Work

Waste specific indicator at PWR and BWR nuclear power plants

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The article shows the differences in the waste (hereinafter radioactive) specific indicators in the production of electricity at NPP of the two most common reactor installations types in the world PWR and BWR. The highest waste specific indicators values for almost all radioactive waste classes were typical for NPP with BWR reactor installations. Waste specific volume (m 3 /(Gw·h)) and waste specific activity (GBq/(Gw·h)) of each considered radioactive waste class are calculated. The numerical values of waste specific indicators of NPP, which correspond to the basic principle of the INRPO methodology for the sustainability of national nuclear energy are substantiated. The data set analysis on waste specific indicators made it possible to rank the practices of NPP with radioactive waste in the categories of “best”, “sustainable” and “worst”. Linear trends in the dynamics of waste specific activity show a decrease for reactor installations types and for all radioactive waste classes. In the dynamics of specific volume indicators, there is a tendency to increase the radioactive waste of class a for BWR and all types of nuclear installations in general. The category of “best” practices for the radioactive waste management mainly includes PWR NPP, and BWR NPP is in the category of “worst".

Source: Nuclear Engineering and Technology

DOI: 10.1016/j.net.2024.11.009

Authors: V.A. Shatalin, D.D. Desyatov, A.A. Ekidin

Institutions: Ural Federal University, Institute of Industrial Ecology

Language: English

Topic: Nuclear and radioactivity studies

Subfield: Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $200