What are the state-of-the-art technological solutions to ensure a high level of nuclear power safety, including those new technologies that should have been applied from the beginning of the planning and construction of a nuclear power plant?
In the country where I have been working for half a century, every few years a plan to build a nuclear power plant appears periodically. The last such plan appeared in 2022. Consideration of building the first nuclear power plant came about when the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers announced that he was considering such a plan. For the time being, this plan is not taken seriously by analysts of the development of the energy sector, as there have been many investment plans announced by the Prime Minister over the past seven years and only plans ended. On the other hand, the current energy crisis, the dominance of dirty combustion energy in Poland, the rising prices of fossil fuels, the low and falling level of the country's energy independence and security, the low level of air quality polluted by the widespread burning of coal in fossil fuel cookers, the blocking and stalling of the development of renewable energy (biogas plants) and zero-emission energy (wind energy 2016, solar energy 2022), which has been going on for 7 years, has led to a high risk of a shortage of heat and electricity in Poland and a deep risk of a national energy crisis in the cyclical annual heating seasons. Since the political opposition, which includes environmentalists and non-governmental organisations, has been postulating for years the increase of the level of energy security and the necessity to develop renewable and emission-free energy, the necessity to carry out a pro-environmental transformation of the energy sector, so every now and then a new plan appears in the media, the latest being the plan to build the first nuclear power plant. The need to urgently and swiftly carry out a pro-environmental transformation of the energy sector is linked on the one hand to the long-term climate crisis and the currently developing energy crisis. If the Polish government continues to ignore the issue of a pro-environmental and pro-climate transformation of the energy sector, it is possible that in the coming years, too, citizens will have to contend with a national energy crisis and poor air quality in agglomerations year after year. The construction of the first nuclear power plant in Poland is not expected to be completed until the early 2030s of the current 21st century. It is clear that this is far too late given the issue of the developing climate crisis and the possibility of further national energy crises emerging in subsequent annual heating seasons. Besides, simply building a nuclear power plant will not cure an energy industry that is underinvested and based on outdated energy transmission technologies and power plants that generate energy mainly by burning fossil fuels. On the other hand, better late than never. Nuclear power, along with other types of renewable energy, can form an important part of the energy mix and increase the level of independence and energy security. However, in order to ensure a high level of operational safety of the nuclear power plant, a low level of failure rate, a high level of safety against various categories of risks, catastrophes and external factors, it is essential to apply modern technologies with which the nuclear power plant will be built.
In view of the above, I would like to address the following question to the esteemed community of researchers and scientists:
What are the state-of-the-art technological solutions to ensure a high level of safety in nuclear power, including those new technologies that should be applied from the very beginning of the planning and construction of a nuclear power plant?
What is your opinion on this subject?
Please respond,
I invite you all to discuss,
Thank you very much,
Warm regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
- At the outset, there is a strong awareness of the potential hazard of both nuclear criticality and release of radioactive materials from generating electricity with nuclear power.
- In industries, the design and operation of nuclear power plants aims to minimise the likelihood of accidents, and avoid major human consequences when they occur.
- There have been two major reactor accidents in the history of civil nuclear power – Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi. Chernobyl involved an intense fire without provision for containment, and Fukushima Daiichi severely tested the containment, allowing some release of radioactivity.
- These are the only major accidents to have occurred in over 18,500 cumulative reactor-years of commercial nuclear power operation in 36 countries.
- The accidents effect the human lives for many years.
In India, Safety in nuclear power plants (NPPs) is a very important topic and it is necessary to dissipate correct information to all humans living in nearby places. All the operating plants are ISO 14001 and IS 18001 certified plants. The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited today has 17 operating plants and five plants under construction, and scientists and engineers are fully geared to take up many more plants.
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre- Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) frames the policies and lays down safety standards and requirements.One of India’s excellent record in operation of Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs).
India has a largely indigenous nuclear power programme - one of it includes Nuclear Power of India.
Nuclear power has excellent significance in countries’ development goals, including India, as renewable energy sources such as wind and solar are not sufficient to meet energy requirements as well as global climate goals. In India, Nuclear power presents the opportunity to enhance its energy security and help reduce global CO2 emissions and minimise global warming and climate change.
Per to fossil fuel; coal burning is totally, no., Came in as a collective aggrement, as you are aware of the discussion, debate and arguement over a decade.
Nuclear waste and plantation danger I explained in my book, below link, free read available.
Uran.ium and fission has-been the main source till now. Now we have successfully brought into further advanced technology source fission, is in functional in UK.
India is a concern, wind and solar sources must ordered onto India. Last cop 26 India was set loose and resulted to biggest havoc in the reason.
To save the repetition here is the link, feel free to check in.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/349312035_atomic_ionisation
Regards
Fatema Miah
All kinds of fourth generation reactors (https://www.gen-4.org/gif/), in special molten salt reactors and, more specially, thorium molten salt reactors, my technological preference. It's time to gradually abandon uranium enrichment to avoid WMD proliferation and unnecessary risks. Of course it will take decades. Heavy water reactors are also problematic. Plutonium is too dangerous and should be definetely eliminated. Unfortunately, we face geopolitical issues that affect directly nuclear technological choices since its very beginning.
"Technical solutions" have been well known for decades.
The exploitation of nuclear energy proceeds exclusively for private interests and the related "geopolitics", which some states wanted to build in the aftermath of the Second World War.
Prior to discussing your question, I would like to tell you about a fiction I heard.
