Table Of Content7 * sD' 'I 11 A / t v r
XA9743134
IAEA-TECDOC-916
Advanced fuels with
reduced actinide generation
Proceedings of a Technical Committee meeting
held in Vienna, 21-23 November 1995
INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY /A
November 1996
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ADVANCED FUELS WITH REDUCED ACTINIDE GENERATION
IAEA, VIENNA, 1996
IAEA-TECDOC-916
ISSN 1011-4289
© IAEA, 1996
eIAhP nEAtri iAuny stbetrdi a
November 1996
FOREWORD
Nuclear energy can play an important future role in supplying the world population
with energy. However, this fof roemn ergy we isblul ccessful only under certain conditions:
it must meet very strict safety requirements, it must be economically competitive, and it must
be acceptable to the public. Nuclear power produces radioactive wastes and in several countries
the public raises concern about safety. Much development work on advanced nuclear power
systems is going on in several countries, with participation of both governmental and private
industrieso t meet these conditions.
Advanced nuclear power systems are currently under development with the potential
omt a aksie gnificant contribuo timtoe ne ehentnitanee rg gh wnyto irl ndf eoeds
environmentally acceptable manner. These systems era being developed ot meete ht challenges
of increasingly demanding safety requirements, economic competitiveness and public
acceptance. Technological soluto ioratnds ioactive waste manag dedmnis eepaurnon atsdae lr
intensive investigation in several countries.
Because of the high cost of development of advanced nuclear power systems, especially
the innovative concepts, Member States yam findt i attractiveo t co-operate internationallyni
technology developme enhITtA. EA's programmn ein uclear power technology development
encourages international co-operation through technical information exchad ncngoae -operative
research.
e fhratm neIwf otohrki s IAEA acte iTvhiettcy hnical Committee Meen tAiondg vanced
Fuels with Reduced Actinide Generation was organized. The ami of the meeting was to
highlight current researw co rhied tseeae ncandttriicfvny d hift f aiinpaeeorol seadsa ss sible
co-operation. The scope of the meeting included advanced fuels for all types of nuclear
reactors: light water reactors, heavy water reactors, high temperature reactors, fast reactors,
molten salt reactors and for accelerator driven systems. Other topics covered a wide range of
investigations made, or to be made in the Member States.
e hITAEA wisheo stt hanl klat hoso hpewa rticipated nmi eeting. Special thaneudk ersa
e hste sostion chairme heoTe nfhfI. itAc feEorAs respoe nhpstri erboplfea ratiof otnh is
publicatio. Vn eAra rkhipo. Av dGna rigorie ehvt Dfo ivisionf o Nuclear Powe eht Fdrna uel
Cycle.
EDITORIAL NOTE
nIpreparing this publicationr of press, ste ahtI ffofA EA have made htp epu ages fromeht
original manuscripts as submitted by the authors. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those
eghotov fernmente snh ootm f inating Member Se tnahr ototoem fs inating organizations.
Throughout the text names of Member States are retained as they were when the text was
compiled.
The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by
the publishere h,tI AEe htlA oet sa,g al status of such countriesr ot erritories, of their authoritiedsna
institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries.
The mention of names of specific comr ppraot onidnoieuds srcincetasga it (sew tdrehreoetdh)e r
dot eonsi mpy nlaiyn tentio ont infringe proprietary righr tosns, houe blc tdio nstrnuae sad
endorsemer nort ecommende aphttai onront e IhoAtf EA.
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
SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..7
PAPERS PRESENTED
Emerging applications of advanced fuels for energy generation and transmutation.
Overview of IAEA activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 21
Pong Eil Juhn, V. A rkhipov
Status of the nuclear fuel cycle in IAEA Member States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 25
A. Grigoriev
Criteria for achieving actinide reduction goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 31
J.-O. Liljenzin
The feasibility of MA transmutation in CEFR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 39
Zhang Yushani YX, iaoyu iSL, ixin
Liquid fuel concept benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..34
M. Hron
Long term potential risk due to thorium mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 55
J.P. Schapira,. S Menard
f op elusUtoniumn pi ebbd o HebwlbeatT lalR ntisy pe concept . . . . . . . . . . . .56. ..
M. Khorochev, E. Teuchert
Reduction requireme rnoatfcs tinides with special re eihsgtoa olratdt ion time
at final disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 71
P.-W. Phlippen
Build-up of plutonium isotopes in HTR fuel elements; Comparison between
computed predicd tcnihoaen mical analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38. . . .
