Recycling and transmutation of nuclear waste

European Commission Directorate-General For Research And Innovation

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Nuclear energy and safety

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• Publié par: EUROPEAN-COMMISSION-DIRECTORATE-GENERAL-FOR-RESEARCH-AND-INNOVATION
• Nombre de lectures: 12
• EAN13: 928276186
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

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ISSN 1018-5593
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European Commission
Wr Ä™
nude
and UII1IU'
Recycling and transmutation
of nuclear waste
Report
!UR 16750 EN European Commission
nuclear science
and technology
Recycling and transmutation
of nuclear waste
K. Abrahams, J. L. Kloosterman, H. Gruppelaar (ECN)
P. Brusselaers, G. Evrard, A. La Fuente, Th. Maldague, S. Pilate, A. Renard (BN)
ECN-Petten
Westerduinweg 3, Postbus 1
1755 Petten
The Netherlands
Belgonucléaire
Avenue Ariane 4
Β-1200 Brussels
Contract No FI2W-CT91-0104
Final report
Work performed as part of the European Atomic Energy Community's
shared-cost programme (1990-94) 'Management and
storage of radioactive waste'
Task 1 : 'Studies of management systems'
Directorate-General
Science, Research and Development
1996 EUR 16750 EN LEGAL NOTICE
Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on
behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the
following information
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 1996
ISBN 92-827-6186-X
© ECSC-EC-EAEC, Brussels · Luxembourg, 1996
Reproduction is authorized, except for commercial purposes, provided the source is acknowledged
Printed in Luxembourg Table of Contents
Chapter I: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ι
1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. BENEFITS AND RISKS OF TRANSMUTATION 4
3. TRANSMUTATION OF FISSION PRODUCTS 7
4.N OF ACTINIDES 10
5. NUCLEAR DATA LIBRARIES FOR TRANSMUTATION3
6. CONCLUSIONS FROM THE PRESENT STUDY6
7. REFERENCES 17
Chapter Π: TRANSMUTATION OF Tc-99 AND 1-129 21
Chapter Π.1:N OF Tc-99 and 1-129 IN FISSION REACTORS 23
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Radiotoxicity of spent fuel 23
1.2 Mobility of nuclides5
1.3 Expected dose rates to the population
1.4 Transmutation of Tc-99 and 1-1299
2. TRANSMUTATION OF TC-99 and 1-129 IN THERMAL HIGH FLUX REACTORS 32
2.1 Introduction 32
2.2 Model
2.3 Calculations
2.4 Results4
2.5 Influence of extra moderator6
2.6 Conclusions
3. TRANSMUTATION OF TC-99 AND 1-129 IN HEAVY WATER REACTORS 3?
3.1 Introduction7
3.2 Model»
3.3 Standard fuel case 40
3.4 Transmutation of Tc-99 in centre pin (HWR-A1
3.5n of 1-129 in centre pin (HWR-B)3
3.6n of Tc-99 in outer pins (HWR-C)5
3.7 Transmutation of Tc-99 pins in the moderator (HWR-D) 46
3.8n of Tc-99 diluted in ther (HWR-E)
3.9 Conclusions
III 4. TRANSMUTATION OF TC-99 IN FAST REACTORS 49
4.1 Introduction 4
4.2 Data
4.3 Tc-99 pins in moderated subassembly 51
4.49 pins in non-moderatedy5
4.5 Conclusions8
5. TRANSMUTATION OF TC-99 IN LIGHT WATER REACTORS 5
5.1 Introduction 59
5.2 Model
5.3 Results for U02 fuel0
5.4s for MOX fuel 63
5.5 Conclusions4
6. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS5
7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS7
REFERENCES8
Chapter Π.2: RECYCLING OF Tc-99 AND 1-129 IN PWR 71
1. INTRODUCTION 7
2. CALCULATIONAL DESCRIPTION5
3. HYPOTHESIS on RECYCLING
3.1 Heterogeneous recycling
3.2 Homogeneousgg
4. RESULTS
79
4.1 Transmutation rate9
