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The selection of an appropriate “optimal” recycling alternative has to take into consideration both the ecological and economic effects of the entire life-cycle. The aim of this paper is to compare different waste management systems by means of a life-cycle assessment (LCA) and a cost comparison. The analysis uses data regarding the amount of household waste generated, collected and treated in a selected area in Austria. For this purpose, model-based scenarios with recycling and separate collection as well as scenarios without recycling were created. The database covers the amounts of household waste generated in the different collection schemes, the transport distances by private delivery and by regional waste management companies and data on the waste treatment processes that are widely employed throughout Austria and Germany. The resulting life-cycle inventories have been assessed according to three impact categories relevant to this topic—the global warming potential (GWP), the acidification potential (AP) and the net energy use (NEU). The results include ecological impact analyses and cost comparisons for the overall waste management systems and the waste management systems for the individual waste types—waste paper, plastic packaging, metal packaging and waste glass. Finally, a sensitivity analysis should prove the validity of the results for regions with transport distances differing from those in the area under analysis. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The current energy transition imposes a rapid implementation of energy storage systems with high energy density and eminent regeneration and cycling efficiency. Metal hydrides are potential candidates for generalized energy storage, when coupled with fuel cell units and/or batteries. An overview of ongoing research is reported and discussed in this review work on the light of application as hydrogen and heat storage matrices, as well as thin films for hydrogen optical sensors. These include a selection of single-metal hydrides, Ti-V(Fe) based intermetallics, multi-principal element alloys (high-entropy alloys), and a series of novel synthetically accessible metal borohydrides. Metal hydride materials can be as well of important usefulness for MH-based electrodes with high capacity (e.g. MgH2 ~ 2000 mAh g-1) and solid-state electrolytes displaying high ionic conductivity suitable, respectively, for Li-ion and Li/Mg battery technologies. To boost further research and development directions some characterization techniques dedicated to the study of M-H interactions, their equilibrium reactions, and additional quantification of hydrogen concentration in thin film and bulk hydrides are presented at the end of this manuscript.

The study of neutron-induced reactions is of high relevance in a wide variety of fields, ranging from stellar nucleosynthesis and fundamental nuclear physics to applications of nuclear technology. In nuclear energy, high accuracy neutron data are needed for the development of Generation IV fast reactors and accelerator driven systems, these last aimed specifically at nuclear waste incineration, as well as for research on innovative fuel cycles. In this context, a high luminosity Neutron Time Of Flight facility, n_TOF, is operating at CERN since more than a decade, with the aim of providing new, high accuracy and high resolution neutron cross-sections. Thanks to the features of the neutron beam, a rich experimental program relevant to nuclear technology has been carried out so far. The program will be further expanded in the near future, thanks in particular to new highflux experimental area, now under construction.

The $^{238}$U to $^{235}$U fission cross section ratio has been determined at n_TOF up to $\sim$1 GeV, with two different detection systems, in different geometrical configurations. A total of four datasets have been collected and compared. They are all consistent to each other within the relative systematic uncertainty of 3-4%. The data collected at n_TOF have been suitably combined to yield a unique fission cross section ratio as a function of the neutron energy. The result confirms current evaluations up to 200 MeV. A good agreement is also observed with theoretical calculations based on the INCL++/Gemini++ combination up to the highest measured energy. The n_TOF results may help solving a long-standing discrepancy between the two most important experimental dataset available so far above 20 MeV, while extending the neutron energy range for the first time up to $\sim$1 GeV.