transmutation of nuclear waste Status report

479 Pages·2002·29.94 MB·English

XA9846i5-4 9
IAEA-TECDOC-985
Accelerator driven systems:
Energy generation and
transmutation of nuclear waste
Status report
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
November 1997
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Nuclear Power Technology Development Section
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ACCELERATOR DRIVEN SYSTEMS: ENERGY GENERATIOND NTA RANSMUTATION
OF NUCLEAR WASTE. STATUS REPORT
IAEA, VIENNA, 1997
IAEA-TECDOC-985
ISSN 1011-4289
© IAEA, 1997
Printed by the IAEA in Austria
November 1997
FOREWORD
One hget fo reatest obstacles facing nuclear energo t pwoyh rsi operly handlee hth ighly radioactive waste
which is generated during irradiation in reactors. In order for nuclear power to realize its full potential as a
major energy source for the entire world, there must be a safe and effective way to deal with this waste. In the
past years mord mena ore studies have been carrin eoa tdudo vanced waste management strategy (i.e. actinide
separation and elimination) in various countries and at an international level. An innovative concept of a
hybrid system for transmutation of long-lived radioisotopes, i.e. the combination of a subcritical nuclear
reactor with an high energy particle accelerator, has been suggested recently. It is claimed that
accelerator-driven transmutation of waste (ATW), a concept which has being developed in different countries
fa poe rf rmioood re 0 tyh3eaan rsw p, oreoffsnepr treros acfntss mutaf tiohoin gh level nuclear ewhasTte .
system would convert highly radioactive materials, with half-lives as long as one million years, to
non-radioactive materials or materials with much shorter half-lives. In addition, the hybrid system can
generate electricity converting transuranium waste.
A Special Scientific Programme on "Use of High Energy Accelerators for Transmutation of Actinides
and Power Production" was organized of the IAEA in Vienna on 21 September 1994 in conjunction with the
38th General Conference to present and investigate various technical options for transmutation of actinides
and power production using high energy acco edltie srdcauntosasr s their advand tdanigsaeas dvantages
together with prospec rotthfs eir technid cenacal onomic viao buti dnlindtaye rstand what ce rohotu lelebd
e ht foIAEAe ht ni further developmentf o this scientific area.x iS experts presented their viewsy ek no issues
foexisting coD np&crReo pdgntrasa mmd ednasi scussen ddi epth shd onlroat ng term perspectivefos
accelerator driven transmutation concepts.
As recommendy epbda rticie pShatp neftocs ial Scientific Programm eIhAet, s EianhAi tiated wonrok
a status report on accelerator driven systems (ADS). The general purpose of the status report is to provide,
in particular for planners, decision makers, and other parties that are not directly involved in the development
f oAn DoaSv, erview foo ngoing development activities, different concepts being developed dntah eir project
status wsa, s etalyl pical development trends.
In November 1994, the IAEA convened a consultants meeting on the status of accelerator driven systems,
which brought together expertn sti his field from France, Japae nhRt, ussian Federation, Swedd enCna ERN.
The purpose was to review the current status of ADS technology and to evaluate the incentives and
justifications for this technology in the light of present world energy demands. A draft report based on this
reviews aw prepared using input frome ht expertsn i areas such eht sa statS DAe ni ttra eht foe chnology,eht
large scale technical feae sehicbt oidlnnitaoy mif coas ccelerator driven transmutation technologs way seall
their safety and related environmental aspects. These contributions were reviewed and discussed by the
expea r sttase cond consultants meee hrttei dnsngau ltf ost his updated evaluatioe rsnau mmariezhte ndi
present TECDOC. This document includee shit ndividual contributionsy be xperts fromx isc ountrioewt dsna
international organizan tmioainn sy de iafcfhecreetlenr t afatorore ad sriven systems tece hrenhpoolTorgty .
s wraitta evwne r dyufa prdieoynr ngioa mdic develof dpimoffd eecrno eetnnnct ehipadteuta asl dfesoign s
accelerator driven transmutation technology. It is believed, however, that the report gives a comprehensive
overview of the most interesting projects which were conducted in that time.
The IAEA would liko ett hanl klta hose individuao phlwsa rticipa ethcet ndoi nsultants meetingdsna,
provided the written contributions from the various countries. Special thanks are due to W. Gudowski from
Swo ecdhoemwnp ,iled, proced sensdee aiitdhne ptd. RCutu ofoe pberhhtbrox owmitpdav en ,irdats ed
a compreS hcDeonnAsciev epeht r ete lpnaoboro tra ytCebe Edv hRaTlNu .able contributions efrhotm
ADTT-di. vBCisoiow(. WnS s mA. oeV FalndanLed m,nne noreae)sr h fiNrotamt ional Laboreatroary
to be acknowledged as well as H. Takahashi's (Brookhaven National Laboratory) invaluable assistance.
V. Arkhipov fre oIhmAt EA's Divisio foNn uclear P eFohutw denela r Ce yohctf flseii cer responsibrolef
preparing this document. The IAEA would like to thank A. Soltan for his help in the final editing of this
report.
EDITORIAL NOTE
In preparing this publication for press, staff of the IAEA have made up the pages from the
original manuscripts as submitted by the authors. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
of the governments of the nominating Member States or of the nominating organizations.
Througe hhtoetuxt t namf oMes ember Ste arrteaets ains atehd ey were wse ahhtweetxn t
compiled.
The "use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by
e phtublish elhe eeIthrg Ato, atE lsA as, tatus of such countrir etose rritories, of their authoritdineas
inste idhtute tlfioiom rniost ation of their boundaries.
The mention of names of specific co tr ips mnrordepooigaacdinansuittcee e strd se dr()whoethe r
yt inonidmatnoepenlo s yt iitnofn ringe proprietary e rr ncbiosgoahnhn otst usits r,ldua ed
endorsemer norte commn e eIhaonAtpfd EeahAtti .noon
The authors are responsible for having obtained the necessary permission for the IAEA to
reproduce, translate or use material from sources already protected by copyrights.
CONTENTS
A. INTRODUCTION............................................................ 9
A.I. Statement ofconcept and goal ............................................... 9
A.2. History and current status ................................................... 10
. BPHYSICAL FEATURES ...................................................2.1..
B.I. Classification of the ADS ................................................... 12
B.2. Td banrlaganek t- eg teneral issues ......................................3.1.... .
B.2.1. Liquid target/fuel and associated fuel cycle technologies ........................ 17
H. Katsuta
B.2.2. Conce enhtp efotu tron generating targets with molten metal circulation ........3.2..
E.I. Efimov, Yu.I. Orlov, V.T. Gorshkov, V.A. Shulyndin
B.2.3. Physical aspe fncoets utron g neae nactahec rreftga loeteni rtoian tor driven
system .............................................................. 26
V.P. Eismont, S.G. Yavshits
B.2.4. Physical features of target and blanket ...................................... 32
T. Nishida
Be ch.o2a Tnh. 5cef e.aopv ty water-PB grains fluid dneiezbuetd ron generating
target ............................................................44...
V.R. Mladov, M.L. Okhlopkov, V.D. Kazaritsky, V.F. Batyaev,
P.P. Blagovoli. VSn .Nt, epano. VS v.Ve, liverstov
B.2.6. Accelerator driven heavy water blankn ecot irculating fuel ...................84...
V.D. Kazaritsky, P.P. Blagovolin, V.R. Mladov, M.L. Okhlopkov,
V.F. Batyaev, N. V. Stepanov, V. V. Seliverstov
B.2.7. Chemical technologe hsty foy stems, partitionind gnas eparation, disposal .......45..
V.I. Volk
B.3. Fuel and fuel cycles ....................................................... 58
B.3.1. Fuel cycle ............................................................ 59
T. Oga .SwYuaz ,uki
B.3.2. SU ofRuld iTedfn ulas el cycle technology ...............................36...
T. Ogawa, Y. Suzuki
B.4. Accelerator driven systems (ADSA )p: rincipal neutrond itncraas nsmutation
potential ............................................................... 69
/. Slessarev
B.4.1. OveS r.aDl.l. An.e .eu.th.rot. n.fio.c.s ...........................9..6... .
B.4.2. Deterministic safety aspects ............................................07..
B.4.3. Economics ........................................................0.7..
