Parametric Survey for Benefit of Partitioning and Transmutation Technology in Terms of High-level Radioactive Waste Disposal

Oigawa, Hiroyuki; Yokoo, Tetsuya; Nishihara, Kenji; MORITA, Yasuji; Ikeda, Takao; Takaki, Naoyuki

doi:10.3327/jnst.44.398

Cited by 13 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1) Moreover, other MAs, such as 241 Am, are considered to be a major source of heat generation in the repository, particularly in the case of forming vitrified high-level waste from spent MOX fuels. 2) Reduction of the heat generated by high-level waste is effective for reducing its emplacement area in the repository site. For instance, the required emplacement area could be reduced by 63-85% by recovering 99% of MAs additionally from spent LWR-MOX fuel, in comparison with the conventional Purex reprocessing, which merely recovers 99.5% of both uranium and plutonium.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of Transuranium Elements from Real High-Level Liquid Waste by Pyropartitioning Process

Uozumi

Iizuka

Kurata

et al. 2011

J. Nucl. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A pyropartitioning process is under development to recover minor actinide elements from high-level liquid waste (HLLW) generated by Purex reprocessing. This pyropartitioning process consists of a denitration step that converts various elements in the HLLW into oxides, a chlorination step that converts the oxides into chlorides, and a reductive-extraction step that separates the actinide elements from fission products (FPs) in the chlorination product. The feasibility of each step was confirmed using simulating FPs and unirradiated transuranium elements (TRUs). In the present study, approximately 520 g of real HLLW was prepared to demonstrate the feasibility of the pyropartitioning process. Almost 100% of each TRU originally contained in the HLLW was recovered in the liquid cadmium phase in the reductive-extraction step, which showed that the expected chemical reactions were completed and the mass loss of TRUs was negligible in the denitration, chlorination, and reductive-extraction steps. The separation behaviors of actinide elements, including americium and curium, from FPs in the reductive-extraction step were quite similar to those observed in previous experiments using unirradiated materials. Hence, the pyropartitioning process was successfully verified.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recovery of Transuranium Elements from Real High-Level Liquid Waste by Pyropartitioning Process

Uozumi

Iizuka

Kurata

et al. 2011

J. Nucl. Sci. Technol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This reduces the area of high-level waste disposal to 1/5 of that of LWR fuel cycle without minor-actinide recycling or partitioning. 1) A fast reactor fuel cycle with minor-actinide recycling has been studied in the Feasibility Study on Commercialized Fast Reactor Fuel Cycle (FS) and in the Fast Reactor Cycle Technology Development Project (FaCT). The result shows that the fast reactor cycle can contain minor actinides in a closed fuel cycle without continuous disposal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this process, highlevel radioactive waste can be partitioned into four groups of long-lived elements: minor actinides, strontium-cesium, technetium-platinum, and the others, and basic technologies for partitioning have been developed. 1,2) The space required for geometry disposal depends on the concentration of high-level waste in the glass disposal. The glass disposal is arranged in a buffer material made of bentonite and thus has a limit of decay heat temperature up to 100 C to maintain the material properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Thermoelectric-Conversion Power Supply System Using a Strontium Heat Source of High-Level Radioactive Nuclear Waste

Chikazawa

2011

Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A thermoelectric-conversion power supply system with radioactive strontium in high-level radioactive waste has been proposed. A combination of Alkali Metal Thermo-Electric Conversion (AMTEC) and a strontium fluoride heat source can provide a compact and long-lived power supply system. A heat source design with strontium fluoride pin bundles with Hastelloy cladding and intermediate copper has been proposed. This design has taken heat transportation into consideration, and, in this regard, the feasibility has been confirmed by a three-dimensional thermal analysis using Star-CD code. This power supply system with an electric output of 1 MW can be arranged in a space of 50 m 2 and approximately 1.1 m height and can be operated for 15 years without refueling. This compact and long-lived power supply is suitable for powering sources for remote places and middle-sized ships. From the viewpoint of geological disposal of high-level waste, the proposed power supply system provides a financial base for strontiumcesium partitioning. That is, a combination of minor-actinide recycling and strontium-cesium partitioning can eliminate a large part of decay heat in high-level waste and thus can save much space for geological disposal.

show abstract

“…In Japan's current nuclear fuel cycle, the generated spent fuels are reprocessed by the PUREX process, and the resulting high-level radioactive liquid waste (HLLW) is vitrified into glass waste forms. Four different scenarios are assumed for our analysis: 1) Japan's current nuclear fuel cycle, which is referred to as the ''non-PT'' scenario, 2) introduction of the partitioning process (separation of some fission products, FPs), which is referred to as the ''partitioning'' scenario, 3) introduction of the transmutation process (separation and transmutation of minor actinides, MAs), which is referred to as the ''transmutation'' scenario, and 4) introduction of both the partitioning and transmutation processes, which is referred to as the ''partitioning-transmutation'' scenario. In the scenarios involving the partitioning process, calcined waste forms containing Sr and Cs, and glass waste forms containing metals and rare-earth elements (REs) are produced.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Potential benefits of the introduction of PT technology have been analyzed and discussed in terms of reduction in the potential toxicity of the HLW, the public dose from the repository, and the total volume of radioactive wastes. 1) Recent studies have discussed the possibility of downscaling a waste disposal space based on specific disposal concepts [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] from viewpoints of the disposal capacity. Introduction of PT technology to the nuclear fuel cycle will produce waste types that differ from those from the conventional PUREX process.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Partitioning and Transmutation on LWR High-Level Waste Disposal

Nishihara¹,

Nakayama²,

MORITA³

et al. 2008

J. Nucl. Sci. Technol.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Partitioning and/or transmutation (PT) technology affects the disposal concept of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). We studied how cooling in the predisposal storage period may affect the design of the emplacement area in a repository for radioactive wastes produced by a light-water-reactor nuclear system that uses PT technology. Three different fuel cycle scenarios involving PT technology were analyzed: 1) partitioning process only (separation of some fission products), 2) transmutation process only (separation and transmutation of minor actinides), and 3) both partitioning and transmutation. The necessary predisposal storage periods for some predefined emplacement configurations were determined through transient thermal analysis, and the relation between the storage period and the emplacement area was obtained. For each scenario, we also estimated the storage capacity required for the dry storage of the heat-generating waste forms. The contributions of PT technology on the storage and disposal were discussed holistically, and we noted that the coupled introduction of partitioning and transmutation processes can bring an appreciable reduction in waste management size.

show abstract

Parametric Survey for Benefit of Partitioning and Transmutation Technology in Terms of High-level Radioactive Waste Disposal

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Recovery of Transuranium Elements from Real High-Level Liquid Waste by Pyropartitioning Process

Recovery of Transuranium Elements from Real High-Level Liquid Waste by Pyropartitioning Process

A Thermoelectric-Conversion Power Supply System Using a Strontium Heat Source of High-Level Radioactive Nuclear Waste

Impact of Partitioning and Transmutation on LWR High-Level Waste Disposal

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About