Spent Fuel Reprocessing: a Fully Mastered Pathway

Spent fuel reprocessing, as carried out in France, seeks to optimize both the partitioning of recoverable materials, and management of ultimate waste. The current process used for spent fuel reprocessing, drawing on over 50 years’ research and industrial development in a number of countries, allows extraction, for recycling purpose, of uranium and plutonium, with very high recovery and purification rates. Spent fuel reprocessing: a fully mastered pathway

o-called “spent”nuclear fuel,discharged on a regu- Slar basis from nuclear power reactors,forms the overwhelming part in the “source term”for long-lived, high-activity nuclear waste (HLW-LL). The original fuel – uranium (U),most commonly – has undergone far-reaching transformations, due to the nuclear fission and capture reactions taking place in it, in the course of its few years’residence inside the reactor,and it is a highly “variegated” assembly that is thus taken out: residual uranium indeed as majority constituent, along however with plutonium (Pu) and other transuranic elements, fission products (FPs) and activation products (APs)… (see Box B, Waste from the nuclear power cycle).

What strategy to adopt regarding spent fuel?

The various constituents of spent nuclear fuel exhibit highly diverse physical or chemical properties.However, two main characteristics govern the various options for spent fuel management. On the one hand, over- whelmingly,the nuclei involved are radioactive nuclei, with a very broad spread of radioactive half-lives (ran- ging from very short to very long). They thus repre- sent a potential hazard. And, on the other hand, some of these nuclei are fissile, as are the major part of Pu Areva/Claude Pauquet Areva/Claude

Some 1,200 tonnes of spent fuel is discharged annually from Areva/Laurence Godart Areva/Laurence the 58 pressurized-water reactors (PWRs) in the French Irradiation, inside a reactor, of a fuel assembly generates, through nuclear reactions, a wide nuclear power plant fleet, this generating over 400 TWh/year. variety of radionuclides, within the fuel and in the metal components making up the Shown here, the Civaux (Vienne département, Western assembly’s structure. France) power plant, comprising two 1,450-MWe units.

CLEFS CEA - No.53 - WINTER 2005-2006 19 The groundwork of current solutions

B Waste from the nuclear power cycle

ost high-level (high-activity) radio- 1 2 Mactive waste (HLW) originates, in H He France, in the irradiation, inside nuclear 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 power reactors, of fuel made up from Li Be B C N O F Ne 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 enriched uranium oxide (UOX) pellets, or Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar also, in part, from mixed uranium and 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 plutonium oxide (MOX). Some 1,200 ton- K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 nes of spent fuel is discharged annually Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe from the fleet of 58 pressurized-water 55 56 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 reactors (PWRs) operated by EDF, sup- Cs Ba Ln Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg TI Pb Bi Po At Rn TWh 87 88 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 plying over 400 per year, i.e. more Fr Ra An Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Uun than three quarters of French national 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 power consumption. lanthanides La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu The fuel’s composition alters, during its 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 irradiation inside the reactor. Shortly after actinides Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr discharge, fuel elements contain, on ave- ■ ■ (1) heavy nuclei activation products rage, some 95% residual uranium, 1% ■ fission products ■ fission and activation products plutonium and other transuranic ele- long-lived radionuclides ments – up to 0.1% – and 4% of products yielded by fission. The latter exhibit very Figure 1. significant radioactivity levels – to the The main elements found in spent nuclear fuel. extent this necessitates management safety measures requiring major indus- burnup rate close to 50 GWd/t, result in The plutonium present in spent fuel is trial resources – of some 1017 Bq per tonne bringing down final 235U content to a value yielded by successive neutron capture of initial uranium (tiU) (see Figure 1). quite close to that of natural uranium and decay processes. Part of the Pu is The uranium found in spent fuel exhibits (less than 1%), entailing an energy poten- dissipated through fission: thus about a makeup that is obviously different from tial very close to the latter’s. Indeed, even one third of the energy generated is yiel- that of the initial fuel. The greater the though this uranium remains slightly ded by “in situ recycling” of this element. irradiation, the higher the consumption richer in the fissile isotope than natural These processes further bring about the of fissile nuclei, and consequently the uranium, for which 235U content stands formation of heavy nuclei, involving, whe- greater the extent by which the uranium at 0.7%, the presence should also be ther directly themselves, or through their will have been depleted of the fissile iso- noted, in smaller, though significant, daughter products, long radioactive half- tope 235 (235U). Irradiation conditions amounts, of other isotopes having adverse lives. These are the elements of the acti- usually prevailing in reactors in the French effects in neutronic or radiological terms nide family, this including, essentially, fleet, with an average fuel residence time (232U, 236U), that had not figured in the plutonium (from 238Pu to 242Pu, the odd- inside the reactor of some 4 years, for a initial fuel (see Table 1). numbered isotopes generated in part undergoing fission themselves during (1) These figures should be taken as indicative values. They allow orders of magnitude to be irradiation), but equally neptunium (Np), pinpointed for enriched-uranium oxide fuel, taken from the main current French nuclear power pathway; they do depend, however, on a number of parameters, such as initial fuel composition and americium (Am), and curium (Cm), known irradiation conditions, particularly irradiation time. as minor actinides (MAs), owing to the

UOX 33 GWd/tiU UOX 45 GWd/tiU UOX 60 GWd/tiU MOX 45 GWd/tihm (E 235U: 3.5%) (E 235U: 3.7%) (E 235U: 4.5%) (Ei Pu: 8.65%) element isotope half-life (years) isotope quantity isotope quantity isotope quantity isotope quantity content (g/tiU) content (g/tiU) content (g/tiU) content (g/tihm) (%) (%) (%) (%) 234 246,000 0.02 222 0.02 206 0.02 229 0.02 112 235 7.04·108 1.05 10,300 0.74 6,870 0.62 5,870 0.13 1,070 U 236 2.34·107 0.43 4,224 0.54 4,950 0.66 6,240 0.05 255 238 4.47·109 98.4 941,000 98.7 929,000 98.7 911,000 99.8 886,000 238 87.7 1.8 166 2.9 334 4.5 590 3.9 2,390 239 24,100 58.3 5,680 52.1 5,900 48.9 6,360 37.7 23,100 Pu 240 6,560 22.7 2,214 24,3 2,760 24.5 3,180 32 19,600 241 14.4 12.2 1,187 12.9 1,460 12.6 1,640 14.5 8,920 242 3.75·105 5.0 490 7.8 884 9.5 1,230 11.9 7,300

Table 1. Major actinide inventory for spent UOX and MOX fuel after 3 years’ cooling, for a variety of enrichment and burnup rates. Burnup rate and quantity are expressed per tonne of initial uranium (tiU) for UOX, per tonne of initial heavy metal (tihm) for MOX.

