An overview of spent-fuel processing in the global nuclear-energy partnership
- Applied Science and Technology Directorate, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
Spent nuclear fuel is being generated at a prodigious rate in the U.S. and in other countries with robust nuclear-power-generation infrastructures, and the annual rate of production is likely to triple by 2050. The U.S. is engaged in the development of commercial light-water-reactor spent- fuel-treatment processes that are intended to meet certain rigorous criteria for separations efficiency, waste management benefits, and economy of industrial-scale operations. Aqueous solvent-extraction processes are the technology of choice, and a variety of process options have been designed and tested for technical feasibility. In general, the processes involve substantial partitioning of the constituents of spent nuclear fuel, so that effective use can be made of the recovered unburned uranium and other fissile isotopes that can be recycled as fuel for contemporary or advanced reactors. Those constituents that are destined for disposal as waste are also separated in order that they can be placed into durable waste forms that are expressly tailored for a particular disposition pathway. The U.S. is also working with international partners as part of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) to develop a consistent worldwide approach to the treatment of spent fuel and the disposition of wastes arising from such processing. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21230382
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ISEC 2008: International Solvent Extraction Conference on Solvent Extraction: Fundamentals to Industrial Applications, Tucson, AZ (United States), 15-19 Sep 2008; Other Information: Country of input: France; Related Information: In: Proceedings of ISEC 2008, International Solvent Extraction Conference - Solvent Extraction: Fundamentals to Industrial Applications, by Moyer, Bruce A. (ed.), 1740 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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