Preliminary assessment of partitioning and transmutation as a radioactive waste management concept

Technical Report · Thu Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1977

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7289771· OSTI ID:7289771

Croff, A. G.; Tedder, D. W.; Drago, J. P.; Blomeke, J. O.; Perona, J. J.

Partitioning (separating) the actinide elements from nuclear fuel cycle wastes and transmuting (burning) them to fission products in power reactors represents a potentially advanced concept of radioactive waste management which could reduce the long-term (greater than 1000 years) risk associated with geologic isolation of wastes. The greatest uncertainties lie in the chemical separations technology needed to recover greater than 99 percent of the actinides during the reprocessing of spent fuels and their refabrication as fresh fuels or target elements. Preliminary integrated flowsheets based on modifications of the Purex process and supplementary treatment by oxalate precipitation and ion exchange indicate that losses of plutonium in reprocessing wastes might be reduced from about 2.0 percent to 0.1 percent, uranium losses from about 1.7 percent to 0.1 percent, neptunium losses from 100 percent to about 1.2 percent, and americium and curium from 100 percent to about 0.5 percent. Mixed oxide fuel fabrication losses may be reduced from about 0.5 percent to 0.06 percent for plutonium and from 0.5 percent to 0.04 percent for uranium. Americium losses would be about 5.5 percent for the reference system. Transmutation of the partitioned actinides at a rate of 5 to 7 percent per year is feasible in both fast and thermal reactors, but additional studies are needed to determine the most suitable strategy for recycling them to reactors and to assess the major impacts of implementing the concept on fuel cycle operations and costs. It is recommended that the ongoing program to evaluate the feasibility, impacts, costs, and incentives of implementing partitioning-transmutation be continued until a firm assessment of its potentialities can be made. At the present level of effort, achievement of this objective should be possible by 1980. 27 tables, 50 figures.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., Tenn. (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-26
• OSTI ID: 7289771
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-5808
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052001* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Processing
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ACTINIDES
DIAGRAMS
ELEMENTS
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FLOWSHEETS
FUEL CYCLE
FUEL FABRICATION PLANTS
FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS
LOSSES
MANAGEMENT
METALS
MIXED OXIDE FUEL FABRICATION PLANTS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PROCESSING
PUREX PROCESS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
REPROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TRANSMUTATION
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING