Radioactive Waste Management of Fusion Power Plants

This chapter outlines the attractive environmental features of nuclear fusion, presents an integral scheme to manage fusion activated materials during operation and after decommissioning, compares the volume of fusion and fission waste, covers the recycling, clearance, and disposal concepts and their official radiological limits, and concludes with a section summarizing the newly developed strategy for fusion power plant

Sol-gel Synthesis, Photo- and Electrocatalytic Properties of Mesoporous TiO2 Modified with Transition Metal Ions

Abstract Mesoporous nanosized titania films modified with Co2+, Ni2+, Mn3+, and Cu2+ ions have been produced by templated sol-gel method and characterized by optical spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) surface area measurement. Band gap energy and the position of flat band potentials were estimated by photoelectrochemical measurements. The films doped with transition metals possessed higher photocurrent quantum yield, as well as photo- and electrochemical activity compared to undoped samples. Mn+/TiO2 (M–Co, Ni, Mn, Cu) electrodes with low dopant content demonstrate high efficiency in electrocatalytic reduction of dissolved oxygen. Polarization curves of TiO2, TiO2/Ni2+, TiO2/Co2+/3+, and TiO2/Mn3+ electrodes contain only one current wave (oxygen reduction current). It means that reaction proceeds without the formation of an intermediate product H2O2

Machine Learning and Deep Learning Introduction to Route Planning : data-driven maritime route planning methods, technologies, and applications

This thesis explored the integration of Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) into maritime route planning, focusing on the use of Electronic Navigational Charts (ENC) in S-57 format. The work was driven by practical challenges encountered during voyage planning and the need to improve safety, efficiency, and compliance within modern maritime operations. A project-based methodology was used to develop a full pipeline for data extraction, processing, graph construction, and route calculation, supported by open-source tools such as GDAL, PostGIS, NetworkX, Uber’s H3 and Python libraries. Traditional pathfinding algorithms such as A* and Dijkstra were implemented and evaluated using real ENC data, and an experimental Q-Learning model was developed to assess the feasibility of Reinforcement Learning in maritime routing. The results showed that classical algorithms remain effective for structured graphs derived from ENC layers and that while ML and DL approaches offer potential for future development, they are not yet viable for standalone deployment due to challenges in data representation, training complexity, and route reliability. The practical prototype ‘Route Assistant’ was successfully implemented to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed system, including ENC visualization, feature extraction, and graph-based routing. The study concludes that while full automation is not currently achievable, the foundation laid by this work presents a valuable tool for supporting navigation officers, accelerating planning processes, and serving as a base for further development in autonomous and AI-assisted voyage planning systems

New hydrogen-sensitive films based on V2O5 and WO3 with Pt catalyst

Optical properties of the films of vanadium and tungsten oxides in a gas atmosphere, containing hydrogen, have been investigated. Films have been synthesized by electrodeposition and chemical deposition from aqueous solutions. Vanadium (V) oxide films and tungsten (VI) oxide films with a platinum catalyst reversibly change their color being exposed to hydrogen. The present work show promising use for such films as sensitive optical elements for gas sensors

Photoelectrochemical properties of films based on TiO2 nanotubes modified with BiVO4 and V2O5

By methods of anodizing and ion layering were obtained films TiO2/V2O5 and TiO2 / BiVO4. With help of spectral studies of photoelectrochemical and optical properties, the band gap and quantum yield of photoelectrochemical current were determined depends on the ratio of films thickness and the parameters of their synthesis.  It is shown, that at synthesized structures UV component quantum yield photoelectrode decreases and contribution of visible light increases

The photoelectrochemical cell with hydrogen accumulation at the conditions of natural insolation

The film photoanodes based on CdSe and NT-TiO2/CdSe have been formed by the electrochemical and painting methods. It is shown that the introduction of graphene oxide into the structure of the semiconductor CdSe film promotes absorption of light and leads to improvement in their characteristics by 25-30 %. The compatibility of the cathode based on composite of hydrogen-sorbing intermetallic alloys LaNi4.5Mn0.5 + LaNi3.5Al0.7Mn0.8 with current-conductive additives in pair with the CdSe photoanode is shown. It was found that 95 – 98 % of the total current generated under the influence of sunlight at the anodes was used on the formation and accumulation of hydrogen by cathodes

Electrooxidation of Se on nanodispersed films of titanium dioxide modified with ZnO and Au

Selenium electrooxidation process on TiO2 and TiO2/ZnO electrodes, modified by gold nanoparticles, was investigated in solutions of sulfuric, chloric and citric acids. It is shown that TiO2/ZnO/Au electrodes can be used as indicator electrodes at the determination of selenium by anodic stripping voltammetry method. Optimum conditions of selenium (IV) determination are: supporting solution 0,001М H2SO4, electroconcentrating potential -(1,3¸1,5) V; time of electrolysis 120 s, scanning speed of potential 20 mV/s