The Tenth OECD Nuclear Energy Agency Information Exchange Meeting on Actinide and Fission Product Partitioning and Transmutation FUTURE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLES : PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES D. WARIN, B. BOULLIS CEA, Nuclear Energy Division 1 – Main achievement in the frame of 1991 Act 2 – P and T in the 2006 Act 3 – Fuel cycle possible options 4 – On going R and D programs IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 1/22
The 1991 French Act: frame of the Program � 3 Research thematics: December 30, 1991 ● partitioning and transmutation of LLRNs ● deep repository ● confinement and interim storage � Deadline : final report in 2006 IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 2/22
Minor Actinide Partitioning strategy Spent Fuel PUREX U, Pu Np Two step strategy CO-EXTRACTION Fission DIAMEX Products of MAs and Ln SEPARATION SANEX Ln Am, Cm of Mas from Ln IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 3/22
DIAMEX demonstrative hot run, Nov. 2005 PUREX raffinate 15 kg genuine fuel NaOH HEDTA HEDTA Solvent Treatment HNO 3 Am ~ 150 mg/L (ECRAN) HNO 3 Cm ~ 15 mg/L H 2 C 2 O 4 Ln ~ 2.5 g/L HEDTA 4 m high V ~ 1 L/h HNO 3 Pulsed columns H 2 C 2 O 4 HEDTA Back-extraction An-Ln - Scrubbing (MS) extraction extraction extraction extraction FP An+ Ln An+ Ln (CP) (CP) HNO 3 (CP) (CP) (CP) (CP) 0.65 M DIAMEX DMDOHEMA/TPH Production Am, Cm, Ln Am ~ 0.015 % Am, Cm, Ln FP Cm < 0.002 % Raffinate > 99.9% IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 4/22
SANEX demonstrative hot run, December 2005 HNO 3 NaOH HEDTA extraction-scrubbing DIAMEX Solvent DMDOHEMA 0.5 M Production + HDEHP 0.3 M Am, Cm, Ln TPH HNO 3 ~ 45 mL/h Raffinate Am, Cm < 0.01% Ln An stripping Ln stripping scrubbing Ln HEDTA HNO 3 Am, Cm > 99.9% An Citric ac. Am < 0.06 % F.D.Ln ~ 80 Cm < 0.03 % IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 5/22
The 2006 French Act � PRINCIPLES : ● Recycle (reprocess) June 28, 2006 to decrease waste amount and toxicity ● Retrievable Geological Repository , the reference option for ultimate waste management � A « ROADMAP » : ● 2012 : industrial potentialities of the diverse P&T options, and prototype by 2020 ● 2015 : repository defined, and operation by 2025 IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 6/22
The 2006 French Act (Article 3) PARTITIONING and TRANSMUTATION OF LLRNs « The research in this field will be connected to research concerning the new generation of nuclear reactors , as well as accelerator driven systems devoted to waste transmutation, in order to have, by 2012, an evaluation of the industrial potentialities of these concepts, and in order to start operating a prototype before December 31st, 2020 … » IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 7/22
Minor Actinide Partitioning : what processes ? � Solvent extraction, first ! ● Already developed at commercial plant scale (Industrial potentiality) ● high separation yields ! ● low amount of secondary waste ! � The main alternative: Pyro_processes IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 8/22
Future fuel cycle options : the 2012 milestone � Define the several options of interest, which could be successively deployed (all-actinide, Americium only, heterogeneous, homogeneous,…) � Assess benefits /costs ratio for the several recycling options, considering diverse criteria and “densification” of the final storage � Design / Optimize separation processes, transmutation fuels and their fabrication processes � and gather technical elements for industrial operation evaluation IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 9/22
Future fuel cycle options, Reactor and Treatment U U U R T FP R T FP R T FP&MA MA Pu U Pu U Pu AM U MA heterogeneous U and Pu recycled, MA homogeneous recycling recycling PUREX U « double strata » U FP R T FP&MA R T MA U Pu U Pu ADS U and Pu recycled, T COEX IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 10/22
