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Thorium Energy from Accelerator- Gy Driven Reactors

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Thorium Energy from Accelerator- Gy Driven Reactors Thorium Energy From Accelerator- Driven Reactors Stuar t H en derson Associate Laboratory Director for Accelerators The Challenge 2 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Advantages of Thorium • As a resource, Thorium is ~4 times more abundant than U-238, 400 times more abundant than U-235 AbdAs abundant as ldlead • There is enough Thorium to power the needs of the planet for hundreds of thousands of years • Thorium currently costs only US$30/kg, while the price of Uranium has risen above $100/kg, not including costs for enrihichmen t an dfd fue lfbil fabrica tion. • The Th/U fuel cycle produces vastly smaller quantities of problematic wastes (minor actinides) • The Th/U fuel cycle is considered proliferation-resistant coproduction of a highly radioactive isotope, U-232, provides a hig h radiati on barr ier to discourage the ft an d pro liferati on o f spent fuel. 3 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Deploying Thorium Energy: Three Approaches Thorium fuel in solid form in conventional reactors Thorium as fuel in molten-salt reactors Accelerator-driven Subcritical Reactors using Thorium fuel C. Rubbia,,gyp Energy Amplifier 4 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 The Energy Amplifier 13MW Accelerator 600 MW Elec tr ica l Power 20-30 MW eltillectrical 1550MW Thermal Power 5 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) 6 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactors High-power, highly reliable proton accelerator Spallation neutron target system • ~1 GeV beam energy • Provides external source of • ~1 MW of beam power for neutrons thhllihrough spallation demonstration reaction on heavy metal • Tens of MW beam power for target Industrial-Scale System • ~25 neutrons produced per incident proton Subcritical reactor • Core is designed to remain subcritical in all conditions (k< 1) • Chain reaction sustained by external neutron source • Can use Th fuel or fuel with large minor actinide content 7 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Applications of Accelerator Driven Systems • Accelerator Driven Systems may be employed to address several missions, including: Transmuting selected isotopes present in nuclear waste (e.g., actinides, fission products) to reduce the burden these isotopes place on geologic repositories. Generating electricity and/or process heat. Producing fissile materials for subsequent use in critical or sub-critical systems by irradiating ftillfertile elemen ts. 8 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 What do Accelerators Bring to the Table? • Subcritical core design means that the reaction cannot reach criticality External neutron source is eliminated when the beam is terminated IhInherent sa fety • Greater flexibility with respect to fuel composition ADS can burn fuels which are problematic from the standpoint of critical reactor operation, namely, fuels that would degrade neutronics of the core to unacceptable levels Can bu rn isotopes fr om spen t n ucl ear f uel , in cl udin g min or actinides and plutonium The reactor serves a dual function as an energy amplifier and a waste burner • ADS allows the use of non-fissile fuels (e.g. Th) without the incorporation of U or Pu into fresh fuel. • Changes in reactivity can be compensated with accelerator beam power 9 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Accelerator Beam Power Requirements 10 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Accelerator Requirements and Capabilities 11 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 ADS Accelerator Requirements and Challenges • Proton beam energy in the ~GeV range Efficient production of spallation neutrons Energy well -matched to subcritical core design Minimize capital cost • Continuous-wave beam in the > 10 MW regime High power required for industrial systems to justify capital expense • Low beamloss fractions to allow hands-on maintenance of accelerator components (< 1 W/m) 1 W/m pro ton loss ac tiva tes SS t o ~100 mRem/hhr • Accommodate high deposited power density (~1 MW/liter) in the target. • Beam Trip Frequency: thermal stress and fatigue in reactor structural elements and fuel assembly sets stringent requirements on accelerator reliability • Ava ila bility typ ica l o f mo dern nuc lear power p lants 12 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Accelerator Technology Choices • Cyclotrons High average current (<10 mA) Low energy (< 800 MeV) CiContinuous beam • Synchrotrons Low average current (μAtoA to mA) High energy (GeV to TeV) Pulsed beam • Linear Acce lera tors High average current (up to 100mA) Medium energy ( few GeV) Pulsed or continuous beam • New