H. Wemer
MOX fuels for reduced actinide generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 105
K. Anantharaman, P.O. Krishnani, H.D. Purandare, D.S.C. Purushotham
Thorium fuel-cycle development through plutonium incineration by THORIMS-NES
(thorium molten-salt nuclear energy synergetics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 115
K. Furukawa. KM, itach. iA,L ecocq. A, Furuhashi, S.E. Chigrinov
A study for optimal transmutation system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 129
W.S. Part, T.Y. Song, H.S. Shin, C.K. Park
A partitioning-free transmutation concf enoput clear waste reduction . . . . . . .7.3.1. . .
S. Taczanowski
Some resultn sod evelopment, irradiatiod pnna ost-irradiation examinationfso
fuels for fast reactor-actinide burner (MOX and inert matrix fuel) . . . . . . . . . . .. 151
V. Poplavsky, L. Zabudko, L. Moseev, B. Rogozkin, I. Kurina
Au dsPetrs atrtroeugfcyt n ioPinW Rs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9.5.1. . .
J. Magill. P, Peerani .H, Matzk neaVG .,J eel
PAPERS SUBMITT TOPNER TDUEB SENTED
Studin eHos TGR Th-U fuel ce yhIctn ltsae tituf toeN uclear Energy Technology,
Tsinghua University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.7.1. . .
uYhoZngjin
Neutronic analysis of a U-Th fuel cycle, lead cooled accelerator-driven system . . . .. 179
. ALPandey. rMoG, uidotti
F LPIOASTR TICIPANTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5. 8. .1. . .
| ».a""VTT f~ ft •">*"1"•» I
§ \,i. ,Kt:j .A a
SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION
The Technical Committee Meeting on Advanced Fuels with Reduced Actinide
Generation was held in Vienna, from 21 to 23 November 1995 and was attended by 31
representatives and observers from three international organizations (the European
Commission, CERN and the IAEA) and 14 Member States (China, Czech Republic, France,
Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Poland, the Russian
Federation, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom). Sixteen papers were presented in
seven sessions, followed by a panel discussion.
oetxe c e mhshohaaebtnTewjgt eifecn otge iivfnhee faotdsrim nbniaalotiitoy n
reliability of advanced fuels and related operation modes, aiming at a significant reduction in
e ghentef rpf aolatuociott oin dn nngiiedniunem esar,a elspecially.
e hwTorls fdia ced wi ntiahn creasing population nian, creasing dema rnopdfo wtuebr
with diminishing resourcf eotrs aditional fossil fd uinneacls reasingly stringent contrnools
released na OpC fo ollutants intoe ht atmosphere. Against this background, therea si needrof
the increasing deployment of other energy sources. Renewables will clearly play a part but
they are not able to meet the full demand. Considerable technology development and
demonstration is required before fusion energy can achieve commercialization and the reducing
levef lo fundingy bm any countriess i movine ghpt rospecs tite rsofv entuae sluf urther inteoht
future. Nuclear power will haveo t playn a important roleo t meete ht demand under
environmentally benign conditions.
However, a major concern is the public perception of nuclear safety and in the
longterm the storage of nuclear waste. There is a further concern about the increasing
productiod nsnat ockpilinf gop lutomum which presenn teas ver present threa fodt iversion into
weapons making. Wn awyihs ich e bwhoattsh te eph lputrt oodbnnlieuamm buildup problem
can be alleviated are clearly of great interest and have been the subject of this meeting. The
2
technologies availar bdolefe aling with this problem range from those concerned with reducing
the amount of radioactivity which has already been generated to the use of the Th cycle in
which the problem of undesirable actinides is largely eliminated.
The actinides include plutonium, americium, curium, neptunium and protactinium.
There are currently approximately 126 tonnes of commercially produced plutonium in the
worf lodw hich onla yp ortis oabhne en separated from irradiated fuy ebrel processing.
In some Member States incineration of actinides is being investigated while in the
others the emphasis is on reducing plutonium stocks. This view of the value of plutonium
clearly has a strong influence on the approach to actinide reduction.
. 2SUMMAR FPOYA PERS
In this section a brief resume of the coverage of the papers and significant results is
given.
