The Potential Role of the Thorium Fuel Cycle in Reducing the Radiotoxicity of Long-Lived Waste - 13477
- The UK's National Nuclear Laboratory, Preston Laboratory, Preston, PR4 0XJ (United Kingdom)
The thorium (or more accurately the Th-232/U-233) fuel cycle is attracting growing interest world wide and one reason for this is the reduced radiotoxicity of long-lived waste, with the Th- 232/U-233 fuel cycle often being justified partly on the grounds of low radiotoxicity for long cooling times. This paper considers the evolution of heavy metal radiotoxicity in a Molten Salt Fast Reactor (MSFR) operating a closed Th-232/U-233 cycle during different operational phases. The paper shows that even in the MSFR core, the equilibrium radiotoxicity of the thorium fuel cycle is only reached after almost 100 years of operation. MSFR was chosen because it has many theoretical advantages that favour the Th-232/U-233 fuel cycle. Conventional solid fuel systems would be expected to behave similarly, but with even longer timescales and therefore the MSFR cycle can be used to define the limits of what is practically achievable. The results are used to argue the case that a fair approach to justifying the Th-232/U-233 breeder cycle should not quote the long term equilibrium radiotoxicity, but rather the somewhat less favourable radiotoxicity that could be achieved within the operational lifetime of the first generation of Th-232/U-233 breeder reactors. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22225060
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-13-WM-13477; TRN: US14V0637046015
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2013: Waste Management Conference: International collaboration and continuous improvement, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 24-28 Feb 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France; 5 refs.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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