B.4.4. Toxicity transmutation potential of the ADS ................................. 70
B.4.5. Conclusions .......................................................... 78
B.5. General accelerator issues ................................................18..
B.5.1. Cyclotron for proton accelerator ........................................... 81
C. RESEAD RDNCEAHV ELOPMENT- G ENERAL ISSUES .....................2.8....
H. Takahashi, .W Gudowski
. 1 .RC adiation damage .......................................................2.8.
C.2 Nuclear data codes ........................................................ 84
D. PERFORMANCE OF THE ADS SYSTEM - REVIEW OF EXISTING PROJECTS,
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES ............................7..8... .
D.I. JAERJ and PNC - OMEGA Project (Japan) ..................................... 87
D. 1.1. JAERJ accelerator driven system project .................................... 87
T. Takizitka
. 2DD.e. lvee lpohaprtmt ifteoino tning proc teJasAs ERJ ......................6.0.1... .
M. Kubota
D.I.3. High intensity proton linear accelerator developmenrotf
nuclear waste transmutation ..........................................80.1
M. Mizu.mlao tteo
. D4P..Ir esent stat fuoins tegral spallation experimenn JtiAs ERJ .................7.1.1...
H. Takada, S. Meigo, T. Sasa, T. Nishida, T. Takizuka,
. KIshibash. TNi, akamoto
. D5De.. mI onstration eC x.pN.e.riP.m. e.tna.t.s .........................0.3..1... .
. STan. iHN, akamura
D. 1.6. PNC - electron linac concept .............................................. 132
S. Tani, H. Nakamura
D.2s o.LA lamos National LaboratorS yDAp rojects .................................531.
D.2.1. Basis and objectives of the Los Alamos accelerator driven transmutation
technology project ................................................... 135
C.D. Bowman
s AolamLos aeccheDleT.r2a.t2o .r driven transmuf tnaouticol near waste (ATW)
concept development of the ATW target/blanket system ...................... 154
F. Venneri, M.A. Williamson, L. Ning
D.2.A 3s. mall scale accelerator driven subcritical assembly developmdennat
demonstration experiment at LAMPF ..................................... 179
S. Wenderetal.
D.3. CERN-group conceptuaa lf ad sefts oingen utron operated high power ene7rg8y1 amp l.ifie r
C. Rubbia et al.
D.3.1. Introduction ........................................................... 187
D.3.2. Physics considerations and parameter definition .............................. 199
D.3.e 3haT.c celerator complex ..............................................0.32..
D.3.4. The energy amplifier unit ................................................ 244
D.3.5. Computer simulated operation ............................................ 267
D.3.6. Closinge ht fuel cycle ...................................................492
D.4. ADS program in Russia .................................................... 313
D.4.1. Weapon plutonium in accelerator driven power system ......................... 313
O. V.S hvedov, B.P. Murin, B.P. Kochurov, Yu.N. Shubin,
V.L Volk, P.V.Bogdanov
D.4.2. ITEP concept of the use of electro-nuclear facilities in the atomic power industry .... 376
/. Chuvillo, G. Kiselev
D.4.3. Physical features and performance accelerator driven systems (ADSs) ............. 389
D.5. Brookhaven National LaS cbooDnractAeoprty s (USA) ....................2.0..4... .
H. Takahashi
D.5.1. Accelerator driven energy producer (ADEP) ............................... 402
D.5.2. Phoenix concept...................................................... 406
D.5.3. Accelerator driven particle fuel transmuter ................................. 408
D.5.4. Fueld na coolant materials dna target .....................................804
D.5.5. Subscriticd asnlaiftaey ty issue .....................................9.0.4.. .
D.5.6. Use of thorium, cross progeny fuel cycle (233U production and
transmutatiof onm inor actinidd ennsae) utron economy ..................01.4..
D.5.7. Issuef o non-proliferation (separationf o power productiond na fuel processing014 ). . .
D.5.8. Accelerator.......................................................... 411
D.6. The European Community projects .......................................... 415
D.6.1. Impact of accelerator based technologies on nuclear fission safety - share cost
project of the European Community ..................................... 415
D.6.2. Swedish pee rashcpctee clnteirvoae tor driven nuclear system ............9.1.4... .