20 CLEFS CEA - No.53 - WINTER 2005-2006 lesser abundance of these elements, com- UOX 33 GWd/tiU UOX 45 GWd/tiU UOX 60 GWd/tiU MOX 45 GWd/tihm pared with that of U and Pu, the latter being (E 235U: 3.5%) (E 235U: 3.7%) (E 235U: 4.5%) (Ei Pu: 8.65%) termed major actinides. family quantity (kg/tiU) quantity (kg/tiU) quantity (kg/tiU) quantity (kg/tihm) Activation processes affecting nuclei of non- radioactive elements mainly involve struc- rare gases (Kr, Xe) 5.6 7.7 10.3 7 tural materials, i.e. the materials of the tubes, grids, plates and end-fittings that alkali metals (Cs, Rb) 345.2 4.5 ensure the mechanical strength of nuclear fuel. These materials lead, in particular, alkaline-earth metals (Sr, Ba) 2.4 3.3 4.5 2.6 to formation of carbon 14 (14C), with a half- life of 5,730 years, in amounts that are Y and lanthanides 10.2 13.8 18.3 12.4 however very low, much less than one gram per tonne of initial uranium (g/tiU) in usual zirconium 3.6 4.8 6.3 3.3 conditions. chalcogens 0.5 0.7 1 0.8 It is the products yielded by fission of the (Se, Te) initial uranium 235, but equally of the Pu molybdenum 3.3 4.5 6 4.1 generated (isotopes 239 and 241), known halogens (I, Br) 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 as fission products (FPs), that are the technetium 0.8 1.1 1.4 1.1 essential source of the radioactivity of spent fuel, shortly after discharge. Over Ru, Rh, Pd 3.9 5.7 7.7 8.3 radionuclides miscellaneous: 300 – two thirds of which 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.6 however will be dissipated through radio- Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb… active decay in a few years, after irradia- Table 2. tion – have been identified. These radio- Breakdown by chemical family of fission products in spent UOX and MOX fuel, after 3 years’ cooling, nuclides are distributed over some for a variety of enrichment and burnup rates. 40 elements in the periodic table, from germanium (32Ge) to dysprosium (66Dy), short lifespans, and conversely others For the 500 kg or so of U initially contai- with a presence of tritium from fission, i.e. having radioactive half-lives counted in ned in every fuel element, and after par- from the fission into three fragments (ter- millions of years; and diverse chemical titioning of 475 kg of residual U and about nary fission) of 235U. They are thus cha- properties, as is apparent from the ana- 5 kg Pu, this “ultimate” waste amounts racterized by great diversity: diverse radio- lysis, for the “reference” fuels used in to less than 20 kg of FPs, and less than active properties, involving as they do some PWRs in the French fleet, of the break- 500 grams MAs. This waste management highly radioactive nuclides having very down of FPs generated, by families in the pathway (otherwise know as the closed periodic table (see Table 2). These FPs, cycle), consisting as it does in reproces- along with the actinides generated, are, sing spent fuel now, to partition recove- for the most part, present in the form of rable materials and ultimate waste, dif- oxides included in the initial uranium oxide, fers from strategies whereby spent fuel which remains by far the majority consti- is conserved as-is, whether this be due to tuent. Among some notable exceptions a wait-and-see policy (pending a decision may be noted iodine (I), present in the form on a long-term management mode), or to of cesium iodide, rare gases, such as kryp- a so-called open cycle policy, whereby ton (Kr) and xenon (Xe), or certain noble spent fuel is considered to be waste, and metals, including ruthenium (Ru), rho- designated for conditioning into contai- dium (Rh), and palladium (Pd), which may ners, and disposal as-is. form metallic inclusions within the oxide In the nuclear power cycle, as it is imple- matrix. mented in France, waste is subdivided into Pu is recycled nowadays in the form of two categories, according to its origin. MOX fuel, used in part of the fleet (some Waste directly obtained from spent fuel is 20 reactors currently). Residual U may in further subdivided into minor actinides turn be re-enriched (and recycled as a sub- and fission products, on the one hand, and stitute for mined uranium). Recycling structural waste, comprising hulls (seg- intensity depends on market prices for ments of the cladding tubes that had held natural uranium, the recent upturn in the fuel for PWRs) and end-caps (fittings which should result in raising the current forming the end-pieces of the fuel assem-

CLEFS CEA - No.53 - WINTER 2005-2006 21 The groundwork of current solutions

(UOX) spent fuel (MOX) reactor

reprocessing fuel fabrication Figure 1. Principle schematic of plutonium waste reprocessing–recycling. Reprocessing of spent UOX fuel allows uranium uranium enrichment and plutonium to be recovered uranium for recycling purposes, the former in the form of UOX fuel after mining re-enrichment, and refining activities the latter in the form of MOX fuel.

isotopes,or fertile, as is the case for most isotopes of nuclear fuel recycling, as currently carried out in the residual U. They thus present an energy potential France, is part and parcel of just such a strategy (see of interest,which may yet be put to use in nuclear reac- Figure 1). Pu extraction and recycling, in the form tors. of MOX fuel, and that of so-called “reprocessed”U This dual character – potential resource, and noxious are nowadays an industrial reality. FPs and other agent – of spent fuel means a conditioning and recy- transuranic elements are, for the most part, concen- cling strategy makes sense, aiming for the discrimi- trated and conditioned in the form of glass blocks, nating management of waste,conditioning it into which have been shown to have the ability to pro- durable forms, and of the (majority) recoverable ele- vide effective confinement over very long timespans. ments, through partitioning and recycling. Spent Such a scheme may be seen as the implementation, for the nuclear sector, of the more general philoso- phy of conserving natural resources, and limiting environmental impact, through systematic recycling. This, however, is not taken up by all countries operating nuclear power plant fleets. Some of these, such as the United States or Sweden, have rather opted for disposal of spent fuel as-is, by deference to a number of considerations, be they economic, technical, political… Japan, as France, has resolutely gone for the recycling path. Other countries, such as China, spider are seeking to follow suit. Finally, many countries, assembly e.g. Spain or Taiwan, are presently keeping their spent fuel in storage,pending a decision on long-term stra- control rod tegy. Be that as it may, analysis of the challenges for the hold-down longer term clearly shows that sustainable nuclear spring power options do involve recycling, as evidenced by the work of the Generation IV International Forum, which is looking into future nuclear power systems upper coming into consideration at the turn of the cen- end-fitting tury. upper grid What is the process currently used for spent fuel reprocessing? A nuclear fuel assembly. thimble tube About 4 m long, The process used for spent fuel reprocessing is cur- with a 9.5-mm-diameter fuel rod section, each rently,virtually to the exclusion of all others,the Purex of the 264 fuel rods, process. Based on selective U and Pu extraction, by held together by grids means of an organic compound, tributyl phosphate to form an assembly, mixing grid comprises a cladding (TBP), it can now avail itself of half a century of tube, 580 µm thick, research and development,since the concept was wor- in Zircaloy® lower grid ked out in the 1940s in the United States. By the fol- (a zirconium-based lowing decade, it had supplanted the various other metal alloy), into which lower end-fitting 265 fuel pellets are pathways that had been investigated for Pu recovery

