Partitioning Transmutation The role of MYRRHA Gert Van

Partitioning & Transmutation The role of MYRRHA Gert Van den Eynde SCK • CEN gvdeynde@sckcen. be Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Outline l Who is SCK • CEN ? l What is P&T ? l What is MYRRHA ? l Conclusion Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

SCK • CEN: background Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie Centre d'Étude de l'énergie Nucléaire 1 st pressurized water reactor (PWR) outside USA (BR 3) World first underground lab for R&D on HL waste disposal (HADES) Innovative nuclear fuel (MOX fuel) World first lead based ADS (GUINEVERE) Highest performing material testing reactor in Europe (BR 2) World premiere project for transmutation of nuclear waste Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Nuclear Spent Fuel U 235 n Uranium n Fission n n U 238 Minor Actinides U 238 Pu Np Am Cm Plutonium Neptunium Americium Curium Minor Actinides § Long lived (>1, 000 years) § Very radiotoxic § Very hot Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Goals of P&T Volume reduction Radiotoxicity reduction More sustainable Final disposal still required, but less “demanding” Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

The European Strategy for P&T l The Four Building Blocks MYRRHA l Process a sizable amount of spent fuel from commercial LWRs l Separate plutonium (Pu), uranium (U) and minor actinides (MA), + prototype + irradiation l Fabricate at a semi-industrialfacility level the dedicated fuel l Design and construction of one or more dedicated transmuters l Process the dedicated fuel unloaded from the transmuter l Fabricate new dedicated fuel Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Options for transmutation Fast neutron spectrum is essential Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Options for transmutation Fast Reactor heterogeneous Driver fuel Blanket with MA Fast Reactor homogeneous Fuel with MA Blanket ADS Fuel with MA Amount and loading will have an impact on economics Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Options for transmutation in Fast Reactors EC-FP 7 CP-ESFR working horse heterogeneous 20% 2 x blanket heterogeneous 7% in OC homogeneous 2. 5% +1. 82 kg/TWhth -0. 99 kg/TWhth -3. 64 kg/TWhth -2. 78 kg/TWhth Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Options for transmutation EC-FP 6 IP-EUROTRANS EFIT EC-FP 7 CP-ESFR EFIT heterogeneous 7% in OC homogeneous 2. 5% -30 kg/TWhth -3. 64 kg/TWhth -2. 78 kg/TWhth Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

MYRRHA, an ADS at power Reactor • Subcritical or Critical modes • 65 to 100 MWth Accelerator (600 Me. V - 4 m. A proton) e& v i t a v o Inn nique U Multipurpose Flexible Irradiation Facility Spallation Source Fast Neutron Source Lead-Bismuth coolant Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

The accelerator Wait and see Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

The spallation target l Window or windowless ? l vacuum compatibility l volatile spallation product confinement l window lifetime (max. 6 months) l compactness l Coupling with core ? l spallation product confinement l Target materials l high irradiation dose l strong thermo-mechanical gradients (beam trips) Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

The core l MOX driver fuel (30 at% Pu) l Pool-type l Lead-Bismuth cooled Critical Bo. C (108 FAs) 18 batches of 6 FAs Max BU: 57 MWd/kg. HM Subcritical Bo. C (72 FAs) 12 batches of 6 FAs Max BU: 59 MWd/kg. HM Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Irradiation performances Flux and DPA values normalised to Critical Sub-critical MWth 96 72 m. A - 1. 74 – 2. 52 IPS in central channel DPA/Y 21. 7 - IPSs in off-central channel DPA/Y 13. 9 31 Beam current DPA damage in IPS Neutron Flux in IPS in central channel / target Φ≥ 0. 75 Me. V n/cm 2 s 4. 05 E+14 1. 01 E+15 Φtot n/cm 2 s 2. 61 E+15 3. 75 E+15 Φ≥ 0. 75 Me. V n/cm 2 s 2. 56 E+14 4. 2 E+14 Φtot n/cm 2 1. 75 E+15 2. 6 E+15 IPSs in off-central channel s Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Minor actinide transmutation studies l Minor Actinde loaded device l IMF fuel (Mg. O matrix) l Different MA loading factors l Loss of Am, Np l Build-up of Cm l Loss or build-up of Pu Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Irradiation for fusion-like conditions l Below spallation target l Very high + hard neutron flux l Proton flux l Irradiation of samples l High dpa’s & dpa rates l High appm. He/dpa rates Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Large R&D program on-going TOPIC FP 5 FP 6 FP 7 MUSE DM 2 ECATS FREYA Fuels FUTURE DM 3 AFTRA FAIRFUELS Materials MEGAPIE Coupling Design SPIRE, TECLA DM 4 DEMETRA MATTER GETMAT PDS-XADS DM 1 DESIGN CDT MAX ADOPT EUROTRANS SERIM G 4 ASCHLIM THINS LFR - ELSY LEADER Infrastructures - VELLA, MTRI 3 ADRIANA, SARGEN, NEWLANCER Scenario Studies - PATEROS ARCAS Safety - - SEARCH, SILER, Thermal-Hydraulics MAXSIMA Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

R&D subjects related HLM technology l Li. Pu. TTe. R-II l HELIOS 3 l Heavy Liquid Metal Lab LBE conditioning l MEXICO l CRAFT l LIMETS 3 Materials l RHAPTER l COMPLOT Component testing & TH l ESCAPE l US lab Instrumentation Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

VENUS_F: an ADS zero power facility D+ source 250 ke. V acc. D+, D 2+, D 3+ 90° bending magnet D+ GENEPI-3 C VENUS-F Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

VENUS_F: an ADS zero power facility l Perform qualification of sub-criticality monitoring l Investigate start-up and shut-down procedures l Interpret and validate experimental data l Study safety and licensing issues l Identify licensing aspects for a full-scale ADS Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN

Conclusions l Accelerator Driven Systems: one of the four building blocks l MYRRHA can serve as l Irradiation facility for material and fuel qualification l Prototype of an ADS “at power” Copyright © 2015 SCK • CEN