Analysis of the ATW fuel cycle using the REBUS-3 code system
Partitioning and transmutation strategies are under study in several countries as a means of reducing the long-term hazards of spent fuel and other high-level nuclear waste. Various reactor and accelerator-driven system concepts have been proposed to transmute the long-lived radioactive nuclei of waste into stable or short-lived species. Among these concepts, the accelerator-driven transmutation of waste (ATW) system has been proposed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory for rapid destruction of transuranic actinides and long-lived fission products ({sup 99}Tc and {sup 129}I). The current reference ATW concept employs a subcritical, liquid-metal-cooled, fast-spectrum nuclear subsystem. Because the discharged fuel is recycled, analysis of ATW nuclear performance requires modeling of the external cycle as well as the in-core fuel management. The fuel cycle analysis of ATW can be performed rigorously using Monte Carlo calculations coupled with detailed depletion calculations. However, the inefficiency of this approach makes it impractical, particularly in view of (a) the large number of fuel cycle calculations needed for design optimization and (b) the need to represent complex in-core and out-of-core fuel cycle operations. To meet the need for design-oriented capabilities, tools previously developed for fast reactor calculations are being adapted for application to ATW. Here, the authors describe the extension and application of the REBUS-3 code to ATW fuel cycle analysis.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (US)
- OSTI ID:
- 20005830
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Vol. 81; Conference: American Nuclear Society 1999 Winter Meeting, Long Beach, CA (US), 11/14/1999--11/18/1999; Other Information: PBD: 1999; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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