stacked. CEA from irradiated materials,leading to industrial appli-

22 CLEFS CEA - No.53 - WINTER 2005-2006 U

TBP

irradiated fuel HNO3 Pu

solution dissolution U, Pu, FPs, MAs extraction

Figure 2. Principle schematic of the Purex process. After dissolution in nitric

acid (HNO3) of the irradiated hulls FPs + MAs fuel, uranium and plutonium are selectively extracted from the solution through use of TBP. cations in the United States (Savannah River, 1954), products (FPs) making up the waste may then be condi- the United Kingdom (Windscale, 1964), and France tioned as-is, using appropriate processes. (Marcoule, UP1 Plant, 1958). It is used by Areva at La Hague (in a plant with the design capacity to serve What are the main elementary operations? reactors generating over 400 TWh/year), by BNFL in Reprocessing operations are carried out after a period the United Kingdom (THORP [Thermal Oxide of storage, currently of a few years or so, on average. Reprocessing Plant] facility, on the Sellafield [for- This stage allows significant decay of the spent fuel’s radioactivity,and thus equally a downgrading of thermal power release. Thus, three years after discharge, residual power and activity levels, for one tonne of initial uranium, stand at a few kilowatts (kW), and some 1013 Bq,respectively. “Head-end” operations consist, subsequent to dis- mantling of the fuel assemblies, in the successive shearing, then dissolution of the spent fuel, going on to the processing of gases yielded by these steps. The fuel rods, holding enriched uranium pellets, are chopped into segments a few centimeters long by means of shears, to “lay bare” the fuel. The latter is then dissolved in an aqueous solution of concentra- ted nitric acid (HNO3). U and Pu are thus dissolved in the form of nitrates, in accordance with the main reactions, as follows: CEA p 2+ - Battery of mixer-settler equipment, comprising 12 units UO2 +3HNO3 UO2 +2NO3 + 1/2 NO + 1/2 NO2 Pulsed column used in set up in series, used from 1982 to 1994 to partition + 3/2 H2O the Purex process, at Areva’s uranium and plutonium streams during spent fuel UP3 plant at La Hague, 4+ - reprocessing. PuO2 +4HNO3 p Pu + 4 NO3 +2H2O. for uranium and plutonium extraction. merly Windscale] site), and at a similar unit starting up at Rokkasho-Mura (Japan). The process consists, initially, in dissolving all of the constituent elements of the spent fuel,going on to effect selective U and Pu extraction from this solution, taking advantage of the selective affinity exhibited by TBP for these elements (see Figure 2). These operations, com- plicated as they are owing to the variety of species present, but equally due to the specific conditions required to set up the operations, and the strict constraints that must be taken on board, allow very high partitioning rates to be achieved. U and Pu are recovered to better than 99.8%,ultimately accounting for only very low residual contamination (purification factors of the order of 107), for recycling purposes. The activation

products (APs), minor actinides (MAs) and fission Hague Areva/La

CLEFS CEA - No.53 - WINTER 2005-2006 23 The groundwork of current solutions

radioactive aerosols, and tritiated water vapor. This gas stream is subjected to scrubbing, to retain entrai- extractant ned particulates, allow recombination of nitrogen regeneration oxides into nitric acid, and induce a backflow of tritium (3H). Iodine is trapped in the form of iodides in an alkaline solution, or on solid sorbents. U, Pu U Regarding rare gases, only 85Kr is radioactive. As for 133 Pu U Xe,another highly abundant nuclide, this is a sta- extraction back-extraction back-extraction ble isotope. The Purex process allows, through the selective affinity of the TBP molecule, extraction of U and Pu, FPs, MAs Pu U which are hexavalent and tetravalent,respectively, without however extracting, as a whole, MAs and U, Pu, FP, MA dilute TBP FPs, these being trivalent.Extraction of the former feed aqueous solution elements is reversible, inasmuch as it is sufficient to alter certain chemical conditions to achieve either extraction or back-extraction (the reverse process) Figure 3. of U or Pu. For example, lower medium nitrate Principle schematic This dissolution does not affect the fuel cladding ele- content, or, for Pu, reduction of the metal to oxi- of an extraction cycle ments and other structural items (hulls and end- dation state + III, exhibiting very poor affinity for in the Purex process. Successive extraction caps), which, owing to their composition (stainless TBP, allows the process to be reversed, thus retur- and back-extraction steel, Zircaloy®…) remain unaltered during this ope- ning to aqueous solution the species previously extrac- cycles enable, through ration. A fraction of certain elements (platinoids, ted. The Purex process thus makes use of successive use of TBP, uranium technetium) is resistant to this dissolution process, U and Pu extraction and back-extraction cycles (see and plutonium recovery and purification. leading to the presence in the resulting solution of Figure 3), to achieve quantity recovery, and purifi- solid compounds (sub-micron particulates, for the cation of these elements. most part). These are usually separated out through Aside from the diversity of the species involved, a conventional settling (gravity or centrifuge) or fil- further complicating factor is the prevalence, through- tration techniques, and the residue thus obtained out the operations, of a significant radioactivity level, amounts, in mass terms, to a few parts per thousand indeed a high level for some operations. The radio- or so. Shearing, then acid attack of the fuel release sensitivity of certain species, particularly that of the gaseous FPs: krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), but equally extractant, even if it be low, must be taken on board. iodine(1) (I) – this being formed and desorbed as a Complementary separation operations are carried result of the dissolution of cesium iodide – or CO2, out, in particular, to segregate the byproducts gene- owing to the presence of carbon 14.These opera- rated, and enable recycling of the reactants involved. tions further yield nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2), Such recycling, given the strict requirement to curb secondary waste, is one of the requisites, for the pro- (1) It should be noted that the only isotopes of iodine that need cess’s industrial viability. be considered, in reprocessing operations, are isotopes 127 (stable) and 129 (which has a very long half-life). Isotope 131, What happens to the recycled materials which is highly radioactive, generated as it is during irradiation, and waste? and present in significant quantities in in-reactor fuel, has promptly vanished during the storage stage, owing to its short The Purex process thus makes it possible, through a half-life (8 days). succession of mechanical, then chemical operations,

After extraction of the uranium and plutonium, waste comprising all minor actinides and nearly all fission products is conditioned by integrating it into a glass matrix. Seen here is the storage hall of vitrification workshop R7 at Areva’s UP2-800 spent fuel reprocessing plant,

at La Hague. Lesage Areva/Philippe

24 CLEFS CEA - No.53 - WINTER 2005-2006 3H: ~ 10 TBq Kr: ~ 300 TBq liquid effluents gaseous effluents

1 t irradiated uranium uranium

950 kg U:955 kg Purex Pu : 9.7 kg emitters : < 0.1 GBq FPs : 34 kg emitters : < 0.1 GBq MAs : 750 g

emitters : 100 TBq plutonium emitters : 26,000 TBq ~ 9.56 kg (APs) : 200 TBq waste emitters : < 0.1 GBq Figure 4. Streams generated during operation of the Purex process glasses hulls and end-caps glasses (operational findings at the Areva plants at La Hague). to achieve the intended separations. At the end of the process, two types of products are obtained (see Figure 4). Recyclable materials,U and Pu,for which purity levels are very high, owing to the very high selectivity of TBP for the elements to be partitioned, go on to be processed into a form meeting the specifications of recycling (e.g. plutonium dioxide PuO2,for the manu- facture of MOX fuel). Waste, as obtained from spent fuel, comes in two forms. All of the MAs and nearly all of the FPs initially present in the spent fuel are brought together into one single solution, after merging of the various streams issuing from the successive extraction cycles. Currently, the technique used for this solution consists, as a rule, in carrying out a concentration operation, and then seek to produce a particularly stable conditioning. In the three countries (France, the United Kingdom and Japan) operating the Purex process on an industrial scale, the vitrification process is used. Structural waste contains the major part of APs generated during irradiation, accounting for less than 1% of radioactivity in irradiated fuel, a few years after it has been discharged. Aside from these three main

products, mention should be made of technologi- Lesage Areva/Philippe cal waste, not representing any large amounts, asso- MOX fuel rods. Plutonium yielded by reprocessing ciated to operation of the process. This waste is condi- spent UOX fuel from the EDF reactor fleet is recycled tioned in suitable, durable form by the La Hague in the form of MOX fuel on an industrial scale, reprocessing plants (see Industrial solutions for long- used in 20 reactors in the fleet. lived, high- and intermediate-level waste). The technique of spent fuel reprocessing is well in research: an ongoing process of advances) is, after stri- hand nowadays. The Purex process stands as the ving – successfully – to achieve lower volumes of world reference, in industrial terms, and yields remar- waste from these operations, that of investigating kable performance, most conspicuously in terms of paths for a reduction of its long-term toxicity. recovery rates for recyclable materials, and of volume, quality of confinement and long-term radiotoxicity > Bernard Boullis as regards ultimate waste.Recycling U and Pu may Nuclear Energy Division enable savings of up to 30% of the initial uranium, CEA Valrhô-Marcoule Center with current reactor technology. > Jean-Guy Devezeaux de Lavergne One of the goals set for the research effort carried Treatment Business Unit out under the aegis of the French Act of 30 December Areva 1991 (see Box 2 in Radioactive waste management

