Solving scientific problems of nuclear power engineering as a source of ‘green’ energy

A way to prevent adverse global climatic change is to essentially alter the strategy of power generation, which is one of the major sources of greenhouse gases. A task of paramount economic importance is to ensure a balance among various energy sources, depending on the social economical features of a particular region. Major industrial regions cannot develop without highly concentrated energy sources, among which nuclear„ energy is actually the only ‘green’ one. However, progress in the nuclear power generation industry and an increase in its share in the total power generation both in Russia and worldwide depend on solving challenging scientific and technological problems related to safe processing of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive wastes. An urgent task is to develop a next-generation nuclear power industry based on a combination of thermal- and fast-neutron reactors, recycling of fissile nuclides, deep fractioning of radioactive wastes with subsequent ‘afterburning’ of long-lived radionuclides, and minimizing deep disposal in geological formations.