Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing in france international panel on. The recovered fissile material is used to manufacture new fuel rods for nuclear reactors, while the remaining waste is solidified and disposed of. This calls for adopting reprocessing, conditioning and recycle rcr option. Figure 14 waste volumes generated by spent fuel reprocessing in france. Whether for uranium enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing, or spent fuel disposal and storage, multilateral options span the entire field between existing market. The current process used for spent fuel reprocessing, drawing on over 50 years research and industrial development. Joint convention on the safety of spent fuel management and on the safety of. Reprocessing of the type currently practiced in a handful. At the same time, china is considering construction of. Management of spent nuclear fuel and its waste a joint research centre and easac report easac an important and inevitable byproduct of nuclear energy production is the spent nuclear fuel that needs to be managed and handled in a safe, responsible and effective way.
The pyroprocessing files union of concerned scientists. Here at the start, i give a brief summary of the testimonys salient points. Pdf on jan 1, 2015, robin taylor and others published reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel find, read and cite all the. Reprocessing of lightwaterreactor fuel is being conducted on a large scale in france and in the united kingdom. Reprocessing is unnecessary and even detrimental for nuclear power.
The spent mox fuel is then stored, pending reprocessing for future use in fast neutron reactors. The scope of the report covers all of these and further details onthe scope are provided in section c scope of application. Continued reprocessing is one of the options in the draft eis for managing snf in the future. Flowsheet calculation result of 1 000 kg lwr spent fuel processing spent uo 2 fuel, 60 gwdt burnup, 5 years cooling 41 figure 17. This paper analyzes the process of nuclear fuel reprocessing, where spent nuclear. An assessment of the proliferation risks of spent fuel. The proper management of spent fuel arising from nuclear power production is a key issue for the sustainable development of nuclear energy. The project focuses on the cleanup and containment of radioactive waste left behind after the abandonment of a commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in 1980. Reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel woodhead. It is cheaper and shifts the radioactive waste problem to a central site. How can the cost of spent fuel reprocessing be reduced and. Reprocessing refers generally to the processes used to separate spent nuclear reactor fuel into nuclear materials that may be recycled for use in new fuel and material that would be discarded as waste. It does not address all of the issues associated with permanent disposal of snf, but rather focuses. Used or spent nuclear fuel is stored in pools, or in specially designed dry storage casks.
The operator can always resort to the nuclear option of simply ceasing operations, which in a highly integrated national electric grid can have catastrophic consequences. Currently, the department of energy plans to permanently dispose of spent fuel without reprocessing, but some experts believe that this will waste a valuable source of uranium and plutonium and pose special waste isolation problems. Reprocessing, the chemical process of separating plutonium and uranium out of spent nuclear fuel, creates both reusable nuclear materials and a small amount of highly concentrated waste. Waste policy act of 1982 nwpa, which directed the department of energy. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing flowsheet nuclear energy agency. Reprocessing the spent fuel elements from lightwater reactors contain unburnt uranium, plutonium, some higher actinides and highly radioactive fission products. Spent nuclear fuel storage congressional research service 26. Reprocessing refers generally to the processes used to separate spent nuclear reactor fuel into nuclear materials that may be recycled for use in new. Management of spent nuclear fuel and its waste jrc. However it is estimated, with the continual rise in oil prices and the concerns surrounding global warming, that nuclear power could grow exponentially from the 20% energy market share it has now in the united states 3.
Ebrii fuel reprocessing and refabrication operations were suspended. A secondary goal was to demonstrate the viability of a new type of processing. Jun 15, 2012 as a result, storage pools were constructed with only a small storage capacity typically enough for about oneandonethird of the assemblies in a core. Reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel presents an authoritative overview of spent fuel reprocessing, considering future prospects for advanced closed fuel cycles. Fuel reprocessing recycling the processing of reactor fuel to separate the unused fissionable material from waste material. It operates with an aqueous extraction technology using tributyl phosphate with a hydrocarbon diluent. Doe has extended the expected date that the last of the spent nuclear fuel will be picked up several times, and each extension has added to the future federal liability. Pdf reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel. However, unlike waste from the reprocessing process. Operating the rokkasho reprocessing plant rrp will cost the japanese people about.
Japan nuclear policy rokkasho reprocessing plant challenges. Status and trends in spent fuel reprocessing publications iaea. Flowsheet calculation result of 1 000 kg lwr spent fuel processing spent mox fuel, 45 gwdt burnup, 5 years cooling 42 figure 18. Reshetnikov i rom the very beginning, the development of nuclear power in the former soviet union was based on a closed fuel cycle.