W. Gudowski, H. Conde
DS .6pD.rA3o. gramn Fis rance ...........................................3.2.4..
D.6.3.1. French prograr maodfs vanced waste management options ...........3.2.4..
M. Salvatores, J.P. Schap. MHirao ,uney
D.6.3.2. MUSE-1:A first experimentt a Masurcao t validatee htp hysicsfo
sub-critical multiplying systems relS eDv.Aa. no.tt .................03.4..
M. Salvatores, M. Martini, I. Slessarev, R. Soule, J.C. Cabrillat,
. PJC. hauv. hiFnPi, nc. RkJ,a cqmi. nAT, chistiaakov
DS .p6Dr.A4oe .g Chrtaz nmeic h Republic .................................7.3.4..
D.6.4.1. Approaches to a national ADS program in the Czech Republic ............ 437
jp. Janouch, M. Hron, R. Mach, V. Valenta
D.6.4.2. Achievement on accelerator parameters needed for energy producing
and waste transmS u.Dt.iA.ng. ..............................3.4.4.. .
M. Hron, M. Kuzmiak
E. SAFETY ASPECTS .......................................................... 447
H.U. Wider
E.I. Basic safety features of ADS ............................................... 447
E.2. First investigations of the behaviour of an accelerator driven fast oxide reactor
during an unprotected loss-of-flow accident.................................. 453
E.3. Investigatif oorne activity accidea ln antris ge sodium-coS oD.leA.d. .........2.6.4..
F. CONCLUSIO DRNNEASC OMMENDATIONS ................................17.4..
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO DRAFTING AND REVIEW ........................... 473
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.A INTRODUCTION
. S1TAA .TEF MCD GEOOONNNATC LEAPT
The objectivef ot he Status Reporn toA ccelerator Driven Systems (ADo Stp si)r esen ehtstf ot traa ethte fo
this technology rbye viewine chgtu rrent stat dupnasr ogres fnos ationd inanalt ernational programmen tsih is
e rhefTpieolrdt . ait mahes lpo initdg d epnnotaisfys ibly stimulate important directiof onnas tdionnaa l
international effn othritis s area.
The experts working on this report noted the increasing interest among some Member States and international
research groups in exploring possible accelerator impact on the nuclear fuel cycle and consequently on the future
of nuclear energy.
This repo sdrii tvided into several sece tbihoaTsnisc . physical phenomd pnehnayeas riac aSl DasApe fcots
descre fihibrt esntdi parts (Secti )ofAon lloa wr eyevbdi ef weo xisting national/international projee mhcTtos. st
important researchd nad evelopment issuese ra also reviewed. Nonproliferation aspects,e ht impacno SDtA fo
the future of nuclear power and the experts recommendations on the international cooperation are presented in
ehftinal p erhate rfpot ort.
e chhTapters writty eibnn vited expee rsrtaisg ny etbdh eir name ephsat, rn twis hich nt oainnm deeriacs ated
are written or/and compiled by the editor, Mr. W. Gudowski of Sweden.
Sectio- PBnh ysical Fea SdtDueArs efcosr ibe emhst ost important parf totsh ese systems: target, blanket, fuel
cycle, associated fuel cycle technologies dna general accelerator issues. Special attentions i focusedeht no
neutron economyr of different conceptsf o ADS.
Sectios i dnC edicatedo t some researcd nhda evelopment problems: radiation damagd ncea omputer code
development necessary for the progress of ADS.
Section D - Performance of the ADS Systems - the most important national/international projects are presented
by the respective project leaders. Some smaller efforts in ADS are also described. Contributions to this section
were writte emht nyb anagers/leading scientise hstt sfeo lected national/international projects. Many issues from
sections B and C are also extensively described in the context of the particular projects. Planned
demonstration/integral experiments are also reviewed in this section.
Section E with two appendices address some selected safety problems connected to ADS projects proposed by
CERN-group.
Section F - formulates briefly the expert recommendations.
