An International Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility Exploring a Russian Site as a Prototype: Proceedings of an International Workshop (2005) / Chapter Skim
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Feasibility of Transmutation of Radioactive Elements
Feasibility of Transmutation of Radioactive Elements
Pages 30-49
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From page 30... ...
In the report DOE identified a host of technical issues for the ATW Program, proposed a program and schedule to resolve those issues, estimated the cost of such a program, proposed international collaborations, and assessed the impact of ATW technology on spent fuel from civilian nuclear reactors. At about the same time DOE established the Accelerator Transmutation of Waste Subcommittee under its Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee (NERAC)
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From page 31... ...
To promote this coordination Congress established a new program in 2003 called the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI) , under which DOE is charged with developing both advanced fuels for GEN-IV reactors and technologies for spent fuels reprocessing and transmutation.
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Report to Congress on Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative: The Future Path for Advanced Spent Fuel Treatment and Transmutation Research. Washington, D.C.: U.S.
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From page 33... ...
If transmutation and uranium separation prove implementable on a commercial scale, the quantity of waste sent to the repository could be stabilized at a level that would eliminate the need for a significant expansion of Yucca Mountain or even a second repository. The significant cost benefits derived from reprocessing the spent fuel going into Yucca Mountain are shown in the DOE estimates in Table 3.
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From page 34... ...
In addition to the significant cost savings for the first repository and the elimination of the need for a second repository, uranium separation and transmutation could serve the worthwhile goal of reducing the time required for the radiotoxicity of the waste in the repository to settle to the level of natural uranium, and this reduction would be from about 300,000 years to several hundred years, as shown in Figure 4. I have discussed some of the main problems facing the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel and have suggested that if they could be implemented on a commercial scale, transmutation and uranium separation would have major benefits for the cost and size of the first repository, and even eliminate the need for future repositories.
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120,000 Yucca Retain Current Reduces Technical Mountain Nuclear Energy Need Statutory Capacity (cumulative For 2nd Repository 90,000 Capacity asteW 60,000 2015 Impact of Level AFCI Technology High 30,000 Civilian 0 1980 2000 2020 2040 Year FIGURE 3 Civilian spent fuel accumulation in the United States both with and without transmutation and uranium separation under the AFCI Program.
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From page 36... ...
Report to Congress on Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative: The Future Path for Advanced Spent Fuel Treatment and Transmutation Research. Washington, D.C.: U.S.
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secretary of energy on issues pertaining to civilian nuclear energy, science, and technology. In 1999 NERAC established the ATW Subcommittee to provide advice on the accelerator transmutation of high-level waste from civilian nuclear reactors.
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From page 38... ...
Having the first and third criteria certainly helps in satisfying this criterion, since any long-term prospects for nuclear power hinges on proving to the public that the proliferation risk and radiological impact of spent fuel can be minimized. The economic benefits of transmutation and uranium separation are only now beginning to be analyzed, and the early numbers are encouraging.
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From page 39... ...
As for compatibility with transmutation, the VHTR and SCWR are not capable of adequately burning the minor actinides in the recycled fuel and the GFR is of limited capability. In its most recent report to NERAC and DOE the ANTT Subcommittee emphasized the importance for DOE to continue research and development on the SFR, because it is the most compatible of the four for performing a final burn of the minor actinides.6 THE ADVANCED FUEL CYCLE INITIATIVE In order to improve the coordination of the GEN-IV and transmutation research and development programs so that technologies considered for next-generation reactors are compatible with the transmutation option, the U.S.
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From page 40... ...
separations technologies -- James Laidler, Argonne National Laboratory; advanced aqueous chemical fuel treatments; pyroprocessing; waste forms; group separations 3. transmutation technologies -- Michael Cappiello, Los Alamos National Laboratory; materials; physics; targets; accelerator-driven systems (ADS)
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From page 41... ...
Recently DOE has pursued a different aqueous chemical treatment technology called UREX, which enhances the proliferation resistance of the spent fuel by separating out the uranium, while at the same time, keeping the plutonium combined with other radioactive species. In an even more advanced process called UREX+, selected actinides and fission products can be separated out in various combinations after the uranium has been removed; for example, mixtures of plutonium and certain of the minor actinides could be partitioned together to enhance the proliferation resistance of the plutoniumcontaining material.
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From page 42... ...
treatment of spent fuel to demonstrate the feasibility of extracting uranium to high purity; the initial success of the UREX process in AFCI Series One should allow UREX to be a viable option for the front-end fuels treatment for transmuting Series Two fuels
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From page 43... ...
construction and commissioning of a lead-bismuth materials loop at Los Alamos National Laboratory to investigate materials behavior in a hightemperature liquid metal environment 4. completion of studies that analyzed several transmutation systems to determine which have the highest potential to reduce the radiotoxicity of spent nuclear fuel LWR Spent Fuel Hulls Recycle or HNO3 Disposal Iodine (as NaI)
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From page 44... ...
SOURCE: James Laidler. Development of Separations Technologies Under the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative.
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From page 45... ...
· The development and testing of advanced transmutation fuels will receive greater study, especially since there is little work to date on making minor actinide fuels. Irradiation tests of fuel forms, especially those containing mixtures of plutonium with the minor actinides, will be performed at the advanced test reactor, a 250 MW light water reactor located at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
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From page 46... ...
Important results from Phase II should include the final selection and demonstration of optimal fuel forms and advanced fuels treatment processes, the selection of an ideal ADS target material, and a comprehensive assessment of the costs and benefits of each down-selected technology. Spent Accelerator Separations Fuel Technology Technology and Waste Form Segregated Residual Waste Disposal Transmuter (Target and Power Blanket)
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From page 47... ...
To ensure the success of the AFCI Program it will be crucial to organize international collaborations to study the many unsolved issues. INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS Focusing on reactor concepts, the Generation IV international community has proceeded much more swiftly to initiate international partnerships than has the transmutation world community.
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From page 48... ...
In the meantime there is the need for a close coordination between GIF and a GIFTS-type organization to ensure that GEN-IV and transmutation technologies are compatible by, for example, including a suitable fast reactor for burning the actinides in the fleet of future reactors. More work is needed on separations technologies, such as UREX/ UREX+ and the complementary (or possibly superior)
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From page 49... ...
Report to Congress on Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative: The Future Path for Advanced Spent Fuel Treatment and Transmutation Research. Washington, D.C.: U.S.
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