Towards Achieving Transparent and Secure Nuclear Fuel Transportation : A Technical Framework Integrating Consortium Blockchain and IoT

Xu, Yuxiang and Yu, Wenjuan and Wan, Yuqian and Zhang, Zhongming (2025) Towards Achieving Transparent and Secure Nuclear Fuel Transportation : A Technical Framework Integrating Consortium Blockchain and IoT. Blockchains, 3 (4): 13. ISSN 2813-5288

Abstract

This study addresses critical challenges in managing the transportation of spent nuclear fuel, including inadequate data transparency, stringent confidentiality requirements, and a lack of trust among collaborating parties—issues prevalent in traditional centralized management systems. Given the high risks involved, balancing data confidentiality with regulatory transparency is imperative. To overcome these limitations, a technical framework integrating blockchain technology and the Internet of Things (IoT) is proposed, featuring a multi-tiered consortium chain architecture. This system utilizes IoT sensors for real-time data collection, which is immutably recorded on the blockchain, while a hierarchical data structure (operational, supervisory, and public layers) manages access for diverse stakeholders. This approach significantly enhances data immutability, enables real-time multi-sensor data integration, improves decentralized transparency, and increases resilience compared to traditional systems. It should be noted that the proposed framework is a theoretical study and has not yet been implemented or empirically validated, with practical deployment reserved for future work. Ultimately, this blockchain-IoT framework improves the safety, transparency, and efficiency of spent fuel transportation, effectively resolving the conflict between confidentiality and transparency in nuclear data management and offering significant practical implications.