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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 1 of 20 Session I.4.9i Part I Review of Fundamentals Module 4Sources of Radiation Session 9iFuel Cycle - Reprocessing IAEA Post Graduate Educational Course Radiation Protection and Safe Use of Radiation Sources
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 2 of 20 Reprocessing
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 3 of 20 What is reprocessing? Reprocessing is the separation and removal of fission products from the SNF U, Pu may be separated and reused or stored Fission products vitrified as HLW glass (ideally) Many processes wet dry transmutation
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 4 of 20 Reprocessing Spent Fuel 95% 238 U 1% 235 U 1% Pu 3% fission products Reprocessing separates it into 3 groups U Pu Waste
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 5 of 20 Reprocessing
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 6 of 20 Reprocessing
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 7 of 20 Reprocessing
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 8 of 20 Reprocessing Facilities Domestic U.S. - > 100,000 te, mainly low burnup West Valley - shutdown/cleanup Barnwell/AGNS - not allowed to operate GE/Morris - didn’t work, SNF wet storage DOE - several, only SRS operating to any degree International - > 100,000 te total; > 30,000 te; decent burnups France - La Hague UK - Sellafield/THORP India, Pakistan, Russia/FSU, China Japan - pilot operating, full-scale plant 70% complete
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 9 of 20 What is the Wet Route? shear, dissolve fuel in nitric acid clarify, solvent extraction partition U/Pu recover UO 3, PuO 2 powders Purex variations most successful 99.8-99.9% recovery of U/Pu
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 10 of 20 What are the Facilities? Several large facilities for power reactor SNF All heavily shielded - 4 ft walls Cells, manipulators, remote operations France - La Hague 2 plants, about 1,700 te/yr capacity running at 1,500-1,600 te/yr 10 20 Bq vitrified HLW UK - Sellafield 2 plants THORP - about 700 te/yr (800 capacity) 0.3 x 10 20 Bq vitrified HLW
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 11 of 20 La Hague Plant (2) 800 MTHM/yr Plants, about $10 B
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 12 of 20 Dry Reprocessing Sometimes called pyroreprocessing, pyrometallurgical Uses melting, electrolysis, volatilization to separate U/Pu from fission products Proposed in transmutation schemes Difficult to adapt to commercial fuels
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 13 of 20 Transmutation Perform nuclear processes and reactions on radioactive wastes to render them either non- radioactive or significantly less radioactive so that radiotoxic and disposal concerns are substantially reduced or eliminated.
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 14 of 20 Why Transmutation? Some Fission Products and Transuranics radioactive/hazardous for 10,000+ years and environmentally mobile Why not transmute them into stable (nonradioactive) or short-lived materials? Why not reduce quantities, isotopes, types going to disposal? Ideally, only LLW disposal requirements needed Main focus on Actinides (Np, Pu, Am, Cm) Secondary focus on Tc, I, Ni, Zr Tertiary focus on Cs, Sr
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 15 of 20 What does this mean? Methods can reduce the risks of SNF/HLW disposal Not obvious that any route can meet desired destruction % for LLW All require significant money and take time
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 16 of 20 Reprocessing Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 17 of 20 World Commercial Reprocessing Capacity CountryLocationLWR fuel tonnes/yr FranceLa Hague1,600 UKSellafield (THORP)1,200 RussiaChelyabinsk (Mayak)400 Japan90 Total2,940 Other nuclear fuels: UKSellafield1,500 FranceMarcoule400 India200 Total2,100 Total civil capacity5,040
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 18 of 20 Reprocessing
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 19 of 20 Reprocessing Occurs 5 – 25 years after removal from reactor Partitioning Separate individual radionuclides Transmutation Neutron bombardment converts one radionuclide into another with better characteristics Radiotoxicity reduced within 1000 years
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4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 20 of 20 Reprocessing PUREX process Dissolving fuel Separation of U and Pu by solvent extraction Remaining 3% is HLW – vitrified pending disposal UREX process Proposed by USA – only U recovered
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