Nuclear steam power plants (NPP) are characterized by low efficiency, compared to steam power plants using fossil fuels. This is due to the relatively low temperature and pressure-throttling conditions of the NPP compared to those using fossil fuel. The light water pressurized water reactor (LW...

As none of the concepts used for defining critical infrastructures over the years are considered comprehensive, in this paper we propose a method for defining them using a set of criteria and a weighted scoring technique. This set comprises criteria developed from Normal Accidents Theory and...

While a large literature exists on the siting of controversial facilities, few theories about spatial location have been tested on large samples. Using a new dataset from Japan, this paper demonstrates that state agencies choose localities judged weakest in local civil society as host...

This study presents a hybrid monitoring system for nuclear reactor utilizing neural networks and a rule-based real-time expert system. The whole monitoring system including a data acquisition system and the advisory displays has been tested by an online simulator of pressurized water reactor....

The attitude of local communities near a nuclear power plant (NPP) is a key factor in nuclear policy decision making in Japan. This case study compared local citizens' attitudes in 2010 and 2011 toward the benefits and drawbacks of hosting Kashiwazaki–Kariwa NPP. The Fukushima accident...

Since early civilization, humans have required energy. Energy grows increasingly important with globalization. The search for energy sets nuclear power as the highest priority for generating electricity. The need to delay global warming initiated a nuclear power plant using a nuclear reactor as...

To balance the demand and supply at off-peak hours, nuclear power plants often have to be down-regulated particularly when the installations exceed the base load requirements. Part-load operations not only increase the electricity cost but also impose a detrimental effect on the safety and...

A nonstandard probabilistic setting for modeling of the risk of catastrophic events is presented. It allows random variables to take on infinitely large negative values with non-zero probability, which correspond to catastrophic consequences unmeasurable in monetary terms, e.g. loss of human...

Limited public funds for infrastructures have the government consider joining the private in a BOT project finance scheme. Generally, the BOT projects entail lots of managerial flexibilities that may induce the radical change of project's cash flows, an asymmetric payoff, when facing on the...