Energy Strategies and the Case of Nuclear Power

In the past, almost all the attention of the nuclear engineering community has been concentrated on the nuclear reactor. Reference is made to the recent OECD survey on the anticipated growth of nuclear power in the OECD countries. That growth is accompanied by a buildup of nuclear fuel cycle facilities, and related OECD data are reported. Ecological and environmental considerations raise the problem of the necessary tightness of the fuel cycle; this is quantitatively evaluated, in particular for a reprocessing facility. Related considerations for regulatory requirements are discussed. Nuclear fuel cycle parks and energy centers are treated, as are features of secondary energy systems, leading to more global considerations on nuclear fuel cycle deployments. The paper concludes with conjectures on features of the terawatt domain