technologies (Fixed-field alternating gradient synchrotrons) Attractive features, but at prototyping stage 13 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 High Power Proton Accelerators: Some History 2006: SNS 1999:Main 1985: ISIS Injector 1974: PSI 1972: LANSCE 1950s: Materials Test 14 Accelerator ADS Technology Readiness Assessment Accelerators have come a long way in the last two decades Transmutation Industrial‐Scale Power Demonstration Transmutation Generation Front‐End System Performance Reliability Accelerating RF Structure Development System and Performance Linac Cost Optimization Reliability RF Plant Performance Cost Optimization Reliability Beam Delivery Performance Target Systems Performance Reliability Instrumentation Performance and Control Beam Dynamics Emittance/halo growth/beamloss Lattice design Reliability Rapid SCL Fault Recovery System Reliability Engineering Analysis Green: “ready”, Yellow: “may be ready, but demonstration or further analysis is required”, Red: “more development is required”. 15 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Fermilab’s Next Accelerator: Project X 16 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Project X Configuration >2MW @120 GeV 3MW@33 MW @ 3 GeV 150 kW @ 8 GeV • Unique capability to provide multi-MW beams to multiple experiments simultaneously, with variable bunch formats. • Provides U.S. Particle Physics leadership for decades, and can serve as a powerful testbed for advanced nuclear systems, such as an Accelerator Driven Reactor 17 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Project X and Potential for ADS • A demonstration facility that couples a subcritical assembly to a high-power accelerator requires 1-2 MW beam power in the GeV range • The 3 GeV Project X CW Linac has many of the elements of a prototypical ADS Linac • The Project X CW Linac is ideallyyp suited to power a demonstration facility with focus on: Target system and subcritical assembly technology development and demonstration Demonstration of transmutation technologies and support for fuel studies Materials irradiation High reliability component development, fault tolerant linac and rapid fault recovery development • We are attracting interest from other collaborators and National LbLabora tor ies 18 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Finally • Thorium holds the promise as a real game-changer • Thorium has significant advantages on both the front- end of the fuel cycle (resource availability, utilization and cost) and on the back-end of the fuel cycle (waste, proliferation) • The potential of particle accelerators in the fuel cycle , and in deploying thorium energy, has become much stronger in the last decade thanks to significant technological advances • Fermilab’s next accelerator, Project-X, is ideally suited to develop and demonstrate this technology Accelerator Driven Thorium Reactors may well be the future of Nuclear Energy 19 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 Backup Materials 20 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 The Beam Power Landscape: Existing Fermilab Project-X 21 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 DOE ADS Working Group Recent interest in Accelerator Driven Systems in the US motivated a reassessment of accelerator technology “Accelerator and Target Technology for Accelerator Driven Transmutation and Energy Production” http://science.energy.gov/~/media /hep/pdf/files/pdfs/ADS_White_Paper_final.pdf 22 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 ADS-Relevant Technology Development in the Last 10-15 Years • Modern, MW-class high power proton accelerators based on superconducting technology exist and operate with acceptable beam loss rates (Spallation SNS Neutron Source) Superconducting Linac • High-power Injector technology has been built aadnd demo nst rated ADS - level performance (100 MW equivalent) with beam (Low-Energy Demonstration LEDA RFQ Accelerator at Los Alamos) Accelerator 23 S. Henderson, Thorium Energy Alliance, May 31, 2012 ADS-Relevant Technology Development in the Last 10-15 Years • Superconducting radiofrequency structures have been bu ilt to cover a broa d range of particle velocities (from v/c=0.04 to 1). Use of SRF offers potential for achieving high reliability • Liquid-metal target systems have operated with MW proton beams (Pb- Bi loop -MegaPIE @@, PSI, liquid Hg @ SNS) • Keyyg technologies relevant to ADS a pplications that existed only on paper ~15 years ago have 24 sinceS. Henderson, been Thorium developed Energy Alliance, May and 31, 2012 demonstrated Recent Reliability Developments • More than any other requirement, the maximum allowable beam trip frequency has been the most problematic, and in many ways has been perceived as a “show-stopper” • Conventional wisdom held that beam trips
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