Publications

Le présent rapport porte sur des approches novatrices de la prestation des services publics fondées sur des partenariats que les pouvoirs publics forment avec les citoyens, les usagers et les organisations de la société civile. Ces approches – dénommées co-production – peuvent apporter des réponses créatives qui permettent aux pouvoirs publics de fournir des services publics de meilleure qualité en période de restrictions budgétaires. Le rapport s’appuie sur les résultats d’une étude préliminaire des pratiques nationales dans 22 pays membres de l’OCDE, au Brésil, en Égypte, en Russie et en Ukraine.

'La co-production suscite un intérêt croissant parmi les spécialistes et les praticiens. Ce rapport, qui propose une étude approfondie des pratiques
existantes dans les pays de l'OCDE,est une contribution précieuse à notre compréhension de l'état d'avancement au niveau international.'
-Professeur John Alford, École d’Administration de l’Australie et de la Nouvelle Zélandeauteur, auteur, Engaging Public Sector Clients : From Service-Delivery to Co-Production 

Over the past five years, behavioural economics has been rapidly propelled from the margins of economic analysis towards the policy mainstream. In this context, this study offers an international review of the initial applications of behavioural economics to policy, with a particular focus on regulatory policy. It describes the extent to which behavioural findings have begun to influence public policy in a number of OECD countries, referring to a total of more than 60 instances, the majority of which concern regulatory policy.

Particle accelerators have evolved over the last decades from simple devices to powerful machines and are having an increasingly important impact on research, technology and daily life. Today, they have a wide range of applications in many areas including material science and medical applications. In recent years, new technological and research applications have helped to define requirements while the number of accelerator facilities in operation, being commissioned, designed or planned has grown significantly. Their parameters, which include the beam energy, currents and intensities, and target composition, can vary widely, giving rise to new radiation shielding issues and challenges.

Particle accelerators must be operated in safe ways to protect operators, the public and the environment. As the design and use of these facilities evolve, so must the analytical methods used in the safety analyses. These workshop proceedings review the state of the art in radiation shielding of accelerator facilities and irradiation targets. They also evaluate progress in the development of modelling methods used to assess the effectiveness of such shielding as part of safety analyses.

A modern light water reactor (LWR) of 1 GWe capacity will typically discharge about 20-25 tonnes of irradiated fuel (spent fuel) per year of operation. Despite the low content of about 0.1-0.2% of minor actinides in spent fuel, these actinides can nonetheless contribute significantly to decay heat loading and neutron output, as well as to the overall radiotoxic hazard of spent fuel. For this reason, there has long been an interest in transmuting minor actinides to reduce their impact on the back end of the fuel cycle. Fast reactors are needed to effectively transmute transuranics (TRUs), including minor actinides. However, recent studies have demonstrated that TRU transmutation rates can also be achieved in thermal reactors, although with certain limitations due to the accumulation of transuranics through recycling and their impact on the safety of power plants. The transmutation of TRUs could potentially be implemented in a substantial number of thermal reactors operating today, while waiting for a similar programme in fast reactors to allow for commercial-scale operations in 20 to 30 years or more.

This publication provides an introduction to minor actinide nuclear properties and discusses some of the arguments in favour of minor actinide recycling, as well as the potential role of thermal reactors in this regard. Various technical issues and challenges are examined from the fuel cycle, operations, fuel designs, core management and safety/dynamics responses to safety and economics. The focus of this report is on the general conclusions of recent research that could be applied to thermal reactors. Further research and development needs are also considered, with summaries of findings and recommendations for the direction of future R&D efforts.

The feasibility and costs of spent nuclear fuel management and the consequent disposal of ultimate waste continue to be the subject of public debate in many countries, with particular concern often expressed over the lack of progress in implementing final disposal. Uncertainties about back-end costs and the financial risks associated with management of the back end have also been singled out as possible deterrents to investment in new nuclear power plants.This report offers an appraisal of economic issues and methodologies for the management of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste from commercial power reactors. It includes a review of different backend options and current policies and practices, with a focus on the cost estimates for these options and the funding mechanisms in place or under consideration in OECD/NEA countries. A generic economic assessment of high-level estimates of back-end cost impacts on fuel cycle costs is undertaken for selected idealised scenarios, by means of a simple static model. Sensitivity analyses are conducted for the evaluation of uncertainties in major components and the identification of cost drivers. Since factors other than economics are an important part of the decision-making process, an analysis of the influence of key qualitative parameters in the selection of back-end strategies is also presented in this report.

Materials performance is critical to the safe and economic operation of any nuclear system. As the international community pursues the development of Generation IV reactor concepts and accelerator driven transmutation systems, it will be increasingly necessary to develop advanced materials capable of tolerating the more challenging environments of these new systems. The international community supports numerous materials research programmes, with each country determining its individual focus on a case-by-case basis. In many instances, similar alloys of materials systems are being studied in several countries, providing the opportunity for collaborative and cross-cutting research that benefits different systems.This report is a snapshot of the current materials programmes supporting the development of advanced concepts. The descriptions of the research are grouped by concept, and national programmes
are described within each concept. The report provides an overall sense of the importance of materials research worldwide and the opportunities for synergy among the countries represented in this overview. 

This fifth report on nuclear power plant operating experience from the IAEA/NEA International Reporting System covering the 2009-2011 period highlights important lessons learnt and is based on a review of the approximately 245 event reports received from the participating countries over this period.

S’appuyant sur les toutes dernières données comparables au plan international, Science, technologie et industrie : Tableau de bord de l’OCDE 2013 met en évidence les atouts des pays de l’OCDE et d’autres économies de premier plan, et examine les difficultés qui continuent de se poser pour surmonter les effets des récentes crises financière et économique. Cette publication présente les indicateurs classiques utilisés pour suivre l’évolution de la science, de la technologie, de l’innovation et de l’industrie, auxquels s’ajoutent des indicateurs nouveaux et expérimentaux qui apportent un éclairage neuf sur des domaines intéressant l’action publique.

Le rapport Placer la croissance verte au coeur du développement s’interroge sur le type de croissance qui pourrait créer de la richesse et du bien-être pour tous, aujourd’hui et pour les générations futures, tout en respectant l’environnement. Il propose une approche à deux volets pour guider l’action nationale et internationale en faveur de la croissance verte dans les pays en développement. Il s’appuie sur des exemples de réussite, toujours plus nombreux un peu partout dans le monde, et souligne les enseignements tirés.

Building on the 2008 OECD Principles for Enhancing Integrity in Public Procurement and good practices of similar organisations in other OECD countries, this review provides a comprehensive assessment of IMSS procurement strategies, systems and processes and proposes a roadmap for the reform of its procurement function.