Key summaries

"Key summaries" is a series of easy to understand articles aimed at non-experts. The articles summarise papers published in EPJ N and highlight and present key ideas and findings in a clear and concise way. Readers can then access the full text of the original paper at the end of each "Key summaries" article. "Key Summaries" articles are brought to you in collaboration with SciencePOD.

Optimising spent nuclear fuel storage in Europe

A new review in EPJ N by members of the EURAD consortium explores the parameters involved in choosing safe long-term storage solutions for spent radioactive fuel and recommends best practice for the industry.

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How to predict future nuclear power requirements

A novel type of scenario analysis suggests that it is possible to plan for abrupt changes of nuclear needs in the next century and beyond

Nuclear reactors will be needed to transition to a low-carbon future but they are time consuming and expensive to plan and build, so getting a head start on future requirements is key.

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Sodium-cooled fast reactors and the future of nuclear energy

EPJ N review paper assesses the progress made in the development of sodium-cooled fast reactors by a joint French-Japanese collaboration

In March 2017, France and Japan signed a nuclear power collaboration agreement that included a discussion of a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR). The bilateral agreement marked the beginning of two years of research in both countries into the viability of such a reactor and the creation of a feasible common design concept.

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Different fuel type could make nuclear power plants safer

EPJ N special issue presents the latest research into molten salt reactors

One of the world’s biggest challenges is how to reliably produce energy to power the planet without releasing carbon into the atmosphere. Nuclear fission has been used to produce carbon-free electricity for decades, but the process is not without its faults. Now, a special issue of the open-access journal EPJ Nuclear Sciences & Technologies (EPJ N) highlights the latest research into a reactor type that could make fission safer and cleaner.

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