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Investigation into the Current State of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Waste Management—A State-of-the-Art Review

Author

Listed:
  • Mohamed Alwaeli

    (Department of Technologies and Installations for Waste Management, Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland)

  • Viktoria Mannheim

    (Institute of Energy Engineering and Chemical Machinery, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary)

Abstract

Nuclear power can replace fossil fuels and will have a decisive impact on the change in the approach to conventional energy. However, nuclear (or radioactive) wastes are produced by the operation of the nuclear reactors should be safely and properly disposed of. This paper assesses the uranium resources and the global state of nuclear power plants and determines the energy mixes in different countries using the most nuclear energy. Furthermore, this paper analysed the nuclear waste management and disposal and the depletion of abiotic resources, and the primary energy sources of a basic production process using electricity mix and nuclear electricity for a basic production (PET bottle manufacturing) process. The life cycle assessment was completed by applying the GaBi 8.0 (version 10.6) software and the CML method. In this study, we limit our discussion to high-level nuclear waste (HLW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF) waste. We do not consider waste generated from uranium mining and milling, which is usually disposed of in near-surface impoundments close to the mine or the mill. The investigation of waste management methods is limited to European countries. This research work is relevant because determining abiotic resources is important in a life cycle assessment and current literature available on LCA analysis for nuclear powers remains under-developed. These results can guide and compare manufacturing processes involving a nuclear electricity and electricity grid mix input. The results of this research can be used to develop production processes using nuclear energy with lower abiotic depletion impacts. This research work facilitates the industry in making predictions for a production-scale plant using an LCA of production processes with nuclear energy consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohamed Alwaeli & Viktoria Mannheim, 2022. "Investigation into the Current State of Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Waste Management—A State-of-the-Art Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:12:p:4275-:d:836195
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Szamosi, Zoltán & Bodnár, István & Szepesi, Gábor L. & Rosas-Casals, Martí & Berényi, László, 2020. "Improved environmental impact in the architecture industry: LCA analysis of an alternative masonry element," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 1718-1727.
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    Cited by:

    1. Da-Woon Jung & Chung-Won Seo & Young-Chan Lim & Dong-Sun Kim & Seung-Yul Lee & Hyun-Kyu Suh, 2023. "Analysis of Flow Characteristics of a Debris Filter in a Condenser Tube Cleaning System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-15, June.
    2. Viktoria Mannheim & Weronika Kruszelnicka, 2023. "Relation between Scale-Up and Life Cycle Assessment for Wet Grinding Process of Pumice," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Viktoria Mannheim & Károly Nehéz & Salman Brbhan & Péter Bencs, 2023. "Primary Energy Resources and Environmental Impacts of Various Heating Systems Based on Life Cycle Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(19), pages 1-23, October.
    4. Chien, Fengsheng & Sadiq, Muhammad & Li, Li & Sharif, Arshian, 2023. "The role of sustainable energy utility, natural resource utilization and waste management in reducing energy poverty: Evidence from South Asian countries," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    5. Viktoria Mannheim & Judit Lovasné Avató, 2023. "Life-Cycle Assessments of Meat-Free and Meat-Containing Diets by Integrating Sustainability and Lean: Meat-Free Dishes Are Sustainable," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-24, August.
    6. Hind Barghash & Zuhoor AlRashdi & Kenneth E. Okedu & Peter Desmond, 2022. "Life-Cycle Assessment Study for Bio-Hydrogen Gas Production from Sewage Treatment Plants Using Solar PVs," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Yue Tong & Yao Yue & Zhongkai Huang & Liping Zhu & Zhihou Li & Wei Zhang, 2022. "Modified RMR Rock Mass Classification System for Preliminary Selection of Potential Sites of High-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Engineering," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-17, November.
    8. Judit Lovasné Avató & Viktoria Mannheim, 2022. "Life Cycle Assessment Model of a Catering Product: Comparing Environmental Impacts for Different End-of-Life Scenarios," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-20, July.

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