ABSTRACT
Commercial nuclear power reactors that conform to OECD safety standards have a very good safety record since the beginning of the civilian nuclear power era more than 60 years ago, with only one event leading to a major release of radioactivity, the Fukushima-Daiichi accident. Despite this, the consequences of this event (long term evacuation of population living nearby the plant, long term contamination of harvest, long term health effects associated with radiation) have spread a sense of distrust toward nuclear energy in large part of public opinion worldwide. Due to the advantage of nuclear energy (no CO2 release, economical production of bulk electrical energy, suitability to deliver power to both “emerging” and “developed” countries, production of hydrogen and high quality heat for industrial processes), this form of energy is however still pursued in many OECD countries, and is emerging in new powers such as China and India. In this context, the ongoing research effort on next generation nuclear reactors, fuelled from the learners of more than half century of civilian nuclear operations, aims at resolving the problematic aspects of present-day nuclear energy (safety and reliability, sustainability, economics, and proliferation resistance), with the goal of turning both public opinion and national orientations toward a renewed acceptance and promotion of this form of energy production. This contribution presents an overview of current R&D on next generation nuclear reactors.
