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Use of Fast Reactors for Actiniae Transmutation IAEA-TECDOC-693 Use of fast reactors for actiniae transmutation Proceedings Specialistsa of Meeting held in Obninsk, Russian Federation, 22-24 September 1992 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY Duz/—A\ March 1993 The IAEA does not normally maintain stocks of reports in this series. However, microfiche copies of these reports can be obtained from INIS Clearinghouse International Atomic Energy Agency Wagramerstrasse 5 P.O.Bo0 10 x A-1400 Vienna, Austria Orders should be accompanied by prepayment of Austrian Schillings 100, for e fore chequ a th f m IAEth f mo n i o n i r Aeo microfiche service coupons orderee whicb y hdma separately fro INIe mth S Clearinghouse. US FASF EO T REACTOR ACTINIDR SFO E TRANSMUTATION IAEA, VIENNA, 1993 IAEA-TECDOC-693 ISSN 1011-4289 Printed by the IAEA in Austria March 1993 FOREWORD n importanA t feature activitieth e Internationaf th o e f o s l Atomic Energy o assist Agenc s i ty Membe re safth Statee n i handlins d an g managemen f nucleao t r powe d spenan r t nuclear fued radioactivan l e wastes that arise from the use of nuclear energy. e managemenTh y issuef ke radioactivo t n e i sth f o ee on wast s i e today's political and public discussions on nuclear energy, especially the long term disposa f higo l h level radioactive wastes. Rather than waiting for their radioactive s decayprincipalli t i , y possibl o reduct e e th e period of toxicity of the actinides and long lived fission products through transmutatio f thesno e isotope fission si n reactor acceleratorsr so . The recycling of plutonium in liquid metal fast breeder reactors (LMFBRs) would allow 'burning' of the associated extremely long life transuranic waste, particularly actinides, thus reducing the required isolation timr higfo eh level waste from ten f thousando s f yearo s o t s hundreds of years for fission products only. This additional important mission for the LMFBR is gaining worldwide interest. In the past years, an increasing number of studies have been carried out on the advanced waste management strategy (i.e. actinide separation and elimination n i variou) n sa internationa t countriea d an s l level. Recognizing this, the International Working Group on Fast Reactors (IWGFR) decided in 1991 to include the topic of actinide transmutation in liquid metal fast breeder reactor s programmit n i s f specialisto e s meetingst I . was apparent that due to the expansion of supporting research programmes and the fragmented nature of information arising from these various activities it would be beneficial to co-ordinate this topic at an international level. Support for this approach was provided by Member States and, against this background e IAEth ,A organize e Specialistth d f Fasso Meetinte Us n o g Breeder Reactor Actinidr fo s e Transmutatio Obninskn i n , Russian Federation, from 22 to 24 September 1992. e SpecialistTh s Meeting made clea e increasinth r g interese th n i t issue concerning long lived radioactive nuclides and toxicity aspects in nuclear waste management and the desirability to work out a co-ordinated approac s solutionit o t h . e potentiaTh f o fasl t reactor r reducinfo s e lonth gg term radiotoxicit f speno y t fuel justifie n activa s e programm f conceivino e d an g developing technologie r fo recoverins g transuranic r fo in—cors e transmutation. EDITORIAL NOTE In preparing this material press,the Internationalthe for staffof Atomic Energy Agency have mounted and paginated the original manuscripts as submitted by the authors and given some attention to the presentation. The views expressed papers,the statementsin the general the made and style adoptedthe are responsibility namedthe of authors. necessarilyviewsnot The do reflect governmentsthosethe of of the Member States organizationsor under whose auspices manuscriptsthe were produced. The use in this book of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of specific companies or of their products or brand names does not imply any endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. Authors are themselves responsible for obtaining the necessary permission to reproduce copyright material from other sources. CONTENTS Summary of the Specialists Meeting ...................................................................... 7 BACKGROUND PAPER Status of transmutation ....................................................................................... 13 L. Koch NATIONAL PROGRAMMES ON TRANSMUTATION OF MINOR ACTINIDES AND LONG LIVED FISSION PRODUCTS IN FBRs (Session 1) United States national program on actiniae recycle (Summary) ...................................... 