A.2. HISTD OCNURARY RENT STATUS
In a fission chain reaction the excess of neutrons - if available - may be used for converting non-fissile
materials into nuclear fuel as well as for transmutation of some long-lived radioactive isotopes into short-
lived or even nonradioactive ones. This excess of neutrons can also be used to facilitate incineration of
long-lived waste componer fnoitsfss ,ile material b rreoexeftdo erointnob dgyt eaadinw b uernnuOp .
excess neutronsa esu ot hsi ybrid subcritical reactor-accelerator system called just Accelerator-Driven
Systemn sI. ucha s yste emahtc celerator bombard ast arget with high energy protono pst roducea v ery
intense neutron source (a process called spoliation), these neutrons can consequently be multiplied in a
subcritical reactor (often called a blanket) which surrounds the spallation target.
e bhaTsic procef aoscs celerator-driven nuclear systems nisu clear transmutation. This prs ofaicrwestss
demonstrated by Rutherford in 1919, who transmuted 14N to 17O using energetic a-particles. I. Curie and
F. Joliot produced the first artificial radioactivity in 1933 using a-particles from naturally radioactive
isotopes to transmute Boron and Aluminum into radioactive Nitrogen and Oxygen. It was not possible to
extend this type of transmutation to heavier elements as long as the only available charged particles were
the a-particles from natural radioactivity, since the Coulomb barriers surrounding heavy nuclei are too
greao ptt erm eheittn trf oys uch particles into atomic nucle ehiTni. vene tchitoy focn lotroy nbE .O.
Lawrence [1 ] removed this barrier and opened quite new possibilities [2]. When coupled with the spallation
process, high power accelerators can be used to produce large numbers of neutrons, thus providing an
f nouc leeaalsrt eurrenr ata ohcetiitfsvoh rep s tumr peoothtsoed. Spallation offers wexecinting
possibilities for generating intense neutron fluxes for a variety of purposes.
e hTfirst practical attemptso t promote accelerators ot generate potential neutron sources were made
in the late 1940's by E.O. Lawrence in the United States, and W.N. Semenov in the USSR. The first such
application for the production of fissile material was the MTA [3] project at the Lawrence Livermore
Radiation Laboratory. This ps aroabjwaenc dtonn 1ei9d 52 when high grade Uranium ores were discovered
e hUt ninited States ehCT. anadian teamt a Chalk Rivs ahae ]4lr[w ays beena strong proponenf tos uch
a producer of fissile material which could be used in conjunction with a conversion-efficient CANDU
reactor.
When the United States administration decided to slow down the development the fast breeder to promote
non-proliferation goals, Brookhaven National Laboratory presented several proposals for accelerator breeders
such as the Na-cooled fast reactor target, the Molten Salt target, the He-gas-cooled target, as well as the LWR
fuel regenerator.
This conce ehatp cfotc elerator breeds eahra lso been studiey dRb ussian scientists. Unde ehgrt uidance
of V.I. Goldanski, R.G. Vassylkov [5] made a neutron yield experiment in depleted Uranium blocks using the
accelerator at Dubna.
The original idea of exploiting the spallation process to transmute actinide and fission products directly
was soon abandoned The proton beam currents required were much larger than the most optimistic theoretical
designs that an accelerator could achieve, which are around 300 mA. Indeed, it was shown that the yearly
A ptrraomntos mn0 ua0ctac3tei loeanra rftaootre would correspone wda hf aro atson ctfelttyio ogne nerated
annually by a LWR of 1 GWe.
e oe ssnuhplt yao llTation neutrons genera pa rtneoidt on tare gfheistts ,ion products woe upbllda ced
arounde htt argee htht ro.Fi ghest efficiency, dependine htgm no ateria ebt oltr ansmuted, eithee rhtf ast
neutrons would be used as they are emitted from the target or they would be slowed down by moderators to
energy bands with higher transmutation cross-sections, for example, the resonance or the thermal region.
e lahstt fiehw years hybrid systems were propor dsoieffdf eren ntf aposu trS enpDheoustA terrsoo .nfs
incinerationf o higher actinidess awp roposedt a Brookhaven National Laboratory (PHOENEX-project)dna
is now carried out in Japan as a part of OMEGA-programme. Los Alamos National Laboratory has developed
several ideas to use the hybrid system on thermal neutrons with a linear accelerator for incineration of
Plutoni duhnmiag her actinides, for transmutatiof sono me fission producn tois rdeo etr ffectively reduce long-
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