The motivation for reducing actinides may come from one or more of the following
reasons:
reductiof nop lutonium inventoro ytr educe storage c ehroti ssdf ntokpas roliferation,
reducing the hazard in the final repository for wastes,
political reasons, e.g. to increase public acceptance of nuclear power,
to take advantage of the latent energy resource in plutonium.
Recyclinf pogl utoa nt osiapun wsimice veral p aaw pseie rltslI . established optiroofn
LWd wRnaosn rPokH Ws aalwRso presented. Tra urdPei ctXiyoOcnMla aim nls ige thofod
usia n sfa guiPs sile resource without losine ghpt ossibr oiff lesuiu sttriy fto her conversionfo
fertile isotopes by excess neutrons.
Thes rcieo nsiderable intern euisst n iniang er et phcltau rtrrooinefir um wheehrte
intes npit ureo lrtye duce plutonium stocks. MatN ehrriaZavl eds n bsaue Cs ceMahrn ZgO ,
proposed and tested. This type of fuel can be used in both fast and thermal reactors. With
sufficient residence time or multiple recycle most of the Pu isotopes can be eliminated almost
entirely exr c2oe42pfP tu which takes much . lmFonaAo sgctet oe3r rnbUev ao ecntrta tocrs
designeds a non-breeders and, with inert carrier fue bee naflc,f ectivu ePb urners. This line
a relativ f efluysn ohdiignahg f dlseeuvv opheepllooprtm. We nhteres r epgluaitrodneidu m
as a valuable resource, there is still some interest in burning the minor actinides (MA).
Thorium based fuels offer a very low level of actinide production relative to uranium
based fuels. Although ^U is a potential direct use material, it can be effectively denatured by
additiofno dUnfa urthermoU ^r eeaht,c tivity whics hia lways associated witht i means
that U fuels have proliferation resistant characteristics. A Th / U cycle requires other
r tohifs p uurPpos ef oeff eectsivuelyf i esrsheidletu c medsa tnaeo craiitnati inlt stiidaitee
levels while allowing the start up a reactor system which does not have the same level of
actinide gene eprnaaptOieorn .described R cwaTrt htruehyHriioesn g p a rpdo encebebbisls e
e phltutonium woe eutchhblotdo e nt rnydtf iabn pounoaiaemi na nnl el oidt her. High burnup
u nPev eerthhetle sfso requires e ethhxe ototrrhat ihuntemi rU n bhOaala nlpds a .,per
pointed out the reduced radiological impact of thorium mining residues, as compared to those
resulting from uranium extraction.
2I3n8vestigations of actinide burning in reactors requires computer codes to simulate the
fuel behavior in the core, especially the buildup and burnup of actinides. One paper presented
a compari fscooanl culations withR eYxpAe drPinm ueae-hbn u-ttaUi lln drui erp souflts
pebble bed HTR feed with LEU-fuel. It was impressively shown, that the computer simulation
e hrt ednaa l behavioe rraf airln yia ccordance.
There 2w35as strong interest in liquid fuel reactors based on thorium/uranium salts using
e h2t32Th/233U cycle. There repa roposalo sti nitiate the23U 3b reeding pfor eosuc eehts ybs
plutonium fun seiul ch systems. Molten fluoride salt reactors were claimeo dht ave advantages
in the possibility of continuous refuelling to avoid high excess reactivity, the possibility of
233 232 283
continuous remo fsvooam l e fission products, especially gaseousd wonenalels e,stablished
structural and moderating material compatibility. Superheated steam temperatures are possible
for electricity generation.
If burning of actinides (and long lived fission products) is to be effective in reducing
the overall he nhautz caflroed ar fuel cye cbhleut, rne r hertal etfeovsa nt nuclides meubst
greater than the natural decay rate of those nuclides. This points to a need for high fluxes.
Accelerator driven neutron sources can provide these sources especially in conjunction with
a subcritical multiplying asa sse peme aspnlburlOola yotpi .too snsai l souro crtee generate
spR efWnue Lbro et st enlh a-cai tnit serted intoa reactor without intermediate reprocessing.
Acceleratorse ra also proposedn i conjunction with subcritical molten salt reactorssa
powerful mear nobfso u tiPhn cineratd io2n3an3 U breedinA gs. ynergetic linkinf osg uncah
accelerator assisted breeder with several thermal molten salt reactors was proposed as a route
for alleviating me hcatun foryr ent problemf ors eactor deployment. Heob wote svahe tri,
recognized that such a proposal is many years from implementation and the more urgent task
i essu ont ear-term solutione sht opt roblemsf o today's actinide accumulation.
