Disposal of long-lived fission products into the outer solar system
- Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, 11973 (United States)
We propose approach to dispose of Long-Lived Fission Products (LLFPs) of type II such as {sup 99}Tc and {sup 129}I into outer solar space by providing an escape velocity from the solar system of 42 km/sec from a parking orbit or the moon's surface using a electrostatic accelerator and neutralizing the charged ions. LLFPs disposed uniformly in outer solar space pose no hazard as do LLFPs packages in Earth orbit, and have no effects on astronomical observations. This mode of disposition requires energy in the order of 1 keV for each nucleus, which is far smaller than the propulsion energy needed for launching a LLFPs package by rocket. Further, the power required of an accelerator ejecting most of the LLFPs generated by one LWR is 2.2 kW, which is much smaller than a medium-energy proton accelerator, a few tens of MW, which would be necessary to transmute these LLFPs using spallation neutrons created by protons. Ion thrusters, which has been developed for maneuvering rocket, might be used for disposition of LLFP instead of the a static accelerator, its usability is discussed. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21167880
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ICAPP'02: 2002 International congress on advances in nuclear power plants, Hollywood, FL (United States), 9-13 Jun 2002; Other Information: Country of input: France; 17 refs
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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