharing secrets
- Current reserves of Uranium stand at around 3.3 Mt with an additional 2.1 Mt of presumed reserves
- Almost two thirds of the uranium resources are located in 5 countries:
Australia, Kazakhstan, Russia, South Africa and Canada
- At current consumption world reserves could last for around 80 years
Trust is not an issue since nations each protect their own research
- Any alliances formed globally would likely be very difficult to maintain
- Sensitive information involved
- Global organisations do exist e.g. UN
Collaboratively
In order for nuclear collaboration to work nations involved need to be able to trust each other.
Weak links may be tempted to sell the information independently, or could lose it devaluing the information and undermining the process.
Regional Alliances
- Local alliances are generally more stable
- Several already exist e.g. NATO, EU, SEATO, ANZUS
- More manageable
Individual
Combined
Should nations work closer together to develop a single nuclear fuel cycle that is accepted throughout the world?
A separate political issue other than safety or security of assets
Nations who go it alone must have strong political ties with every part of the supply chain to ensure stable fuel sourcing
Once a fuel type has been chosen supplies of it need to be secured and they need to be secured at an economic price.
On the other hand, nations working together will have bigger purchasing power effectively.
They are also able to as a whole provide more security over the supply line.
Reactor Type:
- A single reactor type increases safety due to more knowledge of operations and troubleshooting.
- Advancements in other types of reactors will be missed.
- Different reactors are better suited to specific needs.
- Fuel Type
- Reactor Type
- Open Vs Closed Cycle
- Political Aspects
2040
Gas Cooled Fast Reactor
2030
Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor
Super Critical Water Cooled Reactor
Very High Temperature Reactor
2020
Disadvantages of a single reactor type
- Loss of competition
- Some options might not be viable for newly developing nations
- Reliance on a single fuel/fewer suppliers
- Harder to change technology due less breadth of knowledge
- Gen IV reactors are dissimilar to currently viable reactor types
- Different Gen IV reactors will offer different advantages depending on circumstances
Advanced CANDU Reactor
2010
AP 1000 (PWR type)
European Pressurized Reactor
2000
Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor
1990
Advanced Heavy Water
Reactor (Thorium)
Advanced BWR
1980
- Global
- Continental
- Individual nations
BWR
1970
AGR
Reactor Types
Commercial Power Reactors
1960
CANDU
Current Reprocessing Countries
PWR/LWR
Shippingport, USA - PWR
1950
- Spent fuel cooled for a period of 4 - 6 years
- This spent fuel consists of approximately
- 96% Uranium
- 1% Plutonium
- 3% Fission Products (FP's) and Minor Actinides (MA's)
- Reprocessing is the chemical operation which separates the valuable fissile Uranium and Plutonium from the waste.
- The Uranium and Plutonium are recycled back into the process as Uranium Oxide (UOX) and Mixed Oxide (MOX).
- 97% of nuclear waste can be recycled and sent back to customers.
- Reprocessing one tonne of nuclear fuel saves about 100,000 barrels of oil.
- It also helps conserve the world's uranium supplies, which are currently estimated to last 80 years.
Sizewell A, UK - MAGNOX REACTOR
MAGNOX Fermi 1
Shippingport Dresden
What Is Reprocessing?
- Increased knowledge of operations and troubleshooting.
- Quicker optimisation of chosen design.
- More efficient fuel rod construction.
- Easier management of nuclear waste.
What are the advantages of reprocessing?
Advantages of using a single reactor type
- Increases the volume of nuclear waste
- Transporting and storage of spent fuels a problem
Open Fuel Cycle
What are the disadvantages of reprocessing?
Closed Fuel Cycle
Political:
- There are advantages to collaborating with other nations
- However alliances which are too big are unmanageable
Highly unrealistic on a global scale, possibilities on a continental basis where technological advances are at a similar position.