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Smarter waste strategies: Helping deliver on the promise of advanced nuclear
At COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, a clear consensus emerged: Nuclear energy must be a cornerstone of the global clean energy transition. With electricity demand projected to soar as we decarbonize not just power but also industry, transport, and heat, the case for new nuclear is compelling. More than 20 countries committed to tripling global nuclear capacity by 2050. In the United States alone, the Department of Energy forecasts that the country’s current nuclear capacity could more than triple, adding 200 GW of new nuclear to the existing 95 GW by mid-century.
Kostadin A. Dinov, Kazuo Kasahara
Nuclear Technology | Volume 115 | Number 1 | July 1996 | Pages 81-90
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35277
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A theoretical approach is discussed that regards the kinetically determined pressurized water reactor (PWR) primary system as a set of thermodynamically defined metastable states that the related high-temperature aqueous system containing a combination of possible oxide phases (NixFe3−xO4, Fe3O4, and metallic nickel or NiO) and corresponding dissolution products may undergo under specified initial conditions. The study shows that stability zones of those metastable states, particularly M1 (NixFe3−xO4) and M3 [Ni(m) + NixFe3−xO4], cover practically the entire PWR operational range and depend on specific plant conditions and applied chemistry control. The thermodynamic analysis is predicated on the belief that defining the stability transition boundary between those states — found as a function of temperature, coolant pH, dissolved hydrogen (DH), and ferrite stoichiometry (x value) — is of primary importance for corrosion product behavior. Such a stability change influences both the particulate and ionic levels and the related activity transport and should be regarded as an important factor in optimizing PWR primary chemistry. The study offers an original approach to reassessing such important issues as thermodynamic data and the solubility of spinel oxides, the role of transport of particulates and soluble species, “optimum” pH and DH, and the chemistry effect on crud burst.