The final papers were on the question of toxicity of the whole fuel cycle over the period
e tiho mgtrene e hawoh at esehzottraehir rn itodg hp6 tfyia 0n eaunafab1 rloto shoua tr tes.
The current technologies of plutonium recycle have virtually no impact on this long-term
toxicity which sid omo Tm .minAa dankat ueea P rydbe al impact, innovative techniqueost
reduce these spy seecbviee sral of rmdoearg se e nnimirehteuapdTdoe erdtf a.ronedce ucing
the actinidese wchoatsn ttfeeo ns tts reeamawmphs asy imzbead ny spear keoxeFrasm . ple,
s di iusPch faor %ge 1dif from reprocessing wastes, than tryino btg ue rhretn maining paortt
below this level wt ocinoll ntriba us oitget nificant redue chottiv ofeonr all toxicity. However,
the calculatiof ntohs is e tthoimtx diecn ittaay ko edtna e b caoactyk ground levs deiel pendent
T limLAits ewhoe htsnri ucabh jo ectch tange.
3. PANEL DISCUSSION
Y. Thang (China)
The topic "Advanced Fuels with Reduced Actinide Generation" is important and
interesting for China, although China is in the preliminary stage in the development of nuclear
energy. At present, following the development of electricity in China the problem of reducing
the long term radiological hazard associated with the disposal of high-level radioactive waste
is being addressen dCI. hina thers iei ntee harter nesf iotat ransmutatiof onm inor actinides
and long-lived fission products and use of plutonium hi fast rectors and thermal reactors in the
eThh-fUtu tnuIrce y. cle area, China's Tsinghua Unive srmasihatdy e some proegrheTss .
design work of experimental fast reactor CEFR (China Experimental Fast Reactor) is under
e ahrf TeAoaw Day .TT (Accelerator-Driven Transmutation Technology) we giblil ven more
attentionn i China.
. MHron (Czech Republic)
There are two principle directions to solve the crucial issues of nuclear power:
y inme Apsrhooltvide mnneuincw 1 tl ae.lamor onfsute loe xctco lnupcseuivpet ,ly
accepted, leading to a reduction of actinide generation
2. To develop rather a new technology based on the concept of liquid nuclear fuel (e.g.
e fhof itmron mo lten fluoride salt mixture)
The principle difference between these two concepts is as follows:
A. There will always be handicap with the accumulation of the products of the residence
f osolid immobile fuel ba lro encaikc tora rc eroolrafet ively long perif ootidm e.
B. Liquid fuels give a basis for the solution of the issue of actinide and nuclear waste,
especially when applied in connection with other important innovations leading to
efficient transmutatiod nnae va e onnt early wasteless versiof non uclear power
technology like e.g. subcritical, neutron source controlled reactor systems and
continuous separd atrnieoamn of vouanl desirable come pfhoutne elf-noctos olant
medium
J.-P. Schapira, IPN-O edrT .Csu denraye nne, COGEMA (France)
The French nuclear programme is very important (54 reactors in operation). The
activities involved are shared among different organizations:
R&D, with CEA (Commissariat a 1'Energie Atomique),
waste management, with ANDRA (Agence Nationale pour la gestion des Dechets
Radioactifs),
electricity generation, with EdF (Electricite de France),
Nuclear steam supply syste dmnfau el design, with FRAMATOME,
nuclear cycle, with COGEMA (Compagnie Generate pous erMl atieres nucleaires).
o T give na answe eht oprt ublic concef or tcnPa na,a rliamens awt passedno
03December 199n 1or,e searcr horfa dioactive waste managementA .g lobal evaluation report,
aa nbd ill, me pubrse tsented w5 iyth1en iaon riro sdt ,aeta k rde ecisn i2oi0n 06.
Three R&D areas are mentioned in the law:
partid ttinroaann smutatif oloon ng-lived elements,
underground laborato rrofieifns al waste repository purpose,
long duration waste packagingd na surface storage.
The present situation for partition and transmutation programmes in France is the
following:
R&D field:
s alhaune cAhShtPEedI CN prograr momfmien or actinides padrtnitaion
transmutatn pioIanre .aChlAletPl ,RA progf froaasm te mnseeuu st rteounhd iteres acototrs
10