Some of this fuel came from srs reactors, and spent fuel containing heu was also sent to srs from research and test reactors in the u. Reprocessing of lightwaterreactor fuel is being conducted on a large scale in france and in. Legislation on hold funding for gnep in the current us fiscal year 2008, which began 1 october 2007, is still undecided as. Reprocessing and spent nuclear fuel management at the savannah river site some of the terms used in this factsheet are defined in ieers online glossary. Reprocessing was also used at srs to recover heu from spent fuel to be made into new fuel. Rokkasho reprocessing plant challenges june 20, monterey institute course 2. Introduction nuclear fuels having been in the reactor of a nuclear power plant for certain time have to be replaced with fresh ones when their efficiency decreases to some extent. Show full abstract vr simulation system for spent fuel reprocessing vrss aimed at demonstrating and analyzing the treatment process. To obtain a free viewer for displaying this format, see our plugins, viewers, and other tools. In recognition of the importance of spent fuel reprocessing in the back end of the fuel cycle, the iaea has provided a forum for exchange of information on the status and trends in spent fuel reprocessing since the 1970s, from which several publications have appeared 1,2,3. Chairman, thank you for inviting me to testify on the nuclear.
Many research reactor operators benefited from the fuel return program such as the us frrsnf, including spent fuel reprocessing at doe savannah river site. The current version of the simulation code is in ms excel spreadsheet format. A concept of spentfuel storage in an unlimitedair atmosphere, developed in canada and the usa, also is envisaged for. A proposal for spentfuel management policy in east asia. United states of america sixth national report for the joint. Safety management of abroad reprocessing spent nuclear. Having low reserves of uranium and high reserves of thorium, this strategy of reprocessing and recycle of uranium and plutonium would lead. The blue ribbon commission recommended against reprocessing spent fuel, though it did recommend research. Forcefeedback teleoperation of an industrial robot in a.
Safety management of abroad reprocessing spent nuclear fuels fuel cycle and materials administration atomic energy council 1. The united states government policy relating to nuclear fuel reprocessing, which was announced by president carter on april 7, 1977, provides for an. Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and unused uranium from spent nuclear fuel. Nuclear fuel cycle dry cask storage required after spent fuel pool generally stored on reactor site approx. An industrial perspective an overview of policies, plans, and experience in producing and reprocessing nuclear fuels, and in the utilization of plutonium by yu. The reprocessed uranium, also known as the spent fuel. Summary of analytic approach 14 references for sectioi 110 it. Reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel woodhead publishing series in energy taylor, robin on. Kfz longterm storage and disposal of spent fuel by alexander nechaev, vladimir onufriev, and k. Management of spent nuclear fuel and its waste, a joint research. Because of such concerns, the united states had shied away from spent fuel reprocessing for nearly three decades until gnep was launched a year ago.
The current process used for spent fuel reprocessing, drawing on over 50 years research and industrial development in a number of countries. May 22, 2008 managing spent fuel in the united states. While reprocessing doe spent fuel could potentially create a source of fissile and target material for reuse in future nuclear energy production, the heterogeneity and complexity of most of the inventory would make it a significantly less attractive source material for commercial fuel fabrication than the much larger, homogeneous quantities of. Still other countries decide to transport spent fuel used in domestic reactors abroad to countries that can either store or reprocess it.
The rrp is designed, when operating at full capacity, to separate about 8. June 20, monterey institute course 23 first commercial large scale reprocessing plant built in a nnws. The spent fuel assemblies are transferred to baskets for interim storage in spent fuel pools for a minimum of 2 years to allow for cooling. The centre for international governance innovation nuclear. The fuel assemblies are removed from the pool and sheared into 23 centimeter pieces. Still other countries decide to transport spent fuel used in domestic reactors abroad to countries that can. Spent nuclear fuel accumulation direct disposal 0 30,000 60,000 90,000 120,000 150,000 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 year civilian spent nuclear fuel mthm cumulative of first repository statutory capacity technical capacity current nuclear energy generation 2015. Therefore, the spent nuclear fuel snf reprocessing is not considered today as the only alternative of the nuclear fuel cycle. Project on managing the atom the cost of reprocessing in. The structure of the report follows the guidance issued by the joint convention reference. The following links on this page are to adobe portable document format pdf files. Costs of reprocessing versus directly disposing of spent nuclear fuel before the committee on energy and natural resources united states senate november 14, 2007 congressional budget office second and d streets, s.
The aec invited public comment on a proposed policy in the form of appendix f to 10 c. The core reprocessing supporters in each country are government. Reprocessing extracts isotopes from spent nuclear fuel so they can be used again as reactor fuel. The recovery of the fissile materials is designed with a target value of 99. Costs of reprocessing versus directly disposing of spent. The aec authorized general electric company ge to construct a spent fuel reprocessing facility in morris, il. Global nuclear energy partnership gnep represents a shift in u. However, the scope of this publication has been significantly expanded in an attempt to make it more comprehensive by including more information on emerging technologies.
