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Coordinación y edición - CNEN/CIN (Brasil) con la colaboración de los países de la RRIAN - Colaborador especial - Máximo Rudelli (Argentina)

Año 2 - Nº 13 - Agosto 2007
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Nuclear Power Reactors in the World 2007 Edition
IAEA Reference Data Series No. 2, 2007, 88 p.


This is the twenty-seventh edition of Reference Data Series No. 2, which presents the most recent reactor data available to the IAEA. It contains summarized information as of the end of 2006 on: (1) power reactors operating or under construction, and shut down; and (2) performance data on reactors operating in the IAEA Member States, as reported to the IAEA. The information is collected by the IAEA through designated national correspondents in the Member States. The replies are used to maintain the IAEA’s Power Reactor Information System (PRIS). 


http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/RDS2-27_web.pdf

IRSN Rapport d´activité 2006
IRSN -
Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucleáire, juillet 2007, 119 p.

L’Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (IRSN) conduit des programmes de recherches et d’études, et intervient en appui aux autorités compétentes en matière de sûreté nucléaire et de radioprotection. L’IRSN met également son expertise au service de nombreux partenaires et contribue à l’information du public sur les risques nucléaires et radiologiques.

Doté d’un conseil scientifique composé de 12 membres issus de la communauté scientifique et technique française et internationale, l’IRSN met en œuvre une approche pluridisciplinaire qui rassemble recherche et expertise. "Rassembler ne veut pas dire simplement juxtaposer : c’est la pluridisciplinarité, la réactivité et la capacité d’adaptation des équipes et des moyens techniques déployés qui ont permis d’atteindre les objectifs", souligne Jacques Repussard, directeur général de l’IRSN.

Le bilan des activités 2006 met en avant les grands défis scientifiques et techniques qui structurent le contrat d’objectif entre l’Etat et l’IRSN signé cette même année. Ces lignes stratégiques, illustrées de quelques exemples, sont présentées ci-après.


Communiqué de presse | Rapport


Utilization Related Design Features of Research Reactors: A Compendium 
IAEA Technical Reports Series No. 455, 2007, 621 p.

For more than 50 years research reactors have played an important role in the development of nuclear science and technology. They have made significant contributions to a large number of disciplines, as well as to the educational and research programmes of about 70 countries worldwide. There are substantial utilization issues being faced by the research reactor community, including the selection, design and operation of various types of devices in research reactors. This

publication has been prepared by the IAEA to facilitate the exchange of ideas, concepts and experience. It presents descriptions of design and utilization features of facilities and associated devices that are implemented in different research reactors worldwide, covering selected fields of application.

http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/TRS455_web.pdf

Yucca Mountain: DOE Has Improved Its Quality Assurance Program, but Whether Its Application for a NRC License Will Be High Quality Is Unclear
U. S. GAO - Government Accountability Office, August 2007, 33 p.

The director of DOE’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management set the June 30, 2008, date for filing the license application with NRC in consultation with the DOE and contractor managers for the Yucca Mountain project. DOE officials told us that external stakeholders were not consulted because there was neither a legal requirement nor a compelling management reason to do so. According to the director, the

June 2008 schedule is achievable because DOE has already completed a large amount of work, including the completion of a draft license application in 2005 that DOE decided not to submit to NRC.

NRC officials believe it is likely that DOE will submit a license application by June 30, 2008, but until NRC receives the application, officials will not speculate about whether it will be high quality. NRC has not seen a draft of the license application, and NRC’s long-standing practice is to maintain an objective and neutral position toward a future application until it is filed. To help ensure that DOE understands its expectations, NRC has, among other things, held periodic prelicensing management and technical meetings with DOE.

DOE has made progress in resolving the quality assurance recommendations and challenges identified in GAO’s March 2006 report. For example, DOE has replaced the one-page summary of performance indicators that GAO had determined was ineffective with more frequent and rigorous project management meetings. DOE has addressed the management challenges GAO identified to varying degrees. For example, regarding management continuity, DOE has worked to fill and retain personnel in key management positions, such as the director of quality assurance. However, for various reasons—including the long history of recurring problems and likely project leadership changes in January 2009 when the current administration leaves office—it is unclear whether DOE’s actions will prevent these problems from recurring.


http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-1010


Mixed-oxide (MOX) Fuel Performance Benchmark
NEA - Nuclear Energy Agency, 21 June 2007, 64 p.

The plutonium produced during the operation of commercial nuclear power plants or that has become available from the dismantlement of nuclear weapons needs to be properly managed. One important contribution to the management process consists in validating the calculation methods and nuclear data used for the prediction of power in systems burning mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel. Another important contribution is the improved modelling of MOX fuel behaviour in such systems.

Within the framework of the NEA Expert Group on Reactor-based Plutonium Disposition, a fuel modelling code benchmark test for MOX fuel was initiated, with in-pile irradiation data on two short MOX rods provided by the OECD/NEA Halden Reactor Project. This report summarises the in-pile data and fuel characteristics, and presents the calculation results provided by the contributors.

http://www.nea.fr/html/science/docs/2007/nsc-doc2007-6.pdf

 

Status of Small Reactor Designs Without On-site Refuelling
IAEA TECDOC Series No.  1536, 2007, 870 p.

The objective of this report is to provide Member States, including those considering the initiation of nuclear power programmes and those already having practical experience in nuclear power, with balanced and objective information on important development trends and objectives of small reactors without on-site refuelling, on the achieved state of the art in design and technology development for such reactors, and on their design status and possible applications. The report is

intended for many categories of stakeholders, including electricity producers, non-electricity producers, policy makers, designers and regulators. The main chapters of this report survey emerging energy market characteristics, introduce a rationale for such reactors and review their design and technology development status with a consideration of associated fuel cycle and institutional issues. The annexes provide detailed design descriptions of small reactors without on-site refuelling, focusing on their potential to provide solutions in the areas of concern associated with future nuclear energy systems. 

http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/te_1536_web.pdf


Utilization Related Design Features of Research Reactors: A Compendium 
IAEA Technical Reports Series No. 455, 2007, 606 p.

For more than 50 years research reactors have played an important role in the development of nuclear science and technology. They have made significant contributions to a large number of disciplines, as well as to the educational and research programmes of about 70 countries worldwide. There are substantial utilization issues being faced by the research reactor community, including the selection, design and

operation of various types of devices in research reactors. This publication has been prepared by the IAEA to facilitate the exchange of ideas, concepts and experience. It presents descriptions of design and utilization features of facilities and associated devices that are implemented in different research reactors worldwide, covering selected fields of application. 

http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/TRS455_web.pdf

 

Fostering a Durable Relationship Between a Waste Management Facility and its Host Community. Adding Value Through Design and Process
NEA – Nuclear Energy Agency, 2007, 59 p.

Any long-term radioactive waste management project is likely to last decades to centuries. It requires a physical site and will impact in a variety of ways on the surrounding community over that whole period. The societal durability of an agreed solution is essential to success. This report identifies a number of design elements (including functional, cultural and physical features)

 that favour a durable relationship between the facility and its host community by improving prospects for quality of life across generations.

http://www.nea.fr/html/rwm/reports/2007/nea6176-fostering.pdf