Alex C' Mueller

1
Panel
"Are Current Energy Priorities Sufficiently
Knowledge Based?"
Reflections and Comments of a Panellist Alex C.
MUELLER IPN Orsay (CNRS-IN2P3 University
Paris-South)
2
Foresight Sustainability

• We must consider our planet to be on loan from
  our children, rather than being a gift from our
  ancestors. (...) As caretakers of our common
  future, we have the responsibility to seek
  scientifically sound policies, nationally as well
  as internationally. If the long-term viability of
  humanity is to be ensured, we have no other
  choice.
• (Gro Harlem Brundtland)
• Definitions from the Brundtland Commission
• Sustainable Development is development that meets
  the needs of the present without compromising the
  ability of future generations to meet their own
  needs".
• Its a process of change in which the
  exploitation of resources,
• the direction of investments, the orientation of
  technological development and institutional
  change are made consistent with
• future as well as present needs.

3
Measuring Sustainability

• Sustainability of an energy producing system
  can be
• measured by costs if all costs are considered.
• all costs internal external (use of
  environment)
• hence, management rules (from Voss 2005)

• The supply of energy services shall be carried
  out with
• the possibly lowest total costs.
• Total costs represent a useful measure for the
  usage of
• scarce resources.
• Therefore they are an indicator for relative
  sustainability
• of technologies and systems for supplying
  energy.
• Research and development are the basis for
  improving
• efficiencies for usage of resources, for
  limiting energy
• caused environmental impacts and for
  expanding the
• technical-economical energy-basis for
  future generations.

4
Urgency of knowledge-based approach
Common, but not "knowledge based"
opinions/misconceptions (alas, often voiced by
political ecologists)

• We have just to replace fossile energy
  (nuclear)
• sources by "renewable" energies
• Sufficient initial public subsidizing will be a
  quick means
• to reach economic competitiveness for any
  "renewable"
• energy through mass-production
• It is impossible to solve the nuclear waste
  issue
• (gegen Kernmüll kan man "bekanntlich" nichts
  tun)

5
Total life cycle raw material requirements
Source Marheineke 2002
6
Life Cycle Emissions
From A. Voss (IER Stuttgart)
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Projections for Germany by
(Data A. Voss et al)
GG-reduction targets 2010 -21 2020 -35 2030
-50 (for PEE,CCT, ERL and ERA) PEE massive use
of "renewables" CCT "clean carbon"
technologies ERL prolong life of present
PWR ERA re-introduce nuclear power
Electricity Cost in 2030 in 2000 /MWh 36
55 50 38 25 Cumulated Reduction
Cost in Billion 2000 0 110 86 -30
-113
8
Nuclear energy makes 880 TWh/y (35 of EU's
electricity), but PWR produce important amounts
of high level waste

• Nuclear Waste from
• present LWR's
• (Light Water Reactors)
• is highly radiotoxic
• (108 Sv/ton)
• at the end of present-
• type nuclear deployment
• about 0.3 Mtons, or
• 3x1013 Sv, compare to
• radiation workers
• limiting dose of 20mSv
• the initial radiotoxicity
• level of the mine is
• reached after more
• than 1 Mio years
• worldwide, at present

• Geologic time storage of spent fuel is heavily
  debated
• leakage in the biosphère ?
• expensive (1000 /kg), sites? (Yucca mountain
  would hold 0.07 Mio tons!!)
• public opposition
• Long term Energy Concerns
• availability of oil, gas, coal (and uranium!)
• global warming induced by fossile fuels

9
The Yucca Mountain Dilemma

• In the United States, the current plan is to
  send all spent nuclear fuel to the
• Yucca Mountain Repository. The challenge
  they are faced with is that new
• repositories will be needed as nuclear energy
  continues or grows.

Speaker _at_ Yucca Mountain
M. Capiello G. Imel (ANL) (ICRS-10/RPS2004)
EIA 1.5 Growth
MIT Study
6-Lab Strategy
Spent Fuel (metric tons)
Secretarial Recommendation on second repository
Constant 100 GWe
Capacity based on limited exploration
Year
Legislatedcapacity
10
Neutron consumption per fission ("D-factor") for
thermal (red) and fast (blue) neutron spectra

• D ? 0 implies a source of neutrons is required,
• whereas D lt 0 implies excess neutron
  self-production

Sustainability Fast Neutrons
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ADS Accelerator Driven (subcritical) System for
transmutation
Both critical (fast!!) reactors and sub-critical
Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) are potential
candidates as dedicated transmutation systems.
Critical reactors, however, loaded with fuel
containing large amounts of MA pose safety
problems caused by unfavourable reactivity
coefficients and small delayed neutron
fraction. ADS operates flexible and safe at high
transmutation rate (sub-criticality not virtue
but necessity!)
12
A European Roadmap elaborated by the Technical
Working Group
at the demand of European Research Ministeries
FP5 "PDS-XADS" generated as outcome by TWG members
13
PDS-XADS Reference Accelerator Layout
Strong RD construction programs for LINACs
underway worldwide for many applications
(Spallation Sources for Neutron Science,
Radioactive Ions Neutrino Beam Facilities,
Irradiation Facilities)
14
From FP5 PDS-XADS to FP6 EUROTRANS
15
(No Transcript)
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(personal) vision/hope
A European XT-ADS Based on the Belgium MYRRHA
site-proposol Operational "say" 2016 Cost
"say" 500 M
17
Thorium, an alternative to the Uranium cycle?
- Les RSF (Réacteurs à Sels Fondus) et la filière
thorium
a lot of RD Required !
Rôle

• idem RNR mais régénération Th/U en spectre
  thermique
• donc production moindre dAM et inventaire
  fissile minimisé

• Sels fluorures
• Combustible Caloporteur
• - Retraitement en ligne
• - Pas de risque de fonte du coeur
• Besoins en RD
• - Corrosion
• - Procédés chimiques
• Production amont dU233
  nécessaire

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Final Remark (1)
One should not forget the potential of
Biomass (Ethanol? Biodiesel? Hydrogengeneration?)
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Final Remark (2) "How not to do"