Safety of Advanced Nuclear Fuel cycles Th. Fanghänel G. Cojazzi, N. Erdmann, D. Haas, R. Konings, V. Rondinella, J. Somers, P. van Uffelen European Commission Joint Research Centre Institute for Transuranium Elements www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Introduction EU electricity: currently ca. 1/3 produced by nuclear fission Energy roadmap 2050: nuclear will contribute to EU's energy mix Post-Fukushima: strong emphasis on nuclear SAFETY Maintain EU competitiveness, together with longterm waste management solutions Complete the preparations for the demonstration of a new generation of fission reactors for increased sustainability ESNII ESNII = European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative
Ingestion radiotoxicity (Sv per ton spent fuel) Fuel cycle strategies Direct Disposal Recycling / P&T 10 9 10 8 10 7 actinides Total ref. 7.83 t U in equilibrium with P&T 10 6 with P&T 130,000 y 105 104 103 102 1 10 270 y fission products results based on ICRP72 2 10 3 10 1000 y [99% Pu, 98% MA removal] 500 y [99.5% Pu, 99% MA removal] 4 10 time (y) 5 10 6 10 Fuel cycle back-end simplified Reduced proliferation risk Fuel matrix good wasteform U, Pu recycling (reprocessing) Volume reduction of high level waste MA and LLFP can be transmuted (P&T)
Advanced reactor systems pursued in Europe European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative 2008 2012 2020 CP ESFR SFR Reference (proven) technology SFR Prototype Astrid 250-600 MWe LFR GFR Alternative technology Supporting infrastructures, research facilities, irradiation facilities & fuel manufacturing and reprocessing facilities LFR demonstrators MYRRHA ALFRED Allegro GFR Demo Test bed of GFR technologies Innovative fuel MA transmutation Coupling to heat applications MA fuel micropilot 2040: Target for deployment of Gen-IV Fast Neutron Reactors or earlier if new energy needs (electric vehicles, process heat applications) MOX fuel fab unit CP-ESFR
Safety-relevant properties of advanced fuels Fuel safety studies : Basic (e.g. thermodynamic) fuel properties Fuel coolant / cladding interactions Irradiation behaviour Establish safety limits Example: Collaboration JRC-CEA within F-BRIDGE High temperature properties of MOX by fast laser heating technique (red data points) Melting point of PuO 2 : 3017 ±17 K (= 300 degrees higher than earlier values) Data are used in the development of models and fuel rod performance codes, e.g. TRANSURANUS
Irradiation behaviour of transuranium fuels Closing of fuel cycle demonstrated Experiment name Reactor Fuel type Materials Status FACT Mixed oxide Completed SUPERFACT Phénix Mixed oxide (U, Pu, MA)O 2 Completed (U, MA)O 2 TRABANT-1 HFR Mixed oxide (U, Pu, Np)O 2 Completed Am-1 Joyo Mixed oxide (U, Pu, Am)O 2 Completed X501 EBR-II Metal (U, Pu, Zr, Np, Am) Completed Metaphix Phénix Metal (U, Pu, Zr, Np, Am, Cm) PIE ongoing EFTTRA-T4 HFR Inert Matrix MgAl 2 O 4 + AmO 2 Completed ECRIX Phénix Inert Matrix MgO + AmO 2 PIE ongoing CAMIX-COCHIX Phénix Inert Matrix MgO + (Zr, Y, Am)O 2 (Zr, Y, Am)O 2 HELIOS HFR Inert Matrix Mo + (Pu, Am)O 2 Mo + (Zr, Am)O 2 FUTURIX-FTA Phénix Various Mo + (Pu, Am)O 2 Mo + (Zr, Pu, Am)O 2 MgO + (Pu, Am)O 2 (U.Pu, Zr, Am, Np) (Pu, Am, Zr) (Zr, Pu, Am)N (U, Pu, Np, Am)N PIE to be started PIE started PIE to be started
