ORNL/TM-2016/661 A Summary of Actinide Enrichment Technologies and Capability Gaps Bradley Patton Sharon Robinson January 2017 Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited. DOCUMENT AVAILABILITY Reports produced after January 1, 1996, are generally available free via US Department of Energy (DOE) SciTech Connect. 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ORNL/TM-2016/661 Nuclear Security and Isotope Technology Division A SUMMARY OF ACTINIDE ENRICHMENT TECHNOLOGIES AND CAPABILITY GAPS Bradley Patton Sharon Robinson Date Published: January 2017 Prepared by OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6283 managed by UT-BATTELLE, LLC for the U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY under contract DE-AC05-00OR2275 CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................v ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. ix FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................. xi EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... xiii 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................1 2. HISTORY OF ACTINIDE ENRICHMENT............................................................................3 2.1 ELECTROMAGNETIC ISOTOPE SEPARATION .......................................................3 2.1.1 ORNL Calutron Electromagnetic Isotope Enrichment Facility ..........................3 2.1.2 Former USSR Calutron Electromagnetic Isotope Enrichment Facilities ............6 2.1.3 Idaho Scandinavian Electromagnetic Isotope Enrichment Facility ....................9 2.1.4 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer ......................................................................................................10 2.1.5 ORNL Enriched Stable Isotope Production Facility .........................................11 2.2 IRRADIATION .............................................................................................................12 2.3 OTHER SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES ................................................................12 2.3.1 Gaseous Centrifuge ...........................................................................................13 2.3.2 Laser and Plasma Separations ...........................................................................13 2.3.3 Physical-chemical Separations ..........................................................................14 3. POTENTIAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR FUTURE ACTINIDE ENRICHMENT ..................15 3.1 INDIVIDUAL ENRICHMENT TECHNOLOGIES.....................................................15 3.2 COMBINED ENRICHMENT TECHNOLOGIES .......................................................16 4. ACTINIDE ENRICHMENT REQUIREMENTS ..................................................................19 5. ENRICHMENT TECHNOLOGY GAPS ..............................................................................25 5.1 CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS ...............................................................................25 5.2 SHIELDING CONSIDERATIONS ..............................................................................26 5.3 PRE- AND POST ENRICHMENT REQUIREMENTS ...............................................26 5.4 SUPPORT SYSTEMS ..................................................................................................28 5.5 ORNL ACTINIDE ENRICHMENT STUDY ...............................................................28 5.6 CBNM ACTINIDE ENRICHMENT STUDY ..............................................................28 5.7 CROSS CONTAMINATION .......................................................................................32 6. CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................35 7. REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................37 iii LIST OF FIGURES Fig. 1. EIEF calutron magnets. ..................................................................................................................... 5 Fig. 2. RFNC-VNIIEF alpha mass separator. ............................................................................................... 7 Fig. 3. RFNC-VNIIEF glove boxes. ............................................................................................................. 8 Fig. 4. INL mass separator. ......................................................................................................................... 10 Fig. 5. ORNL EMIS device. ....................................................................................................................... 12 Fig. 6. Amount of 242Pu allowed in a DOE radiological facility as a function of enrichment. ................... 22 Fig. 7. Existing enrichment capabilities compared to future requirements. ................................................ 25 Fig. 8. EMIS enrichment process support requirements. ............................................................................ 29 Fig. 9. Concept for an actinide isotope separator (Berg et al. 1985). .......................................................... 30 Fig. 10. Sequence of operations in an actinide handling facility (Berg et al. 1985). .................................. 31 Fig. 11. Concept for equipment layout for an actinide handling facility (Berg et al. 1985). ...................... 33 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Actinide enrichment projections ................................................................................................... xv Table 2. Isotope content of highly enriched actinides produced in EIEF ..................................................... 6 Table 3. Isotope content of highly enriched materials produced by RFNC-VNIIEF.................................... 8 Table 4. Comparison of enrichment technologies ...................................................................................... 15 Table 5. Cost effectiveness of isotopes enrichment processes .................................................................... 16 Table 6. Beneficial uses of enriched actinide radioisotopes ....................................................................... 20 Table 7. Actinide enrichment projections ................................................................................................... 21 Table 8. Preliminary enrichment requirements ........................................................................................... 27 v ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS AIS Advanced Isotope Separation AVLIS Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation CBNM Central Bureau for Nuclear Measurements CRM Certified Reference Material DOE US Department of Energy EIEF Electromagnetic Isotope Enrichment Facility EMIS Electromagnetic Isotope Separation ESIPP Enriched Stable Isotope Pilot Plant GCIS Gas Centrifuge Isotope Separation HFIR High Flux Isotope Reactor IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency ICP-MS inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer IDMS isotope dilution mass spectrometry MLIS Molecular Laser Isotope Separation INL Idaho National Laboratory ONMI DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Office of Nuclear Materials Integration ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory PNNL Pacific Northwest National Laboratory PSP Plasma Separation Process R&D research and development RFNC-VNIIEF Russian Federal Nuclear Center–All Russian Scientific Research Institute for Experimental