Climate Change

Biography

Biography: Moktar Hamdi

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: The nuclear power which is an important technology option in climate change mitigation strategies must be strengthened by innovation to maintain an acceptable level of performance and security. Commercialized nuclear power plants which continue in mitigation of climate change require innovation in term of performance, cost, safety and extension of the useful life to improve reductions of GHG emissions. Through human creativity and critical thinking, sustainable innovative solutions for cleaner and cheaper nuclear energy will be provided thanks to multilateral collaborations and open innovation. Ecosystems use sustainable energy from sun that leads to biofuels energy. Biorefinery is defined as the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of marketable products and energy (Fig 1).
Findings: By analogy to biorefinery, we suggest the new concept of nuclearrefinery (nucleaRefinery) which is a facility that integrates nuclear fuels conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, and by- or co-products (Fig. 2). Lessons learned from biorefinery concept allowed to identify some opportunities for sustainable innovation through nuclear fuel cycle in order to contribute in mitigation of climate change by:

    Maximizing the production of energy contained in the fuel and maximizing the use of produced energy;
    Minimizing material loss (by- or co-products) and maximizing the reuse of wastes;
    Integration of non-electric applications (cogeneration, desalination…);
    The connection to renewable energy and wastes treatment
    Use nuclear energy in agrofood development (water, processing…).

The new concept of nuclearrefinery and lessons learned from biorefinery concept should allow overseeing challenges of the sustainability of nuclear power plant and increasing its contribution in the mitigation of climate change.