Post-Irradiation Examination (PIE) METAPHIX: CRIEPI-CEA-JRC U-Pu-Zr alloy containing MA and RE; PIE as ITU - CRIEPI joint study. Irradiation experiments carried out in PHENIX with support of CEA. Irradiation Experiments METAPHIX-1 (2.5at.% B.U.) METAPHIX-2 (7at.% B.U.) METAPHIX-3 (11at.% B.U.) Postirradiation Examinations METAPHIX-1 (2.5at.% B.U.) METAPHIX-2 (7at.% B.U.) METAPHIX-3 (11at.% B.U.) 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 Irradiation at PHENIX Cooling time Transport from PHENIX to ITU Nondestructive tests at PHENIX site non-destructive & destructive PIE at ITU -Fuel pins manufactured in 1993 at ITU - (J.C. Spirlet, J. Rebizant, J.F. Guegnon, J. McGinley) - Irradiation started in 2003 at PHENIX - After cooling, some nondestructive tests (NDT) carried out at PHENIX site - Irradiated fuel pins transported to ITU for non-destructive & destructive PIE - After PIE, pyrometallurgical separation experiments
METAPHIX - PIE Metaphix-2 Burnup ~7 at. %, original composition: 71U-19Pu-10Zr "Core" PIE of the metallic fuel by EPMA: Large extent of mass transport (Pu, U, Zr) observed ~6.5 mm Oxidation of samples must be avoided keep samples under vacuum in a special holder Pu = 21.84 Pu = 8.1 Pu = 18.58 SE Pu Zr U data in wt. % Zr = 0.15 0.42 m ax. m in Zr = 10.27 U = 62.97 U = 89.06 U = 77.75
Separation strategies Advanced nuclear fuel cycle concepts Aqueous repcycling U,Pu recycled PUREX COEX Heterogenous MA by DIAMEX/SANEX Homogenous An by GANEX R U MA U Pu T FP Heterogeneous MA recycling R U > proliferation resistance T U Pu MA Homogeneous MA recycling FP Aqueous + Pyro processing U «double strata» U,Pu recycled by PUREX or COEX Heterogenous recycling of MA Pyro recycling of targets R U Pu T FP MA (Pu) ADS T
Homogeneous recycling Successful GANEX demonstration JRC- ITU 2012 on genuine fast reactor fuel Feed characterisation and adjustment IC-ICP-MS, TIMS, ICP-MS, titration Flow-sheet calculations (CEA and NNL) GANEX 1 Extraction of U leaving other An in raffinate Feed ~ 150 175 g/l U, 2 stage process, 16 stages extraction and scrubbing 16 stages backextraction DEHiBA (monoamide) Dissolution Monoamide UREX GANEX TRUEX- TALSPEAK GANEX 2 Pu, Np and MA extraction and separation Feed of ~ 15 g/l Pu, 2 stage process 16 stages extraction and scrub 16 stages backextraction TODGA + DMDOHEMA (TRU,U)O 2 UO 2
Spent oxide treatment by pyro process Decladded MOX fuel Electrorefining demonstrated with irradiated MOX ca.3v Metal ~ 0.5V U+salt deposit (recovery almost 100%) To fuel fabrication Cathode Anode Anode Solid cathode Liquid Cd cathode U U,Pu,MA O 2- LiCl/CaCl2 FP Transport of U, Pu LiCl-KCl Oxide to metal conversion U,PU,MA refining (FP removal)
Closing the fuel cycle fuel characterization Ohta et al., "Minor Actinide Transmutation Performance in Fast Reactor Metal Fuel" Wednesday, 6 MARCH 2013 13:30 15:10 TECHNICAL SESSION 5.4 grouped actinide separation (U, Pu, Np, Am, Cm) fuel synthesis U,Pu,Zr,Ln,MA Ln, MA 0-5% METAPHIX Fuel Cycle Closure post irradiation examination pyroreprocessing irradiation (PHENIX) 2, 7, 11 at% burn-up transmutation rate ~ 10 45% depending on burn-up
Training and Education European Nuclear Safety and Security School (EN3S) 5 TOP Priorities Key Areas: Nuclear Safeguards, Security and Forensics Nuclear Fuel Cycle, with emphasis on nuclear fuel and fuel processing Basic Nuclear Science, with emphasis on the physics and chemistry of the actinides and on nuclear data = Competences of JRC that are unique or strongly complementary to those of academic institutions
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