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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
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Latest News
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.
T. A. Parish
Nuclear Technology | Volume 42 | Number 2 | February 1979 | Pages 180-194
Technical Paper | Thorium Fuel Cycle in a Breeder Economy / Radioactive Waste | doi.org/10.13182/NT79-A32149
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Transmutation of 90Sr using fusion neutrons has been suggested as a possible technique for disposing of this waste nuclide. For transmutation to be attractive, high transmutation rates relative to natural decay are required. “Effective” half-lives for 90Sr were computed for fusion reactor blankets constructed of various materials. To obtain satisfactory transmutation rates, fusion reactors with high first wall neutron currents and with highly moderating blankets were found to be necessary. An effective half-life for 90Sr of <5 yr was extremely difficult to achieve with the fusion concepts and blankets studied. A waste management system was formulated to determine the reduction in the 90Sr inventory and the number of burners required for various fission usage scenarios. Efficient and fast chemical separations were needed to reap the benefits of a short effective half-life. For the fusion burners considered, it was found that the 90Sr inventory could not be reduced to less than one-fourth of the inventory without transmutation if fission usage continued at a constant rate. Such a reduction is not sufficient to justify the transmutation disposal of 90Sr.