Kosуakin D.A., Korobeinikov V.V., Stogov V.Yu.
A.I. Leypunsky Institute for Physics and Power Engineering, Obninsk, Russia
The management of radioactive waste (RW)
from nuclear energy is one of the key issues that determine the acceptability
and scale of development of this industry of energy production. Spent nuclear
fuel (SNF) poses a threat to the environment when released from storage
facilities. Currently, the problem of reliable isolation and neutralization of
radioactive waste attracts great attention. It is clear that a full-scale
demonstration of the technology of reliable disposal of radioactive waste for
hundreds of thousands and millions of years is impossible, if we take into
account the manifestation of such unlikely factors as a change in the state of
the earth's crust or a large meteorite falling into a repository. Therefore, it
is believed that the best way to solve the problem of radioactive waste is
their neutralization. Of particular difficulty in solving this problem are
minor actinides (MA) contained in SNF.
A radical reduction in the volume of MA contained in the SNF of power reactors is
possible due to their transmutation – the conversion of long-lived radioactive
isotopes into short-lived ones, or stable ones when they are irradiated in
nuclear reactors. However, the difference in MA properties, characteristics of
various types of nuclear reactors, and transmutation methods requires a
comprehensive assessment and choice of ways to handle both individual nuclides –
Np-237, Am, Cm, and the development of a common position on the methods for
implementing MA transmutation.
Existing studies are mainly aimed at assessing the possibility and prospects for the utilization
of minor actinides in existing and planned types of reactors. However, the
final choice of a transmutation facility has not yet been made in any country
in the world, and an effective solution to this problem is still ahead.
A feature of this work is the study of the dependence of the efficiency of Am-241 transmutation
on the energy structure of the neutron flux spectrum. The results of the study
will make it possible to determine the spectral conditions under which the
efficiency of transmutation will be maximum. After choosing suitable spectral
conditions, it will be possible to proceed to their implementation in existing
or prospective nuclear reactors.
1.
Bergelson Boris, Gerasimov Alexander, Zaritskaya
Tamara, Kiselev Gennady, Volovik Alexander. Decay Heat Power and Radiotoxicity
of Spent Uranium, Plutonium and Thorium Fuel at Long-Term Storage. Proc. of
the 18th International Conference on Structural Mechanics in Reactor Technology
(SMiRT 18), Beijing, China, 2005, pp. 4745–4751. Available at:
https://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/bitstream/handle/1840.20/31886/W02_2.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
(accessed 01.02.2022).
2.
Salvatores M., Slessarev I., Uematsu M. A Global
Physics Approach to Transmutation of Radioactive Nuclei. Nuclear Science and
Engineering, 1994, vol. 116, pp. 1–18.
3.
Japan Atomic Energy Agency – Nuclear Data
Center. Japanese standard library for fast breeder reactors, thermal reactors,
fusion neutronics and shielding calculations, and other applications
(JENDL-4.0). JAEA-NDC, 2010. Available at: https://wwwndc.jaea.go.jp/jendl/j40/j40.html
(accessed 01.02.2022).
4.
OECD NEA. French R&D on the Partitioning
and Transmutation of Long-lived Radionuclides. An International Peer Review
of the 2005 CEA Report. NEA
No. 6210. OECD Publishing, 2006. 88 p.
Available at:
https://oecd-nea.org/upload/docs/application/pdf/2019-12/nea6210-french-research.pdf
(accessed 01.02.2022).
5.
Preliminary Multicycle Transuranic Actinide
Partitioning-Transmutation Studies. ORNL/TM-2007/24. Oak Ridge, ORNL, 2007. 67 p.
6.
Takaki Naoyuki. Neutronic potential of water cooled
reactor with actinide closed fuel cycle. Progress in Nuclear Energy,
2000, vol. 37, pp. 1–4.
7.
Kloosterman J.L. Multiple Recycling of
Plutonium in Advanced PWRs. Netherlands Energy Research Foundation (ECN),
1998.
8.
Gilles Youinou G.,
Alfredo Vasile A. Plutonium Multirecycling in Standard PWRs Loaded with
Evolutionary Fuels. Nuclear Science and Engineering, 2005, vol. 151:1, pp. 25–45. DOI:
10.13182/NSE05-A2526.
9.
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL). Scenarios
for the Transmutation of Actinides in Candu Reactors: Company Wide. Ontario:
AECL, 2010. CW-123700-CONF-010.
10. Gulevich A.V., Eliseev V.A., Klinov D.A. et al. Possibility of
Burning Americium in Fast Reactors. Atomic Energy, 2020, vol. 128, issue
2, pp. 88–94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10512-020-00656-w.
11. Korobeynikov V.V., Kolesov V.V., Karazhelevskaya Yu.E., Terekhova
A.M. Investigation of the possibility of Am-241 incineration and transmutation
in ameritium-fueled reactor. Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika,
2019, vol. 2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2019.2.13.
12. Korobeynikov V.V., Kolesov V.V., Karazhelevskaya Yu.E., Terekhova
A.M. Issledovaniye vozmozhnosti vyzhiganiya minornykh aktinidov v bystrom
reaktore s metallicheskim toplivom na osnove tol'ko minornykh aktinidov
[Researches of the Possibility to Burn out Minor Actinides in a Fast Reactor
with Metal Fuel on the Basis of Only Minor Actinides]. Voprosy atomnoy nauki
i tekhniki. Seriya: Yaderno-reaktornye konstanty – Problems of Atomic Science
and Technology. Series: Nuclear and Reactor Constants, 2020, no. 1, pp.
59–68.
13. Tormyshev I.V. Programmnyy kompleks dlya rascheta radiatsionnykh
kharakteristik topliva i konstruktsionnykh materialov. ISKRA, versiya 1.0
[Software package for calculating the radiation characteristics of fuel and
structural materials. ISKRA, version 1.0]. Certificate of
State Registration No. 2020660280. 2020.
14. Manturov G.N., Nikolaev M.N., Tsybulya A.M. Sistema gruppovykh
konstant BNAB-93. Chast' 1. Yadernyye konstanty dlya rascheta neytronnykh i
fotonnykh poley izlucheniy [The system of group constants BNAB-93. Part 1.
Nuclear constants for calculating neutron and photon radiation fields]. Voprosy
atomnoy nauki i tekhniki. Seriya Yadernyye konstanty – Problems of Atomic
Science and Technology. Series: Nuclear
Constants, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 59–98.
