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Transmutation of long-lived fission products in an advanced nuclear energy system.
- Source :
-
Scientific Reports . 2/9/2022, Vol. 12 Issue 1, p1-12. 12p. - Publication Year :
- 2022
-
Abstract
- Disposal of long-lived fission products (LLFPs) produced in reactors has been paid a lot attention for sustainable and clean nuclear energy. Although a few transmutation means have been proposed to address this issue, there are still scientific and/or engineering challenges to achieve efficient transmutation of LLFPs. In this study, we propose a novel concept of advanced nuclear energy system (ANES) for transmuting LLFPs efficiently without isotopic separation. The ANES comprises intense photoneutron source (PNS) and subcritical reactor, which consist of lead–bismuth (Pb-Bi) layer, beryllium (Be) layer, and fuel, LLFPs and shield assemblies. The PNS is produced by bombarding radioactive cesium and iodine target with a laser-Compton scattering (LCS) γ-ray beam. We investigate the effect of the ANES system layout on transmutation efficiency by Monte Carlo simulations. It is found that a proper combination of the Pb-Bi layer and the Be layer can increase the utilization efficiency of the PNS by a factor of ~ 10, which helps to decrease by almost the same factor the LCS γ-beam intensity required for driving the ANES. Supposing that the ANES operates over 20 years at a normal thermal power of 500 MWt, five LLFPs including 99Tc, 129I, 107Pd, 137Cs and 79Se could be transmuted by more than 30%. Their effective half-lives thus decrease drastically from ~ 106 to less than 102 years. It is suggested that this successful implementation of the ANES paves the avenue towards practical transmutation of LLFPs without isotopic separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20452322
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Scientific Reports
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 155153554
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06344-y