Trends towards Sustainability in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Welcome to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency
The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is a specialised agency within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organisation of industrialised countries, based in Paris, France. More...
Press releases and news
International meetings on remediation and restoration of environments
On 3-4 February 2012, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) co-organised two days of international meetings on The Experience and Technology of Russia, Ukraine and Other CIS Countries on Remediation and Restoration of Environments. Hosted by the Japanese government and organised by the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) and the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), the meetings provided opportunities for experts from zones most affected by the Chernobyl accident to share best practices in managing contaminated land. Read the presentations here.
NEA meets with Japanese officials to discuss nuclear safety regulatory organisations
On 17-18 January 2012, an NEA team of international experts met in Tokyo with members of the Japanese Advisory Committee for Prevention of Nuclear Accidents and the special Japanese Task Force for the Reform of Nuclear Safety Regulations and Organisations to foster increased understanding of various national regulatory organisations and approaches to regulatory oversight of nuclear power facilities. Experts from Japan, France, Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) participated in an experts’ meeting on concepts and characteristics important to regulatory organisations and an international public workshop on nuclear safety regulation. Participants discussed different approaches to reforming areas recommended by the Advisory Committee, such as those concerning independence, regulatory oversight, crisis management, human resources and development, new safety regulations, transparency and international aspects for regulatory organisations. Presentations are available on the NEA Fukushima information exchange page.
New publications and reports
Burn-up Credit Criticality Safety Benchmark – Phase VII
After spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is discharged from a nuclear reactor, fuel composition and reactivity continue to vary as a function of time due to the decay of unstable nuclides. Accurate predictions of the concentrations of long-lived radionuclides in SNF, which represent a significant potential hazard to human beings and to the environment over a very long period, are particularly necessary for radiological dose assessments. This report assesses the ability of existing computer codes and associated nuclear data to predict isotopic compositions and their corresponding neutron multiplication factor (keff) values for pressurised-water-reactor (PWR) UO2 fuel at 50 GWd/MTU burn-up in a generic spent fuel cask configuration. Fuel decay compositions and keff values have been calculated for 30 post-irradiation time steps out to one million years.Available online.
Trends towards Sustainability in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Interest in expanding nuclear power to cope with rising demand for energy and potential climate change places increased attention on the nuclear fuel cycle and whether significant moves are being taken towards ensuring sustainability over the long term. This report reviews developments in the fuel cycle over the past ten years, potential developments over the next decade and the outlook for the longer term. It analyses technological developments and government actions (both nationally and internationally) related to the fuel cycle, and examines these within a set of sustainability parameters in order to identify trends and to make recommendations for further actions.
Order from the OECD Online Bookshop | Executive summary
