Symposium Nuclear Energy Applications other than Electricity Production

It was the aim of this Symposium to give information on the different possibilities of employing Nuclear Process Heat and to point out the chances of this technology under technical, economic and national economic aspects. For the introduction of Nuclear Process Heat the following arguments can be put forward: - Approximately 75 % of the entire final energy applied in an industrial country (for example FRG) is used for the sectors "Space Heating" and "Process Heat". - At present nuclear energy is only employed for electricity production. But with electricity production only 13 % (for example FRG) of the final energy requirements are covered. - By the conversion of primary energy into electricity, two thirds of the primary energy is wasted. With the help of Nuclear Process Heat, a considerable improvement in efficiency can be achieved. - With the introduction of the high temperature reactor a maximum temperature level of 1000 oc may be reached. In this way, there is anopportunity for coal gasification, district heating and for producing chemically bound energy and hydrogen. On the basis of the heat requirement of an industrial country, as illustrated by the example of the Federal Republic of Germany, possible applications were shown for the following processes: - Industrial processes(process steam applications, gasification and liquefaction of coal, steel industry, zinc and aluminium making processes). - District heating and low temperature applications (district heating, desalination, agricultural and aquacultural applications). - New energy carriers and systems (chemically bound energy, hydrogen). In this connection, statements were made on problems related to technology, economics and national economics. Essential results can be summarized from the corresponding contributions and discussions as follows: - There is an extremely high potential for the application of nuclear energy outside the electrical field. - The application of nuclear energy within the scope of the heat production market requires extensive infrastructural measures. For this purpose, it is possible either to create a new infrastructure for an existing heat source (district heat model) or to produce a new heat source for an infrastructure already existing (SNG production) and, in certain cases, even both (chemically bound energy, hydrogen). Such an infrastructure can only be built up on a longterm basis and will entail great expense. - There is relatively wide interest in the hydrogen technology and the utilization of waste heat from light water reactors, particularly in the form of district heat. - The participants showed great interest in the development prospects of the high-temperature reactor, all the more since the potential applications of the nuclear process heat, particularly in the high-temperature range, are dependent on the introduction of the high-temperature reactor. Regret was expressed as to the failure of the DRAGON Project and it was hoped that it would be possible to form a new and integrated European high-temperature reactor program. - Despite the fact that many countries maintain activities regarding non-electrical nuclear applications, there was a lack of any coordination of these activities between the individual countries.It was found that the efficiency of such work could be substantially increased within the framework of international cooperation. - Special attention was drawn to the necessity of carrying out joint system analyses. This symposium with its most interesting speeches and prolific discussions gave an almost complete view over the main possibilities of non electric-nuclear applications. Thanks are due to the authors and all those who helped to make this Symposium successful