CLEFS CEA - No.53 - WINTER 2005-2006 25 A What is radioactive waste?

ccording to the International Atomic a few hundred to one million Bq/g, of traceability), predicting future waste pro- AEnergy Agency (IAEA), radioactive which less than 10,000 Bq/g is from long- duction trends to 2020, and informing the waste may be defined as “any material for lived radionuclides. Its radioactivity beco- public (see An inventory projecting into the which no use is foreseen and that contains mes comparable to natural radioactivity future). ANDRA published this reference radionuclides at concentrations greater in less than three hundred years. National Inventory at the end of 2004. To than the values deemed admissible by the Production of such waste stands at some meet requirements for research in com- competent authority in materials suitable 15,000 m3 per year in France; pliance with the directions set out in the for use not subject to control.” French law – long-lived low-level waste (LLW-LL); French Act of 30 December 1991 (see in turn introduces a further distinction, this category includes radium-bearing Radioactive waste management research: valid for nuclear waste as for any other waste from the extraction of rare earths an ongoing process of advances), ANDRA, waste, between waste and final, or “ulti- from radioactive ore, and graphite waste in collaboration with waste producers, mate,” waste (déchet ultime). Article L. from first-generation reactors; has drawn up a Dimensioning Inventory 541-1 of the French Environmental Code – long-lived intermediate-level waste Model (MID: Modèle d’inventaire de thus specifies that “may be deemed as (ILW-LL), this being highly disparate, whe- dimensionnement), for the purposes of waste any residue from a process of pro- ther in terms of origin or nature, with an arriving at estimates of the volume of duction, transformation or use, any sub- overall stock standing, in France, at waste packages to be taken on board in stance, material, product, or, more gene- 45,000 m3 at the end of 2004. This mainly research along direction 2 (disposal). This rally, any movable property left derelict or comes from spent fuel assemblies (clad- model, including as it does predictions as that its owner intends to leave derelict,” ding hulls and end-caps), or from opera- to overall radioactive waste arisings from further defining as ultimate “waste, be it tion and maintenance of installations; this the current reactor fleet, over their entire the outcome of waste treatment or not, includes, in particular, waste conditioned lifespan, seeks to group waste types into that is not amenable to further treatment during spent fuel reprocessing operations families, homogeneous in terms of cha- under prevailing technological and eco- (as from 2002, this type of waste is com- racteristics, and to formulate the most nomic conditions, in particular by extrac- pacted, amounting to some 200 m3 plausible hypotheses, with respect to tion of the recoverable, usable part, or annually), technological waste from the conditioning modes, to derive the volu- mitigation of its polluting or hazardous operation or routine maintenance of pro- mes to be taken on board for the purpo- character.” duction or fuel-processing plants, from ses of the investigation. Finally, MID sets Internationally, experts from IAEA and the nuclear reactors or from research cen- out to provide detailed stocktaking, inten- Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) – an OECD ters (some 230 m3 annually), along with ded to cover waste in the broadest pos- organization – as those in the European sludges from effluent treatment (less than sible fashion. MID (not to be confused with Commission find that long-lived waste pro- 100 m3 annually). Most such waste gene- the National Inventory, which has the duced in countries operating a nuclear rates little heat, however some waste of remit to provide a detailed account of power program is stored securely nowa- this type is liable to release gases; actual waste currently present on French days, whilst acknowledging a final solu- – high-level waste (HLW), containing fis- territory) thus makes it possible to bring tion is required, for the long-term mana- sion products and minor actinides parti- down the variety of package families to a gement of such waste. They consider burial tioned during spent fuel reprocessing (see limited number of representative objects, in deep geological structures appears, pre- Box B), and incorporated at high tempe- and to specify the requisite margins of sently, to be the safest way to achieve final rature into a glass matrix. Some 120 m3 error, to ensure the design and assess- disposal of this type of waste. of “nuclear glass” is thus cast every year. ment of disposal safety will be as robust This type of waste bears the major part as feasible, with respect to possible future What constitutes radioactive of radioactivity (over 95%), consequently variations in data. waste? What are the volumes it is the seat of considerable heat release, To ensure consistency between investi- currently involved? this remaining significant on a scale of gations carried out in accordance with Radioactive waste is classified into a num- several centuries. direction 2 and those along direction 3 ber of categories, according to its level of Overall, radioactive waste conditioned in (conditioning and long-term storage), CEA radioactivity, and the radioactive period, France amounts to less than 1 kg per year, adopted MID as input data. MID subsu- or half-life, of the radionuclides it per capita. That kilogram consists, for mes waste packages into standard pac- contains. It is termed long-lived waste over 90%, of LILW-SL type waste, bearing kage types, then computes the number when that period is greater than 30 years, but 5% of total radioactivity; 9% of ILW- and volume of HLW and ILW-LL packa- short-lived waste otherwise. The French LL waste, less than 1% HLW, and virtually ges, according to a number of scenarios, classification system involves the follo- no LLW-LL waste. all based on the assumption that current wing categories: nuclear power plants will be operated for – very-low-level waste (VLLW); this What of the waste of tomorrow? 40 years, their output plateauing at contains very small amounts of radionu- From 1991, ANDRA compiled, on a yearly 400 TWhe per year. clides, of the order of 10–100 Bq/g (bec- basis, a geographical inventory of waste Table 1 shows the numbers and volumes querels per gram), which precludes consi- present on French territory. In 2001, for each standard package type, for the dering it as conventional waste; ANDRA was asked by government to aug- scenario assuming a continuation of cur- – short-lived low and intermediate level ment this “National Inventory,” with the rent strategy, with respect to spent fuel waste (LILW-SL); radioactivity levels for threefold aim of characterizing extant reprocessing: reprocessing of 79,200 UOX such waste lie as a rule in a range from stocks (state of conditioning, processing fuel assemblies and storage of 5,400 MOX A (next)

MID standard package types Symbols Producers Categories Number Volume (m3) Vitrified waste packages CO — C2 Cogema* HLW 42,470 7,410 Activated metal waste packages B1 EDF ILW-LL 2,560 470 Bituminized sludge packages B2 CEA, Cogema* ILW-LL 105,010 36,060 Cemented technological waste packages B3 CEA, Cogema* ILW-LL 32,940 27,260 Cemented hull and end-cap packages B4 Cogema* ILW-LL 1,520 2,730 Compacted structural and technological waste packages B5 Cogema* ILW-LL 39,900 7,300 Containerized loose structural and technological B6 Cogema* ILW-LL 10,810 4,580 waste packages Total B 192,740 78,400 Total overall 235,210 85,810 * renamed Areva NC in 2006

Table 1. Amounts (number, and volume) of waste packages, as predicted in France for 40 years’ operation of the current fleet of reactors, according to ANDRA’s Dimensioning Inventory Model (MID).