Fuel cycle, the « COEX TM » concept URANIUM TREATMENT REACTOR FPs & MAs Pu and U U - U and Pu recycling, extraction-fabrication - without anywhere, anytime « pure » plutonium - suitable for Gen3 and MOX-LWRs - a first step before more advanced options ? IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 11/22
Fuel cycle, the MA heterogeneous recycling option URANIUM FPs REACTOR TREATMENT MAs Pu,U,(Np) U - U, Pu, Np by COEX TM (or PUREX) - Am (and Cm) separation : DIAMEX, SANEX,… - Am (and Cm) recycled on dedicated « targets-blankets » IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 12/22
Fuel cycle, the MA heterogeneous recycling option DIAMEX-SANEX with extractant separation DMDOHEMA HTP EXTRACTION / SCRUB. (DIAMEX process) DMDOHEMA Solvent treatment F.P. PUREX HNO 3 HNO 3 (except Ln+ Y) raffinate HEDTA. oxalic acid DMDOHEMA HTP Acidic extractant HTP Extractant separation Ln STRIPPING An STRIPPING pH > 5 DTPA or HEDTA Am + Cm HNO 3 Ln + Y Glycolic acid pH 3 (hot test scheduled in 2009) IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 13/22
Fuel cycle, the MA homogeneous recycling option URANIUM FPs REACTOR TREATMENT Pu, U, MAs U - U, Pu, Np by COEX TM + Am (and Cm) by DIAMEX-SANEX - or all-actinide grouped management (GANEX), the most advanced option, but drawbacks for fuel cycle operation IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 14/22
Fuel cycle, the GANEX concept RECYCLE Spent fuel DISSOLUTION DISSOLUTION UPuNpAmCm Conversion U 1 st step U Extraction Pu+MA 2 nd step Ln Stripping An Stripping F.P. Ln Ln WASTE IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 15/22
Fuel cycle, the GANEX hot runs in Atalante 1st step : U selective extraction Solvent Mono Amide clean-up (performed successfully Extraction Scrubbing U stripping in June 2008) Np, Pu, Am, Cm + Feed HNO 3 U Diluted FPs HNO 3 U > 99.9% 2nd step : Pu-Np-Am-Cm co-recovery (diamide-based process) (scheduled in November 2008) IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 16/22
Fuel cycle, from MA solutions to fuels Actinide oxalic co-conversion (precipitation, filtration, calcination) ATALANTE – L15 Atalante/L15 U 70 % - Pu 30 % Continuous operation U, Pu,Np U, Pu, Np, Am U 78 % - Pu 20 % - Np 1% - Am 1 % COPIX (UPu)O 2 irradiation test in Phénix, 2008-2009 IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 17/22
CEA Pyro reference route: reductive extraction Fluoride Salt An AnF 3 AlF 3 Salt before extraction Al An Al Metal Solvent Actinide distribution coefficients >100 An/Ln separation factors > 1000 • Attractive potentialities : Salt after extraction • Compactness • No radiolytical effects • Suitable for advanced fuels, hot fuels • … • but still heavy work, still questions: • Operating pyro-processes at industrial scale ? • Technological waste amount ? IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 18/22
Separation process : CEA on going R and D � COEX TM : « Demo runs » ( separation, conversion, COPIX) � DIAMEX, SANEX : ● Single cycle flowsheets ● « Am only » recovery concepts � GANEX : ● 1 st and 2 nd cycles ● New flowsheets considered… � Atalante new hot runs : from 2008 to 2012 � PYRO: Stripping in molten salts (after extraction) IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 19/22
Separation process : consolidation towards industrialization Long term effects (solvent treatment) O O H 3 C CH 3 N Modeling N C 8 H 17 C 8 H 17 C 2 H 4 (flowsheet, sensitivity, operation) O C 6 H 13 Extractant Core of the process demonstrated at small scale synthesis DMDOHEMA + HDEHP An(III) + Ln(III) Ln(III) An stripping Extr-scrub. Ln stripping DTPA Raffinat pH 3-4 Ln PF An PUREX FP solution adapted Interface to vitrification Co-conversion Equipments (Concent. Calcination) (Implementation, In situ extrapolation) analysis (cations, pH...) IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 20/22
New workshops at La Hague Areva plant ? MINOR ACTINIDE PILOT SFR MOX FUEL FABRICATION (remote fabrication) (the core of SFR proto (experimental pins, ASTRID, tons) MONJU demo, kg) IEMPT-10, Mito, Japan, October 8, 2008 Radiochemistry and Processes Department 21/22
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