Nuclear power. Introduction

This paper reports the matters related to nuclear power in the aspect of progress in the utilization technology of energy resources and trends of research in 2015. The contents of the report are as follows: (1) status of energy including nuclear power, (2) nuclear fuel resources (characteristics of nuclear fuel resources, amount of resources and production of uranium, and excessive supply age of uranium), (3) current state and future prospects of nuclear power generation, (4) situation after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, and trends in nuclear power development after the accident, (5) nuclear fuel cycle (uranium enrichment, reprocessing, and MOX fuel), (6) disposal of radioactive waste (generation of radioactive waste and specific examples, shallow land disposal, waste aimed for subsurface disposal, and geological disposal), (7) environmental impact caused by Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Station accident, and treatment/disposal of waste, and (8) decommissioning measures of nuclear facilities. (A.O.)