assemblies discharged from the current HLW packages, obtained mainly through materials must thus be precluded, through PWR fleet, when operated over 40 years. vitrification of highly active solutions from the lasting isolation of such waste from the spent fuel reprocessing; environment. This management is guided What forms does it come in? • spent fuel packages: packages consis- by the following principles: to produce as Five types of generic packages (also found ting in nuclear fuel assemblies discharged little waste as practicable; limit its hazar- in MID) may be considered: from reactors; these are not considered to dous character as far as feasible; take into • cementitious waste packages: ILW-LL be waste in France. account the specific characters of each waste packages employing hydraulic-bin- The only long-lived waste packages to be category of waste; and opt for measures der based materials as a conditioning generated in any significant amounts by that will minimize the burden (monitoring, matrix, or as an immobilizing grout, or yet current electricity production (see Box B) maintenance) for future generations. as a container constituent; are vitrified waste packages and standard As for all nuclear activities subject to control • bituminized sludge packages: LLW and compacted waste packages, the other types by the French Nuclear Safety Authority ILW-LL waste packages, in which bitumen of packages having, for the most part, (Autorité de sûreté nucléaire), fundamental is used as confinement matrix for low- and already been produced, and bearing but a safety regulations (RFSs: règles fonda- intermediate-level residues from treat- small part of total radioactivity. mentales de sûreté) have been drawn up ment of a variety of liquid effluents (fuel with respect to radioactive waste mana- processing, research centers, etc.); What is happening to this waste at gement: sorting, volume reduction, pac- • standard compacted waste packages present? What is to be done in the kage confinement potential, manufactu- (CSD-C: colis standard de déchets compac- long term? ring method, radionuclide concentration. tés): ILW-LL packages obtained through The goal of long-term radioactive waste RFS III-2.f, in particular, specifies the condi- compaction conditioning of structural waste management is to protect humankind and tions to be met for the design of, and from fuel assemblies, and technological its environment from the effects of the demonstration of safety for an underground waste from the La Hague workshops; materials comprised in this waste, most repository, and thus provides a basic guide • standard vitrified waste packages importantly from radiological hazards. Any for disposal investigations. Industrial solu- (CSD-V: colis standard de déchets vitrifiés): release or dissemination of radioactive tions (see Industrial solutions for all low- level waste) are currently available for nigh on 85% (by volume) of waste, i.e. VLLW and Short-lived Long-lived LILW-SL waste. A solution for LLW-LL Half-life < 30 years Half-life > 30 years for the main elements waste is the subject of ongoing investigation by ANDRA, at the behest of waste pro- Very-low-level Morvilliers dedicated disposal facility (open since 2003) waste (VLLW) Capacity: 650,000 m3 ducers. ILW-LL and HLW waste, containing radionuclides having very long Low-level waste Dedicated disposal facility under (LLW) investigation for radium-bearing half-lives (in some cases, greater than waste (volume: 100,000 m3) several hundred thousand years) are cur- Aube Center and graphite waste rently held in storage installations coming (open since 1992) (volume: 14,000 m3) Capacity: 1 million m3 under the control of the Nuclear Safety Intermediate-level 3 waste (ILW) MID volume estimate: 78,000 m Authority. What is to become of this waste in the long term, beyond this storage phase, High-level waste MID volume estimate: 7,400 m3 is what the Act of 30 December 1991 (HLW) addresses (see Table 2). Table 2. For all of these waste types, the French Long-term management modes, as currently operated, or planned, in France, by Nuclear Safety Authority is drawing up a radioactive waste category. The orange area highlights those categories targeted by National Radioactive Waste Management investigations covered by the Act of 30 December 1991. Plan, specifying, for each type, a manage- (1) According to the Dimensioning Inventory Model (MID) ment pathway. B Waste from the nuclear power cycle

ost high-level (high-activity) radio- 1 2 Mactive waste (HLW) originates, in H He France, in the irradiation, inside nuclear 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Li Be B C N O F Ne power reactors, of fuel made up from 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 enriched uranium oxide (UOX) pellets, or Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar also, in part, from mixed uranium and 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 plutonium oxide (MOX). Some 1,200 ton- K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 nes of spent fuel is discharged annually Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe from the fleet of 58 pressurized-water 55 56 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 reactors (PWRs) operated by EDF, sup- Cs Ba Ln Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg TI Pb Bi Po At Rn 87 88 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 plying over 400 TWh per year, i.e. more Fr Ra An Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Uun than three quarters of French national 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 power consumption. lanthanides La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu The fuel’s composition alters, during its 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 actinides irradiation inside the reactor. Shortly after Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No Lr discharge, fuel elements contain, on ave- ■ heavy nuclei ■ activation products rage,(1) some 95% residual uranium, 1% ■ fission products ■ fission and activation products plutonium and other transuranic ele- long-lived radionuclides ments – up to 0.1% – and 4% of products yielded by fission. The latter exhibit very Figure 1. significant radioactivity levels – to the The main elements found in spent nuclear fuel. extent this necessitates management safety measures requiring major indus- burnup rate close to 50 GWd/t, result in The plutonium present in spent fuel is trial resources – of some 1017 Bq per tonne bringing down final 235U content to a value yielded by successive neutron capture of initial uranium (tiU) (see Figure 1). quite close to that of natural uranium and decay processes. Part of the Pu is The uranium found in spent fuel exhibits (less than 1%), entailing an energy poten- dissipated through fission: thus about a makeup that is obviously different from tial very close to the latter’s. Indeed, even one third of the energy generated is yiel- that of the initial fuel. The greater the though this uranium remains slightly ded by “in situ recycling” of this element. irradiation, the higher the consumption richer in the fissile isotope than natural These processes further bring about the of fissile nuclei, and consequently the uranium, for which 235U content stands formation of heavy nuclei, involving, whe- greater the extent by which the uranium at 0.7%, the presence should also be ther directly themselves, or through their will have been depleted of the fissile iso- noted, in smaller, though significant, daughter products, long radioactive half- tope 235 (235U). Irradiation conditions amounts, of other isotopes having adverse lives. These are the elements of the acti- usually prevailing in reactors in the French effects in neutronic or radiological terms nide family, this including, essentially, fleet, with an average fuel residence time (232U, 236U), that had not figured in the plutonium (from 238Pu to 242Pu, the odd- inside the reactor of some 4 years, for a initial fuel (see Table 1). numbered isotopes generated in part undergoing fission themselves during (1) These figures should be taken as indicative values. They allow orders of magnitude to be pinpointed for enriched-uranium oxide fuel, taken from the main current French nuclear power irradiation), but equally neptunium (Np), pathway; they do depend, however, on a number of parameters, such as initial fuel composition and americium (Am), and curium (Cm), known irradiation conditions, particularly irradiation time. as minor actinides (MAs), owing to the