4.2 Incidence on the Nuclear Characteristics of the Assembly 80
5. OVERMODERATION of the HOST FUEL ASSEMBLIES3
6. CONCLUSIONS 85
Chapter ΙΠ: TRANSMUTATION OF AMERICIUM 87
Chapter DTI: INCENTIVES FOR TRANSMUTATION OF AMERICIUM IN 89
THERMAL REACTORS
1. INTRODUCTION9
2. PRODUCTION OF AMERICIUM 90
3. RADIOTOXICnY OF AMERICIUM
IV 4. TRANSMUTATION OF AMERICIUM 91
4.1 Introduction
4.2 First Objective3
4.3 Seconde5
4.4 Third Objective7
5. INERT MATRICES8
6. CONCLUSIONS 99
Chapter ΠΙ.2: IMPACT ON FUEL REFABRICATION 101
1. INTRODUCTION 10
2. HYPOTHESES FOR RECYCLING IN LWR2
3. SOME RESULTS OF PWR PHYSICS CALCULATIONS4
3.1 Method of Calculation
3.2 Pu Core7
3.3 Combined Pu + Am Recycling
3.4 Safety Considerations ,QQ
4. HYPOTHESES FOR THE FUEL REFABRICATION IMPACT EVALUATION 110
4.1 Scope 11
4.2 Calculation Methodology
4.3 Simulated Recycling Scenario2
5. RADIATION PROTECTION6
5.1 Fabrication Plant Conditions for the Radioprotection Analysis 11
5.2 Analysis of the Radioactive Sources8
5.3 Dose Rate Evaluations 130
6. CRmCALITY SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS4
7. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS7
V Chapter I
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
K. Abrahams, J.L. Kloosterman, and H. Gruppelaar (ECN)
Abstract
A "Strategy study on nuclear waste transmutation" by ECN and Belgonucléaire fits in the
frame of the EU R&D programme 199011994 on management and storage of radioactive
waste under contract FI 2W-CT 91-0104. This study has been executed in collaboration
with AEA Technology, CEA and Siemens. The Petten contributions to this work are
presented in five reports [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]: first of all on the "Motivation for transmuting
long-lived radioactive products" [1], next "Transmutation of Tc-99 and 1-129 in fission
reactors" [2] has been studied for the LWR, HFR, Superphénix, and the CANDU reactor.
Recycling of Tc-99 and 1-129 in a PWR has been studied by Belgonucléaire [3]. Both ref
[2] and [3] appear in chapter II of the present report. Cross section libraries have been
improved by ECN, and treated in a report entitled "New European Cross-Section Data
Libraries for ORIGEN-S Based on JEF2.2 and EAF3" [4]. This study has been amended
by "A Graphical Representation of Important Reactions for Activation of Cladding and
Inert Matrix Materials" [5]. By means of the derived new data libraries, some sample
calculations called "Incentives for Transmutation of Americium in Thermal Reactors" have
been performed [6]. Chapter I of the present report introduces and summarizes the
contributions given in refs [4, 5, 6] and presents some conclusions. Belgonucléaire
examined the implications of recycling plutonium and americium in the form of MOX fuel
in light water reactors and this contribution has been represented in a report [7], which
largely has been taken over as chapter III of the present final report.
It became clear from this study that transmutation of the existing plutonium has the
highest priority and that reduction of minor-actinides is next on the priority list. Thirdly,
the (difficult) large-scale transmutation of Tc-99 and of 1-129 could reduce the leakage
dose risks. Any further reduction of these already marginal leakage dose-risks could result
from control of Cl-36 releases, and the restraint of shallow land burial of waste, which
contains the naturally occurring Ό-234, as this will in the long run lead to a substantial
increase of the "natural" radon dose in the neighbourhood of the storage facility.