21 KhalilH. Long lived wastes transmutation studie Francn i s e ....................................................2 2 . M. Salvatores, C. Prunier, P. Bergeonneau, A. Zaetta, H. Sztark, G. Vambenepe, J. Vergnes Minor actinides recycling in an EFR type fast neutron reactor ...................................... 24 H. Sztark, G. Vambenepe, J. Vergnes, A. Zaetta Partitionin transmutatiod gan n researc developmend han t program (OMEGA) in Japan .....................................................................................................0 3 . T. Mukaiyama Statu f minoo s r actinide transmutation stud t CRIEPya I .............................................7 3 . Sasahara,A. KurataM. Statu f woro s transmutation ko Switzerlann ni d (Summary) .........................................2 4 . G. Ledergerber, P. Wydler, R.W. Stratton Scientific research program on actinide transmutation by use of fast reactors .................... 43 L.A. Kochetkov, A.G. Zcykunov PHYSICS ASPECTS OF TRANSMUTATION OF MINOR ACTINIDES AND LONG LIVED FISSION PRODUCTS IN FBRs (Session 2) Reactor aspect f electronucleaso r transmutatio f actinideno heave th n yi s water high flux blankets. Analysis of problems ............................................................. 49 E.V. Gai, A.V. Ignatyuk, N.S. Rabotnov, A.A. Seregin, Yu.N. Shubin Some physics aspects of minor actinide recycling in fast reactors .................................. 55 U.K. Wehmann Rol f faseo t reactor reduction i s f lonno g lived waste ................................................8 5 . A.G. Tsikunov, V.S. Kagramanyan, L.A Kochetkov, V.I. Matveyev Actinide transmutatio advancee th n ni d liquid metal reactor (ALMR) ............................1 6 . C.L. Cockey Minor actinide containing fuels for transmutation purposes .......................................... 67 Koch,L. Coquerelle,M. RichterK. Physics considerations in the design of liquid metal reactors for transuranium element consumption ...................................................................................... 70 H. Khalil, R. Hill, E. Fujita, D. Wade ENGINEERING ASPECT TRANSMUTATIOF SO N USING FAST REACTORS (Session 3) Radiowaste transmutation in nuclear reactors ............................................................ 77 A.N. Shmelev, G.G. Kulikov, V.A. Apse, V.B. Glebov, D.F. Tsurikov, A.G. Morozov Minor actiniae transmutatio fission ni n reactor fued an sl cycle considerations ..................6 8 . T. Mukaiyama, H. Yoshida, T. Ogawa Homogeneous recyclin f minogo rtypR actinideeEF fasn a t n i sreacto r ..........................4 9 . H.W. Wiese, KriegB. Characteristic transmutatioU TR f o s LMFBn a n ni R .................................................9 9 . T. Wakabayashi, M. Yamaoka Experimental investigations concernin problee gth f minomo r actinide transmutation ..........9 10 . S.M. Bednyakov, V.A. Doulin, Matveenko,LP. A.M. Tsibulya, A.V. Zvonarev A concep f specializeo t d fast reacto minor fo r r actinide burning ...................................4 11 . V.I. Matveyev, A.P. Ivanov, EfimenkoEM. The proposed fuel actinide cyclth f eo e burning fast reactor DOVITA (Summary) .............8 11 . A.V. Bychkov, A.A. Mayorishin, O.V. Skiba Reduction of minor actinides in nuclear waste via multiple recycling in fast reactors .......... 119 A.F. Renard, Pilate, S. Fuente, La A. JourJ. Vambenepe, net,G. VergnesJ. List of Participants ............................................................................................ 125 SUMMAR SPECIALISTE TH F YO S MEETING The Specialists Meeting on Use of Fast Breeder Reactors for Actiniae Transmutation was held in Obninsk, Russian Federation, from 22 to 24 September 1992. The meetin s sponsore wa ge Internationa th y b d l Atomic Energy Agency on the recommendation of the International Working Group on Fast Reactors e Instituts anhosteth wa d y b d f Physico e d Powean s r Engineering (IPPEn )i Obninsk. The meeting was attended by 23 participants from eight countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom and USA)o Internationatw , l organizations (IAE 2 observer1 d CEC an Ad )an s from Russia. The meeting was opened by Mr. L.A. Kochetkov, Deputy Director of IPPE, who welcomed the participants on behalf of the Ministry of the Russian Federatio n Atomio n ce IPPE Energth .d Referrinan y e subjecth o t gt of this Specialists Meeting, he emphasized the importance of the advanced waste management strategy (i.e. actinide separation and elimination). Mr. V. Arkhipov of the IAEA presented a review of IAEA activities in the field of minor actinide transmutation. The meeting was chaired by Mr. L.A. Kochetkov. Mr. L. Koch presented a background paper on the status of transmutation,
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