Multinational storage of spent nuclear fuel and other high. Spent nuclear fuel storage congressional research service this report focuses on the current situation with spent nuclear fuel storage in the united states. Spent nuclear fuel snf refers to the spent fuel rods that have been irradiated in a nuclear reactor, mostly from civilian nuclear power plants. This report aims to collect spent nuclear fuel reprocessing flowsheet of various processes. Reprocessed uranium can also be recycled after reenrichment in. Environmental impacts of the production and use of nuclear. This report updates previous iaea technical documents which have focused on purex based conventional reprocessing industry, and expands the scope of the. Nuclear fuel reprocessing franke institute university of chicago. Flowsheet calculation result of 1 000 kg lwr spent. If this does happen, the need for spent fuel reprocessing will. China has been considering both a reprocessing plant designed to reprocess 200 metric tons of heavy metal in spent fuel each year 200 thmyr and one designed to process 800 thmyr.
Actinide partitioning application to waste management. Mox fuel doe now appears to have accepted arevas view that u. The challenges in spent fuel reprocessing can be understood if one considers the spent fuel with radioactivity given in table 2 and compared with the product specifications given in table 3. This report aims to collect spent nuclear fuel reprocessing flowsheet of various processes developed by member states. Uranium and plutonium in this spent fuel are valuable energy resources and may be reused by separating them from the fission products. However, unlike waste from the reprocessing process, spent fuel that has been reprocessed and used again has a higher heat content than spent fuel that has been used only once. Interim storage of spent nuclear fuel harvard university. An assessment of the proliferation risks of spent fuel reprocessing and alternative nuclear waste management strategies mr. Without reprocessing, the spent fuel becomes nuclear waste.
Charge for spent fuel storage us department of energy. Dec 15, 2017 the facilities operating in the world are today incapable of reprocessing the whole amount of the already accumulated and annually unloaded npp spent fuel. In addition, reprocessing spent fuel and burning the resulting fuel in fastreactors can help reduce the volume and radioactivity of highlevel waste. Approximately 50,000 tonnes of magnox spent fuel has been produced in this time. Management of spent nuclear fuel and its waste, a joint. Both indigenous chinese technology and purchase of a large reprocessing plant from france are being considered.
The project was created by an act of congress in 1980 and is directed to be a cooperative effort between. The west valley demonstration project is a nuclear waste remediation site in west valley, new york in the u. The nuclear material in the fuel is dissolved in an acidic solution. Pdf on jan 1, 2015, robin taylor and others published reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Indian programme on reprocessing india has chosen to follow a closed fuel cycle policy to ensure long term energy security. The vrss is based the vr and visualization technology.
United states of america sixth national report for the. A proposal for spentfuel management policy in east asia 201011 south korea, china, and japan all have nearterm plans to embark upon or expand on closed nuclear fuel cycles including spent fuel reprocessing and fast breeder reactor fbr development. Treatment and recycling of spent nuclear fuel halcea. Pyrochemical reprocessing of spent fuel by electrochemical techniques using solid aluminium cathodes article pdf available in energy procedia 7. Spent leu fuel storage reprocessing plant other radioactive waste fuel fabrication plant s 4075 mwe liquid sodiumcooled fastneutron reactors reprocessing plant s cs7, sr90 storage 200300 years radioactive uranium leu fuel 100 watercooled reactors doe proposes to build a reprocessing plant. The paper attempts to analyze measures aimed at reducing expenditures for npp fuel reprocessing. In 2006, doe similarly proposed reprocessing as a solution to the u. Reprocessing is currently not taking place in the u. Storing that previously recycled spent fuel in the longterm repository immediately would eliminate all of the densification benefits of. If nitric dissolution of spent uox fuel is almost complete with only a very low quantity of remaining solid recovery rate 99. Spent fuel cask at the nuclear research center in karlsruhe, frg.
The plants capacity for the main type of fuel wwer440 fuel is 400 thm per year. With commercialization of nuclear power, the reprocessed plutonium was recycled back into mox nuclear fuel for thermal reactors. Reprocessing is the initial separation of spent nuclear fuel into its constituent parts. Reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel robin. The use of reprocessing technology to manage magnox spent fuel has been ongoing for over 50 years. Spent fuel is highly radioactive and requires shielding and cooling. While reprocessing of spent fuel was historically the favored strategy for the back end fuel cycle, in the past few decades some countries have turned to other options.
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