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Physics and Safety of Transmutation Systems a Status Report

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Physics and Safety of Transmutation Systems a Status Report Nuclear Science ISBN 92-64-01082-3 Physics and Safety of Transmutation Systems A Status Report © OECD 2006 NEA No. 6090 NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD. OECD Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation’s statistics gathering and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members. * * * This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. NUCLEAR ENERGY AGENCY The OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) was established on 1st February 1958 under the name of the OEEC European Nuclear Energy Agency. It received its present designation on 20th April 1972, when Japan became its first non-European full member. NEA membership today consists of 28 OECD member countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities also takes part in the work of the Agency. The mission of the NEA is: to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, as well as to provide authoritative assessments and to forge common understandings on key issues, as input to government decisions on nuclear energy policy and to broader OECD policy analyses in areas such as energy and sustainable development. Specific areas of competence of the NEA include safety and regulation of nuclear activities, radioactive waste management, radiological protection, nuclear science, economic and technical analyses of the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear law and liability, and public information. The NEA Data Bank provides nuclear data and computer program services for participating countries. In these and related tasks, the NEA works in close collaboration with the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, with which it has a Co-operation Agreement, as well as with other international organisations in the nuclear field. © OECD 2006 No reproduction, copy, transmission or translation of this publication may be made without written permission. Applications should be sent to OECD Publishing: [email protected] or by fax (+33-1) 45 24 13 91. Permission to photocopy a portion of this work should be addressed to the Centre Français d’exploitation du droit de Copie, 20 rue des Grands Augustins, 75006 Paris, France ([email protected]). FOREWORD Under the auspices of the NEA Nuclear Science Committee (NSC), the Working Party on Scientific Issues in Partitioning and Transmutation (WPPT) was created in June 2000 to examine and provide information on the status and trends of scientific issues in partitioning and transmutation (P&T). In line with the scope of the WPPT and in order to cover a wide range of different disciplines in the P&T field, four subgroups were formed, each delegated with the task of producing a state-of-the-art report in its specialised field. The four subgroups address: x accelerator utilisation and reliability; x chemical partitioning; x fuels and materials; x physics and safety of transmutation systems. The mission of the Subgroup on Physics and Safety of Transmutation Systems is to: 1) organise theoretical and experiment-based benchmarks on minor actinide burner systems, 2) evaluate beam-trip consequences on accelerator-driven systems, 3) perform sensitivity studies on the main parameters and 4) propose a safety approach for new P&T systems. In carrying out its mission, the Subgroup carried out several benchmark studies and produced the corresponding reports. This status report begins by providing a clear definition of P&T, and then describes the state of the art concerning the challenges facing the implementation of P&T, scenario studies and specific issues related to accelerator-driven system (ADS) dynamics and safety, long-lived fission product transmutation and the impact of nuclear data uncertainty on transmutation system design. Acknowledgements The Secretariat expresses its sincere gratitude to all members of the Subgroup for their valuable contributions and to the authors of this report. Special thanks are conveyed to Ms. Andrea Griffin-Chahid for having prepared the report for publication. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 1 P&T AND THE ROLE OF ADS ................................................................................ 7 1.1 P&T definition and challenges............................................................................... 7 1.2 Intercomparison of specific concepts and fuel cycle systems................................ 15 1.3 Dedicated systems and the role of ADS................................................................. 21 1.4 Implementation of P&T ......................................................................................... 23 References...................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter 2 SCENARIO STUDIES FOR P&T.............................................................................. 33 2.1. Time-dependent P&T studies................................................................................. 33 2.2. Scenario studies for P&T: Overview of software available to perform analyses ................................................................................................ 54 2.3. Scenario studies for P&T: Applications to ADS.................................................... 59 References...................................................................................................................... 71 Appendix 2.1. ................................................................................................................. 73 Appendix 2.2. ................................................................................................................. 75 Appendix 2.3. ................................................................................................................. 77 Chapter 3 SPECIFIC ISSUES ...................................................................................................... 79 3.1. ADS dynamics and safety ...................................................................................... 79 3.2. Long-lived fission product (LLFP) transmutation ................................................. 88 3.3. Nuclear data uncertainty impact on ADS design parameters................................. 100 References...................................................................................................................... 109 List of Contributors.......................................................................................................................... 117 Members of the Subgroup ............................................................................................................... 119 5 Chapter 1 P&T AND THE ROLE OF ADS This chapter will be devoted to a survey of partitioning and transmutation (P&T) and the role of ADS. Many previous publications have discussed these issues; however, it is worthwhile to revisit the subject in light of recent progress in the field. Section 1.1 of this chapter deals with defining P&T and its associated challenges. The physics basis and methods of transmutation will be recalled. In Section 1.2 the intercomparison of different transmutation concepts and modes of recycle will be summarised. Section 1.3 is devoted to systems dedicated to transmutation and to the role of ADS. Finally, Section 1.4 will provide an overview of the issues related to the practical implementation of P&T: scenarios, potential benefits and challenges. 1.1 P&T definition and challenges 1.1.1 Spent fuel from current reactors and the role of partitioning and transmutation (P&T) The spent fuel (or some of its constituents) discharged
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