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This volume is the fourteenth of the series “Chemical Thermodynamics” published by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. It is the second update of the critical reviews published, successively, in 1992 as Chemical Thermodynamics of Uranium, in 1995 as Chemical Thermodynamics of Americium, in 1999 as Chemical Thermodynamics of Technetium, in 2001 as Chemical Thermodynamics of Neptunium and Plutonium and in 2003 as the first Update on the Chemical Thermodynamics of Uranium, Neptunium, Plutonium, Americium and Technetium. A team, composed of nine internationally recognised experts, has critically reviewed all the relevant scientific literature for the above mentioned systems that has appeared since the publication of the earlier volumes. The results of this assessment, carried out following the Guidelines of the Thermochemical Database Project, have been documented in the present volume, which contains new tables of selected values for formation and reaction data and an extensive bibliography. The database system developed at the NEA Data Bank ensures consistency within the recommended data sets. This volume will be of particular interest to scientists carrying out performance assessments of deep geological disposal sites for radioactive waste.
Uranium is the raw material used to produce fuel for long-lived nuclear power facilities, necessary for the generation of significant amounts of low-carbon electricity and other uses, such as heat and hydrogen production, for decades to come. Although a valuable commodity, major producing countries limited total production in recent years in response to a depressed uranium market. Uranium production cuts have unexpectedly deepened with the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, leading to some questions being raised about future uranium supply.
This 28th edition of the “Red Book”, a recognised world reference on uranium jointly prepared by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), provides analyses and information from 45 producing and consuming countries in order to address these and other questions. The present edition reviews world uranium market fundamentals and presents data on global uranium exploration, resources, production and reactor-related requirements. It offers updated information on established uranium production centres and mine development plans, as well as projections of nuclear generating capacity and reactor-related requirements through 2040.
Food systems around the world face a triple challenge: providing food security and nutrition for a growing global population; supporting livelihoods for those working along the food supply chain; and contributing to environmental sustainability. Better policies hold tremendous promise for making progress in these domains. This report focuses on three questions. What has been the performance of food systems to date, and what role did policies play? How can policy makers design coherent policies across the triple challenge? And how can policy makers deal with frictions related to facts, interests, and values, which often complicate the task of achieving better policies? Better policies will require breaking down silos between agriculture, health, and environmental policies, and overcoming knowledge gaps, resistance from interest groups, and differing values. Robust, inclusive, evidence-based processes are thus essential to making better policies for food systems.
Global gas demand fell by an estimated 2.5% or 100 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2020 – its largest drop on record. Amid this slowdown, gas demand for power generation remained resilient owing to fuel switching, while the whole supply chain showed strong flexibility in adjusting to demand variations. Gas trade globalisation progressed with increasing liquidity, while prices experienced historical lows and extreme volatility. The Covid-19 crisis and a well-supplied market put investment on hold, whereas gas market reforms and clean gas policy initiatives gained momentum in major consuming markets.
2021 opens with price rallies in Asia and Europe as rising winter demand tightened supply, but the price spikes are not expected to last beyond the short-term cold snaps given that market fundamentals for 2021 remain fragile. Global gas demand is expected to recover its 2019 level but with uncertainties regarding the recovery trajectory of fast-growing markets compared with more mature regions. Sectoral demand, on the other hand, is subject to a variety of risk factors including fuel switching, slow industrial rebound or milder weather.
This new quarterly report offers a detailed analysis of recent developments in global gas markets and the near-term outlook, and includes an overview of the main market highlights for 2020.
Low-level and very low-level waste represent the vast majority of radioactive waste by volume from decommissioning activity at nuclear facilities around the world, but they are only a small fraction of the radiological inventory. The availability of the appropriate waste management infrastructure, including a robust process and procedures for managing waste, waste disposal routes and an appropriate safety culture, are key components of an optimal approach to decommissioning. Recognising the important role of an effective waste management strategy in the delivery of a successful decommissioning programme, the former NEA Working Party on Decommissioning and Dismantling (WPDD) established an expert group in 2016 – the Task Group on Optimising Management of Low-Level Radioactive Materials and Waste from Decommissioning (TGOM) – to examine how countries manage (very) low-level radioactive waste and materials arising from decommissioning.
This report explores elements contributing to the optimisation of national approaches at a strategic level, describing the main factors and the relationships between them. It also identifies constraints in the practical implementation of optimisation based on experience in NEA member countries.
Safety remains the most important factor in managing radioactive waste and spent fuel resulting from the generation of nuclear energy. General consensus has emerged worldwide that deep geological repositories are the safest option for long-lived radioactive waste, and that constructing repositories is feasible using current technologies. However, until repositories become available, radioactive waste must be managed safely and securely so that the risks posed to human health and to the environment over the long timescales involved are minimised.
This report examines the predisposal phase of radioactive waste management programmes in NEA member countries for all types of waste from high-level to intermediate- and low-level waste, and spent fuel. It reviews regulations, policies, strategies and financial issues in member countries, as well as best practices both in terms of storage and transport. The report is primarily directed at decision makers with a technical knowledge of the subject.
Radioactive waste inventory data are an essential element in the development of a national radioactive waste management programme since these data affect the design and selection of the ultimate disposal methods. Inventory data are generally presented as an amount of radioactive waste under various waste classes, according to the waste classification scheme developed and adopted by the country or national programme in question. Various waste classification schemes have thus evolved in most countries, and these schemes classify radioactive waste according to its origin, to criteria related to the protection of workers or the physical, chemical and radiological properties of the waste and the planned disposal method(s).
The diversity in classification schemes across countries has restricted the possibility of comparing waste inventories and led to difficulties in interpreting waste management practices, both nationally and internationally. To help improve this situation, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) developed a methodology that ensures consistency of national radioactive waste and spent fuel inventory data by presenting them in a common scheme in direct connection with accepted management strategy and disposal routes. This report provides the final version of the methodology and presenting scheme for spent nuclear fuel and the radioactive waste of all existing types. Additionally, there are recommendations in the report on how to enhance the comparability of national inventory data using the NEA methodology. The NEA support for joint efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Commission on harmonisation of the reporting process by member countries to the Joint Convention and European Council Directive 2011/70 EURATOM is also presented in the report.