lesser abundance of these elements, com- UOX 33 GWd/tiU UOX 45 GWd/tiU UOX 60 GWd/tiU MOX 45 GWd/tihm pared with that of U and Pu, the latter being 235 235 235 family (E U: 3.5%) (E U: 3.7%) (E U: 4.5%) (Ei Pu: 8.65%) termed major actinides. quantity (kg/tiU) quantity (kg/tiU) quantity (kg/tiU) quantity (kg/tihm) Activation processes affecting nuclei of non- radioactive elements mainly involve struc- rare gases (Kr, Xe) 5.6 7.7 10.3 7 tural materials, i.e. the materials of the tubes, grids, plates and end-fittings that alkali metals (Cs, Rb) 345.2 4.5 ensure the mechanical strength of nuclear fuel. These materials lead, in particular, alkaline-earth metals (Sr, Ba) 2.4 3.3 4.5 2.6 to formation of carbon 14 (14C), with a half- Y and life of 5,730 years, in amounts that are lanthanides 10.2 13.8 18.3 12.4 however very low, much less than one gram zirconium 3.6 4.8 6.3 3.3 per tonne of initial uranium (g/tiU) in usual conditions. chalcogens (Se, Te) 0.5 0.7 1 0.8 It is the products yielded by fission of the initial uranium 235, but equally of the Pu molybdenum 3.3 4.5 6 4.1 generated (isotopes 239 and 241), known halogens (I, Br) 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4 as fission products (FPs), that are the technetium 0.8 1.1 1.4 1.1 essential source of the radioactivity of Ru, Rh, Pd 3.9 5.7 7.7 8.3 spent fuel, shortly after discharge. Over 300 radionuclides – two thirds of which miscellaneous: Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb… 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.6 however will be dissipated through radioactive decay in a few years, after irradia- Table 2. tion – have been identified. These radio- Breakdown by chemical family of fission products in spent UOX and MOX fuel, after 3 years’ cooling, nuclides are distributed over some for a variety of enrichment and burnup rates. 40 elements in the periodic table, from germanium (32Ge) to dysprosium (66Dy), short lifespans, and conversely others For the 500 kg or so of U initially contai- with a presence of tritium from fission, i.e. having radioactive half-lives counted in ned in every fuel element, and after par- from the fission into three fragments (ter- millions of years; and diverse chemical titioning of 475 kg of residual U and about nary fission) of 235U. They are thus cha- properties, as is apparent from the ana- 5 kg Pu, this “ultimate” waste amounts racterized by great diversity: diverse radio- lysis, for the “reference” fuels used in to less than 20 kg of FPs, and less than active properties, involving as they do some PWRs in the French fleet, of the break- 500 grams MAs. This waste management highly radioactive nuclides having very down of FPs generated, by families in the pathway (otherwise know as the closed periodic table (see Table 2). These FPs, cycle), consisting as it does in reproces- along with the actinides generated, are, sing spent fuel now, to partition recove- for the most part, present in the form of rable materials and ultimate waste, dif- oxides included in the initial uranium oxide, fers from strategies whereby spent fuel which remains by far the majority consti- is conserved as-is, whether this be due to tuent. Among some notable exceptions a wait-and-see policy (pending a decision may be noted iodine (I), present in the form on a long-term management mode), or to of cesium iodide, rare gases, such as kryp- a so-called open cycle policy, whereby ton (Kr) and xenon (Xe), or certain noble spent fuel is considered to be waste, and metals, including ruthenium (Ru), rho- designated for conditioning into contai- dium (Rh), and palladium (Pd), which may ners, and disposal as-is. form metallic inclusions within the oxide In the nuclear power cycle, as it is imple- matrix. mented in France, waste is subdivided into Pu is recycled nowadays in the form of two categories, according to its origin. MOX fuel, used in part of the fleet (some Waste directly obtained from spent fuel is 20 reactors currently). Residual U may in further subdivided into minor actinides turn be re-enriched (and recycled as a sub- and fission products, on the one hand, and stitute for mined uranium). Recycling structural waste, comprising hulls (seg- intensity depends on market prices for ments of the cladding tubes that had held natural uranium, the recent upturn in the fuel for PWRs) and end-caps (fittings which should result in raising the current forming the end-pieces of the fuel assem-

Magnum/Harry Gruyaert recycling rate (about one third being recy- blies for these same PWRs), on the other After discharge, spent fuel is stored cled at present). hand. The process used for spent fuel in cooling pools, to allow its radioactivity Such U and Pu recycling is the foundation reprocessing, to extract U and Pu, also to come down significantly. Shown here is a storage pool at Areva’s for the reprocessing strategy currently generates technological waste (operatio- spent fuel reprocessing plant implemented in France, for the major part nal waste, such as spare parts, protec- at La Hague. of spent fuel (some two thirds currently). tion gloves…) and liquid effluents. C What stands between waste and the environment? aw, solid or liquid radioactive waste Rundergoes, after characterization (determination of its chemical and radiological makeup, and of its physical–chemical properties), conditioning, a term covering all the operations consisting in bringing this waste (or spent fuel assemblies) to a form suitable for its transport, storage, and disposal (see Box D). The aim is to put radioactive waste into a solid, physically and chemically stable form, and ensure effective, lasting confinement of the radionuclides it contains. For that purpose, two complementary operations are carried out. As a rule, waste is immobilized by a material – whether by encapsulation or homogeneous incorporation (liquid or powdered A. Gonin/CEA Cross-section of an experimental storage borehole for a spent fuel container (the lower part of the waste, sludges), or encasing (solid waste) assembly may be seen, top right), in the Galatée gallery of CECER (Centre d’expertise sur le – within a matrix, the nature of, and per- conditionnement et l’entreposage des matières radioactives: Radioactive Materials Conditioning formance specification for which depend and Storage Expertise Center), at CEA’s Marcoule Center, showing the nested canisters. on waste type (cement for sludges, evaporation concentrates and incineration ner (cylindrical or rectangular), consis- mary container being the cement or ashes; bitumen for encapsulation of ting in one or more canisters. The whole metal container into which the conditio- sludges or evaporation concentrates – container and content – is termed a ned waste is ultimately placed, to allow from liquid effluent treatment; or a package. Equally, waste may be com- handling. The container may act as initial vitreous matrix, intimately binding the pacted and mechanically immobilized confinement barrier, allotment of func- nuclides to the glass network, for fis- within a canister, the whole forming a tions between matrix and container being sion product or minor actinide solutions). package. determined according to the nature of This matrix contributes to the confine- When in the state they come in as sup- the waste involved. Thus, the whole obtai- ment function. The waste thus conditio- plied by industrial production, they are ned by the grouping together, within one ned is placed in an impervious contai- known as primary packages, the pri- container, of a number of primary C (next) ILW-LL packages may ensure confinement radioactive decay persists inside the pac- Between the containers and the ultimate of the radioactivity of this type of waste. kage (self-irradiationprocess). Emission barrier provided, in a radioactive waste If a long-term storage stage is found to of radiation is concomitant with heat deep disposal facility, by the geological be necessary, beyond the stage of indus- generation. For example, in confinement environment itself, there may further be trial storage on the premises of the pro- glasses holding high-activity (high-level) interposed, apart, possibly, from an over- ducers, primary waste packages must waste, the main sources of irradiation pack, other barriers, so-called engi- be amenable to retrieval, as and when originate in the alpha decay processes neered barriers, for backfill and sealing required: durable primary containers from minor actinides, beta decay from purposes. While these would be point- must then be available, in such condi- fission products, and gamma transitions. less as backfill in clay formations, they tions, for all types of waste. Alpha decay, characterized by produc- would have the capability, in other envi- In such a case, for spent fuel assemblies tion of a recoil nucleus, and emission of ronments (granite), of further retarding which might at some time be earmar- a particle, which, at the end of its path, any flow of radionuclides to the geo- ked for such long-term storage, or even yields a helium atom, causes the major sphere, notwithstanding degradation of for disposal, it is not feasible to demons- part of atom displacements. In particu- the previously mentioned barriers. trate, on a timescale of centuries, the lar, recoil nuclei, shedding considerable integrity of the cladding holding the fuel, energy as they do over a short distance, forming the initial confinement barrier result in atom displacement cascades, during the in-reactor use stage. Securing thus breaking large numbers of chemi- these assemblies in individual, imper- cal bonds. This is thus the main cause vious cartridges is thus being conside- of potential long-term damage. In such red, this stainless-steel cartridge being conditions, matrices must exhibit ther- compatible with the various possible mal stability, and irradiation-damage future management stages: treatment, resistance. return to storage, or disposal. Placing Stored waste packages will also be sub- these cartridges inside impervious jected to the effects of water (leaching). containers ensures a second confine- Container canisters may exhibit a deg- ment barrier, as is the case for high- ree of resistance to corrosion processes level waste packages. (the overpacks contemplated for glas- In storage or disposal conditions, the ses may thus delay by some 4,000 years Technological demonstrators waste packages will be subjected to a the arrival of water), and the confine-

