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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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IAEA again raises global nuclear power projections
Noting recent momentum behind nuclear power, the International Atomic Energy Agency has revised up its projections for the expansion of nuclear power, estimating that global nuclear operational capacity will more than double by 2050—reaching 2.6 times the 2024 level—with small modular reactors expected to play a pivotal role in this high-case scenario.
IAEA director general Rafael Mariano Grossi announced the new projections, contained in the annual report Energy, Electricity, and Nuclear Power Estimates for the Period up to 2050 at the 69th IAEA General Conference in Vienna.
In the report’s high-case scenario, nuclear electrical generating capacity is projected to increase to from 377 GW at the end of 2024 to 992 GW by 2050. In a low-case scenario, capacity rises 50 percent, compared with 2024, to 561 GW. SMRs are projected to account for 24 percent of the new capacity added in the high case and for 5 percent in the low case.
Chiaki Kino, Yoshihiro Morita, Masao Chaki (The Inst of Applied Energy)
Proceedings | Advances in Thermal Hydraulics 2018 | Orlando, FL, November 11-15, 2018 | Pages 201-211
Reactor core isolation cooling system (RCIC) is designed to operate using saturated steam extracted from a main steam line. On the other hand, RCIC in Unit-2 of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was activated before the tsunami hit and continued to operate under two phase flow conditions during the accident. When RCIC continuously operates without control by electric power, reactor water level would reach the main steam line resulting in turbine efficiency degradation and subsequent RCIC stop. The mechanism for RCIC of Unit-2 to have continuously operated under such two phase flow conditions is still unclear. Currently, a project is progressing to understand the true operating limitations of RCIC system under beyond design basis event. The Institute of Applied Energy is developing the new RCIC system model for the SAMPSON code in the project. The present paper proposes a trial model for RCIC system under two phase flow conditions. The model takes the effect of quality and pressure on turbine efficiency into consideration. SAMPSON calculation based on the model could reproduce qualitatively RPV pressure behavior of Fukushima Daiichi Unit-2 accident. However there are many uncertainties, such as water temperature of S/P, isentropic efficiency, and so on, so the model will be improved based on experiment and CFD results planned in the project.