Nuclear energy and materials in the 21st century
- and others
The Global Nuclear Vision Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is examining a range of long-term nuclear energy futures as well as exploring and assessing optimal nuclear fuel-cycle and material strategies. An established global energy, economics, environmental (E{sup 3}) model has been adopted and modified with a simplified, but comprehensive and multi-regional, nuclear energy module. Consistent nuclear energy scenarios are constructed, where future demands for nuclear power are projected in price competition with other energy sources under a wide range of long-term ({approx}2100) demographic, economic, policy, and technological drivers. A spectrum of futures is examined at two levels in a hierarchy of scenario attributes in which drivers are either external or internal to nuclear energy. The result reported examine departures from a basis scenario and are presented in the following order of increasing specificity: (a) definition and parametric variations of the basis scenario; (b) comparison of the basis scenario with other recent studies; (c) parametric studies that vary upper-level hierarchical scenario attributes (external drivers); and (d) variations of the lower-level scenario attributes (internal drivers). Impacts of a range of nuclear fuel-cycle scenarios are reflected back to the higher-level scenario attributes that characterize particular nuclear energy scenarios. Special attention is given to the role of nuclear materials inventories (in magnitude, location, and form) and their contribution to the long-term sustainability of nuclear energy, the future competitiveness of both conventional and advanced nuclear reactors, and proliferation risk.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-36
- OSTI ID:
- 615664
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-97-1716; CONF-970503-268; ON: DE97008217; TRN: 98:005738
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 17. IEEE particle accelerator conference, Vancouver (Canada), 12-16 May 1997; Other Information: PBD: May 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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