of ILW-LL packages for CEA variety of aggressive agents, both inter- ment matrices must be proven to exhi- bituminized sludges. nal and external. First, radionuclide bit high chemical stability. D From storage to disposal (ILW-LL) in conditions of safety, pen- recycling–transmutation, or simply to he object of nuclear waste storage ding a long-term management mode turn to advantage the natural decay of Tand disposal is to ensure the long- for such waste. Retrieval of stored pac- radioactivity (and hence the falling off term confinement of radioactivity, in kages is anticipated, after a period of of heat release from high-level waste), other words to contain radionuclides limited duration (i.e. after a matter of before putting the waste into geologi- within a definite space, segre- cal disposal. By “long term” is gated from humankind and the meant a timespan of up to 300 environment, as long as requi- years. Long-term storage may red, so that the possible return take place in a surface or sub- to the biosphere of minute surface facility. In the former amounts of radionuclides can case, the site may be protected, have no unacceptable health or for instance, by a reinforced- environmental impact. concrete structure. In the latter According to the Joint Con- case, it will be located at a depth vention on the Safety of Spent of some tens of meters, and pro- Fuel Management and on the tected by a natural environment Safety of Radioactive Waste (for instance, if buried in a hill- Management, signed on 5 Sep- side) and its host rock. tember 1997, “storage” means Whichever management stra- “the holding of spent fuel or of tegy is chosen, it will be impe- radioactive waste in a facility that rative to protect the biosphere provides for its containment, from the residual ultimate waste. with the intention of retrieval.” The nature of the radioelements This is thus, by definition, an the latter contains means a solu- interim stage, amounting to a tion is required that has the abi- delaying, or wait-and-see solu- lity to ensure their confinement tion, even though this may be for over several tens of thousand

a very long time (from a few A. Gonin/CEA years, in the case of long-lived decades to several hundred CEA design study for a common container for waste, or even longer. On such the long-term storage and disposal of long-lived, years), whereas disposal may be intermediate-level waste. timescales, social stability is a final. major uncertainty that has to be Used from the outset of the nuclear years, or tens of years). taken on board. Which is why disposal power age, industrial storage keeps Long-term storage (LTS) may be in deep geological strata (typically, 500 spent fuel awaiting reprocessing, and contemplated, in particular, in the event m down) is seen as a reference solu- conditioned high-level waste (HLW), or of the deferred deployment of a dispo- tion, insofar as it inherently makes for long-lived intermediate-level waste sal facility, or of reactors to carry out deployment of a more passive technical solution, with the ability to stand, with no increased risk, an absence of surveillance, thus mitigating a possible loss of memory on the part of society. excavated diameter: 0.7 m approx. The geological environment of such a disposal facility thus forms a further, length: 40 m approx. essential barrier, which does not exist in the storage case. intercalary A disposal facility may be designed to be reversible over a given period. The lining concept of reversibility means the design disposal packages must guarantee the ability, for a variety of reasons, to access the packages, or even to take them out of the facility, over a certain timespan, or to opt for the final closure of the disposal facility. Such reversibility may be envisaged as a suc- 0.57 m cession of stages, each affording a to 0.64 m decreasing “level of reversibility.” To lid primary package simplify, each stage consists in carrying 1.30m to 1.60 m steel overpack out one further technical operation bringing the facility closer to final closure, ANDRA making retrieval more difficult than at ANDRA design for the disposal of standard vitrified waste packages in horizontal galleries, showing in particular the packages’ various canisters, and some characteristics linked the previous stage, according to well- to potential reversibility of the disposal facility. specified criteria. E What is transmutation?

ransmutation is the transformation of a number of particles, including high- When a neutron collides with a nucleus, Tof one nucleus into another, through energy neutrons. Transmutation by way it may bounce off the nucleus, or pene- a reaction induced by particles with which of direct interaction between protons is trate it. In the latter case, the nucleus, it is bombarded. As applied to the treat- uneconomic, since this would involve, in by absorbing the neutron, gains excess ment of nuclear waste, this consists in order to overcome the Coulomb barrier,(2) energy, which it then releases in various using that type of reaction to transform very-high-energy protons (1–2 GeV), ways: long-lived radioactive isotopes into iso- requiring a generating energy greater • by expelling particles (a neutron, e.g.), topes having a markedly shorter life, or than had been obtained from the process while possibly releasing radiation; even into stable isotopes, in order to that resulted in producing the waste. On • by solely emitting radiation; this is reduce the long-term radiotoxic inven- the other hand, indirect transmutation, known as a capture reaction, since the tory. In theory, the projectiles used may using very-high-energy neutrons (of neutron remains captive inside the be photons, protons, or neutrons. which around 30 may be yielded, depen- nucleus; In the first case, the aim is to obtain, by ding on target nature and incoming proton • by breaking up into two nuclei, of more bremsstrahlung,(1) through bombardment energy), makes it possible to achieve very or less equal size, while releasing concur- of a target by a beam of electrons, pro- significantly improved performance. This rently two or three neutrons; this is known vided by an accelerator, photons able to is the path forming the basis for the as a fission reaction, in which considera- bring about reactions of the (γ, xn) type. design of so-called hybrid reactors, cou- ble amounts of energy are released. Under the effects of the incoming gamma pling a subcritical core and a high-inten- Transmutation of a radionuclide may be radiation, x neutrons are expelled from sity proton accelerator (see Box F, What achieved either through neutron capture the nucleus. When applied to substan- is an ADS?). or by fission. Minor actinides, as elements ces that are too rich in neutrons, and The third particle that may be used is thus having large nuclei (heavy nuclei), may hence unstable, such as certain fission the neutron. Owing to its lack of electric undergo both fission and capture reac- products (strontium 90, cesium 137…), charge, this is by far the particle best sui- tions. By fission, they transform into such reactions yield, as a rule, stable sub- ted to meet the desired criteria. It is “natu- radionuclides that, in a majority of cases, stances. However, owing to the very low rally” available in large quantities inside are short-lived, or even into stable nuclei. efficiency achieved, and the very high nuclear reactors, where it is used to trig- The nuclei yielded by fission (known as electron current intensity required, this ger fission reactions, thus yielding energy, fission products), being smaller, are only path is not deemed to be viable. while constantly inducing, concurrently, the seat of capture reactions, undergoing, In the second case, the proton–nucleus transmutations, most of them unsought. on average, 4 radioactive decays, with a interaction induces a complex reaction, The best recycling path for waste would half-life not longer than a few years, as known as spallation, resulting in frag- thus be to reinject it in the very installa- a rule, before they reach a stable form. mentation of the nucleus, and the release tion, more or less, that had produced it… Through capture, the same heavy nuclei (1) From the German for “braking radiation.”High-energy photon radiation, yielded by accelerated transform into other radionuclides, often (or decelerated) particles (electrons) following a circular path, at the same time emitting braking long-lived, which transform in turn photons tangentially, those with the highest energies being emitted preferentially along the electron through natural decay, but equally beam axis. through capture and fission. (2) A force of repulsion, which resists the drawing together of same-sign electric charges. E (next)