A few months after all 4 nuclear reactor units equipped with multi-safety systems had demonstrated a clear disastrous tech failure in the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant. The CEO of GW nuclear tech division had no choice, but to give up the sales promotion of his proudest giga-$$$ budget signature garbage project of GE2000 & Westing2000 Giga-Watts 3rd generation reactor models and also had to get rid of those unsold rusted metals quietly.
While signing the forms to dispose of those rusted reactors in the trailer office of a naval garbage dump site, the CEO was moaning about the bad luck timing of him pushing out the 3rd generation reactor models and the years of giga-$$$ budget wasted. A cleaning lady at the corner of the trailer couldn’t help herself and said “ Why don’t you refurbish and sell the used naval small reactors from the junkyard ? “ Two days later, the CEO brought in a team of lawyers, national security officers and the junkyard manager swamped all over the cleaning lady and said “ Maria, the company has decided to give you an early retirement with full pension benefits. You have to pack your belongings and leave this junk yard today. And before you leave, please sign this confidential agreement to shut your mouth. Never ever mention you have worked for this company and related information.” A year later, the brilliant idea of SMRs technology was developed by the genius CEO, embraced by all IAEA members. The name of GE2000 & Westing2000 were swept under the floor carpet and became confidential, lol.
The above drama story is just a fabricated fiction for people with interest to read and interpret it accordingly about R&D of nuclear power technologies.
Now I am going to discuss your question seriously. This is a very serious sensitive technology under the national security law. It’s too dangerous and too complicated to give proper answers. As a retired nuclear safety frontline principal design engineer for power plants in the 90s and a strong 2000 model giga-reactor technology opponent , I have no confidence in the SMRs safety either. Let me explain it starting from the nuclear operating plants ISO 14001 and IS 18001 certification guidelines mentioned in the above Ms. Prisilla Jayanthi’s discussion. I was also an authority designated engineering codes & standards consulting engineer in the 90s involved in the North America nuclear authority Retrofit orders to recertify the operation license of all existing nuclear power plants. My technical responsibility was to interpret the above ISO 14001 and similar IS 18001 legislated codes aka laws accordingly to ensure the nuclear power plant facilities technologies applied, designed, constructed, its operation and certification process will comply with all the safety technical codes having jurisdiction over the project. The problem of your question “ ensure a high level of nuclear power safety, ..” starts from here. The nuclear safety project budgets based on the frontline engineer’s professional interpretation of the engineering codes & ISO ??? with reference to the technologies required always doesn't look good from the administrators $$$$ point of view. The so-called ISO No.xxx and national nuclear safety standards are basically a set of useless legislation, which can not prevent administrators applying coercion influence or hiring so-called experts to over rule the frontline people, cutting the $$$$$$ safety budget. Those so-called experts don’t even know what a hammer looks like, let alone understand the actual technologies & hardwares proposed by the system design engineers. My gut feeling is that's what caused the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Since nuclear power plants are millitary and terrorists targets, the current legal systems can’t protect whistleblowers who voice their concerns for the public safeties either. The above issues mentioned are just a tiny tip of the iceberg for the coming SMRs problems and the application of any future nuclear technologies. From my professional point of view, state-of- the- art technology needs state-of-the-art Safety Codes legislation with sharp teeth to prosecute administrators and fake experts applying coercion to frontline engineers and scientists to build half-assed nuclear safety systems.
I believe there was another incident in USA. The 3 mile Island accident.
The Three Mile Island accident was a partial meltdown of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor in Pennsylvania, United States. It began at 4 a.m.[2][3] on March 28, 1979. It is the most significant accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history.[4] On the seven-point International Nuclear Event Scale, it is rated Level 5 – Accident with Wider Consequences.[5][6]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident
For safer Nuclear reactors, it would be better to use low level radiation elements, e.g. Thorium reactors.
A nuclear power solution will always depend on its country characteristics. For example PWR are the best solution in Brazil as we have plenty of water for refrigeration and the 6th global uranium ore reserves. Canada uses its CANDU reactor due to the availability of uranium and deuterium. The UK developed the CO2 cooled HTGR as cogeneration solution. Before stablishing an specific type of reactor you must answer these questions: does Poland has uranium ore? how to overcome the coal industry lobby? what about using the heat transfer to supply cheaper heating for the population during the rigorous polish winter? Where the unit would be installed? With these answers you can think about the best reactor type wich should be a 4th generation, modular, small reactor (up to 300MW) and in serial operation.
I find the usage of Molten Salt Reactors to be one of the most interesting solution for short term nuclear fission energy production.
Probabilistic Risk Assessment is a useful method for evaluating the safety of nuclear power plants(NPPs). It has been formally used in regulation of NPPs of USA and many other countries.
As a retired front line principal safety engineer and a designated engineering code & standards consultant in the nuclear power plant industry, especially involving for the late 90s Canada & USA nuclear power plants re-licensing retrofit projects. And also involved in reviewing the abandonded GE2000 & Westin2000 reactors marketing promotions. The current Probabilistic Risk Assessment is a joke. It's all based on and under the CEOs & CFO $$$ coercion assumptions instead of Professional Engineering Assumptions to set up those Assessment Criteria. If one can look at its expert safety assessment reports prior to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, it will be a very good example of the P.R.A. BS.
Passive safety systems. The expert on this subject is Prof. Mamoru Ishii, who did the experiments for the simplified boiling water reactor. High temperature and molten salt are awful for safety. Take current, proven designs and add a circulation mechanism that will get you through station blackout like in Fukushima.