The probability, for a neutron, of causing tion prevails; capture is about 100 times mal neutron pathway is the technology a capture or a fission reaction is evalua- more probable than fission. This remains used by France for its power generation ted on the basis, respectively, of its cap- the case for energies in the 1 eV–1 MeV equipment, with close to 60 pressurized- ture cross-section and fission cross-sec- range (i.e., that of epithermal neutrons, water reactors. In a thermal-neutron tion. Such cross-sections depend on the where captures or fissions occur at defi- reactor, neutrons yielded by fission are nature of the nucleus (they vary consi- nite energy levels). Beyond 1 MeV (fast slowed down (moderated) through colli- derably from one nucleus to the next, and, neutron range), fissions become more sions against light nuclei, making up even more markedly, from one isotope probable than captures. materials known as moderators. Due to to the next for the same nucleus) and Two reactor pathways may be conside- the moderator (common water, in the neutron energy. red, according to the neutron energy case of pressurized-water reactors), neu- For a neutron having an energy lower range for which the majority of fission tron velocity falls off, down to a few kilo- than 1 eV (in the range of slow, or ther- reactions occur: thermal-neutron reac- meters per second, a value at which neu- mal, neutrons), the capture cross-sec- tors, and fast-neutron reactors. The ther- trons find themselves in thermal equilibrium with the ambient environ- capture ment. Since fission cross-sections for 242 243Cm 235U and 239Pu, for fission induced by fission Cm 4% 11% 163 32 thermal neutrons, are very large, a days years beta-minus 95% concentration of a few per cent of these decay 3% 1% 86% fissile nuclei is sufficient to sustain the alpha cascade of fissions. The flux, in a ther- 86% decay mal-neutron reactor, is of the order of 241Am 86% 242Am 242mAm 15% 1018 neutrons per square meter, per electron 432 16 141 capture ans 12% h years second. 2% 14% 85% In a fast-neutron reactor, such as Phénix, neutrons yielded by fission immediately 7% induce, without first being slowed down, 238Pu 239Pu 240Pu 241Pu 87.8 82% 2.4.104 36% 6.5.103 98% 14.4 24% further fissions. There is no moderator in 5% years years years years this case. Since, for this energy range, 13% 64% 2% 69% cross-sections are small, a fuel rich in fissile radionuclides must be used (up to 20% uranium 235 or plutonium 239), if the Figure. Simplified representation of the evolution chain of americium 241 in a thermal-neutron reactor neutron multiplication factor is to be equal (shown in blue: radionuclides disappearing through fission). Through capture, 241Am transforms to 1. The flux in a fast-neutron reactor is into 242mAm, this disappearing predominantly through fission, and into 242Am, which mainly decays ten times larger (of the order of 1019 neu- (with a half-life of 16 hours) through beta decay into 242Cm. 242Cm transforms through alpha decay into 238Pu, and through capture into 243Cm, which itself disappears predominantly through fission. trons per square meter, per second) than 238Pu transforms through capture into 239Pu, which disappears predominantly through fission. for a thermal-neutron reactor. F What is an ADS?

n ADS (accelerator-driven system) is for a reactor in normal operating condi- ter then go on to interact with the fuel of Aa hybrid system, comprising a tions; and, if keff is lower than 1, the neu- the subcritical neutron multiplier nuclear reactor operating in subcritical tron population dwindles, and becomes medium, yielding further neutrons (fis- mode, i.e. a reactor unable by itself to sus- extinct, unless – as is the case for a hybrid sion neutrons) (see Figure). tain a fission chain reaction, “driven” by system – an external source provides a Most hybrid system projects use as a core an external source, having the ability to neutron supply. (of annular configuration, as a rule) fast- supply it with the required comple- neutron environments, since these ment of neutrons.(1) make it possible to achieve neu- Inside the core of a nuclear reactor, window tron balances most favorable to indeed, it is the fission energy from transmutation, an operation that accelerator spallation heavy nuclei, such as uranium 235 target allows waste to be “burned,” but or plutonium 239, that is released. providing which may equally be used to yield Uranium 235 yields, when under- 100 keV 1 GeV external further fissile nuclei. Such a sys- neutrons going fission, on average 2.5 neu- proton tem may also be used for energy source trons, which can in turn induce a subcritical reactor generation, even though part of further fission, if they collide with a this energy must be set aside to uranium 235 nucleus. It may thus power the proton accelerator, a be seen that, once the initial fission Principle schematic of an ADS. part that is all the higher, the more is initiated, a chain reaction may develop, From the effective multiplication factor, subcritical the system is. Such a system resulting, through a succession of fis- a reactor’s reactivity is defined by the ratio is safe in principle from most reactivity

sions, in a rise in the neutron population. (keff –1)/keff. The condition for stability is accidents, its multiplication factor being However, of the 2.5 neutrons yielded by then expressed by zero reactivity. To sta- lower than 1, contrary to that of a reac- the initial fission, some are captured, thus bilize a neutron population, it is sufficient tor operated in critical mode: the chain not giving rise to further fissions. The to act on the proportion of materials exhi- reaction would come to a halt, if it was number of fissions generated from one biting a large neutron capture cross-sec- not sustained by this supply of external initial fission is characterized by the effec- tion (neutron absorber materials) inside neutrons.

tive multiplication factor keff, equal to the the reactor. A major component in a hybrid reactor, ratio of the number of fission neutrons In an ADS, the source of extra neutrons the window, positioned at the end of the generated, over the number of neutrons is fed with protons, generated with an beam line, isolates the accelerator from disappearing. It is on the value of this coef- energy of about 100 keV, then injected the target, and makes it possible to keep ficient that the evolution of the neutron into an accelerator (linear accelerator or the accelerator in a vacuum. Traversed

population depends: if keff is markedly cyclotron), which brings them to an energy as it is by the proton beam, it is a sensi- higher than 1, the population increases of around 1 GeV, and directs them to a tive part of the system: its lifespan rapidly; if it is slightly higher than 1, neu- heavy-metal target (lead, lead–bismuth, depends on thermal and mechanical tron multiplication sets in, but remains tungsten or tantalum). When irradiated stresses, and corrosion. Projects are moo- under control; this is the state desired at by the proton beam, this target yields, ted, however, of windowless ADSs. In the

reactor startup; if keff is equal to 1, the through spallation reactions, an intense, latter case, it is the confinement cons- population remains stable; this is the state high-energy (1–20 MeV) neutron flux, one traints, and those of radioactive spalla- single incoming neutron having the abi- tion product extraction, that must be taken (1) On this topic, see Clefs CEA,No.37, p. 14 lity to generate up to 30 neutrons. The lat- on board. The industrial context 1

The characteristics of the major part of the radioactive waste generated in France are determined by those of the French nuclear power generation fleet, and of the spent fuel reprocessing plants, built in compliance with the principle of reprocessing such fuel, to partition such materials as remain recoverable for energy purposes (uraniumand plutonium), and waste (fission productsand minor actinides), not amenable to recycling in the current state of the art. 58 enriched-uranium pressurized-water reactors (PWRs) have been put on stream by French national utility EDF, from 1977 (Fessenheim) to 1999 (Civaux), forming a second generation of reactors, following the first generation, which mainly comprised 8 UNGG (natural uranium, graphite, gas) reactors, now all closed down, and, in the case of the older reactors, in the course of decommis- sioning. Some 20 of these PWRs carry out the industrial recycling of plutonium, included in MOX fuel, supplied since 1995 by the Melox plant, at Marcoule (Gard département, Southern France). EDF is contemplating the gradual replacement of the current PWRs by third-generation reactors, belonging to the selfsame pressurized-water reactor pathway, of the EPR (European Pressurized-Water Reactor) type, designed by Areva NP (formerly Framatome–ANP), a division of the Areva Group. The very first EPR is being built in Finland, the first to be built in France being sited at Flamanville (Manche département, Western France). The major part of spent fuel from the French fleet currently undergoes reprocessing at the UP2-800(1) plant, which has been operated at La Hague (Manche département), since 1994, by Areva NC (formerly Cogema,) another member of the Areva Group (the UP3 plant, put on stream in 1990–92, for its part, carries out reprocessing of fuel from other countries). The waste vitrification workshops at these plants, the outcome of development work initiated at Marcoule, give their name (R7T7) to the “nuclear” glass used for the confinement of long-lived, high-level waste. A fourth generation of reactors could emerge from 2040 (along with new reprocessing plants), a prototype being built by 2020. These could be fast-neutron reactors (i.e. fast reactors [FRs]), either sodium-cooled (SFRs) or gas-cooled (GFRs). Following the closing down of the Superphénix reactor, in 1998, only one FR is operated in France, the Phénix reactor, due to be closed down in 2009.

(1) A reengineering of the UP2-400 plant, which, after the UP1 plant, at Marcoule, had been intended to reprocess spent fuel from the UNGG pathway.