National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

NUCLEAR WASTES

Technologies for Separations and Transmutation

Committee on Separations Technology and Transmutation Systems

Board on Radioactive Waste Management

Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources

National Research Council

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Washington, D.C.
1996

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20418

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by the Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Harold Liebowitz is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government, and upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce Alberts and Dr. Harold Liebowitz are the chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

The work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Contract No. DE-FC01-94EW54069/R.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nuclear wastes : technologies for separations and transmutation / Committee on Separations Technology and Transmutation Systems, Board on Radioactive Waste Management, Commission on Geosciences, Environment, and Resources, National Research Council.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-309-05226-2

1. Radioactive wastes—Purification. 2. Separation (Technology) 3. Nuclear reactions. I. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Separations Technology and Transmutation Systems.

TD898.17.N83 1995

621.48′38—dc20 95-46577

CIP

Cover: Mary M. Bernstein, a painter and resident of Amherst, Massachusetts, received her MFA from the University of Maryland. Her paintings range from abstract work to social commentary. In 1983, she published Dance in a Small Space, a book of drawings about the experience of motherhood. She is the co-founder of an on-going and growing interactive painting dialogue, called "Mother Tongue."

Copyright 1996 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

COMMITTEE ON SEPARATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSMUTATION SYSTEMS (STATS)

NORMAN C. RASMUSSEN, Chair,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

THOMAS A. BURKE,

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

GREGORY R. CHOPPIN,

Florida State University, Tallahassee

ALLEN G. CROFF,

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

HAROLD K. FORSEN,*

Bechtel National, Inc., San Francisco, California

B. JOHN GARRICK,

PLG, Inc., Newport Beach, California

JOHN M. GOOGIN,

Martin Marietta Energy, Inc., Oak Ridge, Tennessee

HERMANN A. GRUNDER,

Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia

L. CHARLES HEBEL,

Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, Palo Alto, California

THOMAS O. HUNTER,

Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico

MUJID S. KAZIMI,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

EDWIN E. KINTNER,

Norwich, Vermont

ROLLAND A. LANGLEY,

BNFL Inc., Washington, D.C.

EDWARD A. MASON, Chairman,

Amoco Corporation (retired), Napier, Illinois

FRED W. MCLAFFERTY,

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

THOMAS H. PIGFORD,

Kensington, California

DAN W. REICHER,§

Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, D.C.

JAMES E. WATSON, JR.,

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

SUSAN D. WILTSHIRE,

J.K. Research Associates, Beverly, Massachusetts

NRC Staff

C.A. ANDERSON, Director

K.T. THOMAS, Senior Staff Officer, Study Director

VERNA BOWEN, Administrative Assistant

LISA CLENDENING, Administrative Assistant

PATRICIA JONES, Project Assistant

*  

Served as a member until August 5, 1993, after which time he served as an unpaid consultant to the committee.

  

Resigned June 1, 1993.

  

Deceased January, 1994.

§  

Served as a member until May 1992.

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

SUBCOMMITTEE ON SEPARATION

FRED W. McLAFFERTY,* Chair,

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

JAMES BUCKHAM,

Allied General Nuclear, Aiken, South Carolina

GREGORY R. CHOPPIN,*

Florida State University, Tallahassee

MELVIN S. COOPS, retired,

Santa Rosa, California

GERHART FRIEDLANDER,

Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York

JOHN M. GOOGIN,*

Martin Marietta Energy, Inc., Oak Ridge, Tennessee

DARLEANE C. HOFFMAN,

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California

C. JUDSON KING, III,

University of California, Berkeley

ROLLAND A. LANGLEY,*

BNFL Inc., Washington, D.C.

ROBERT A. OSTERYOUNG,

North Carolina State University, Raleigh

RAYMOND G. WYMER,§

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (retired), Oak Ridge, Tennessee

NRC Staff

DOUGLAS RABER, Staff Director

SCOTT WEIDMAN, Senior Staff Officer,

*  

Also member of the STATS Committee.

  

Deceased January, 1994.

  

Resigned March, 1994.

§  

Resigned September 30, 1993.

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSMUTATION

EDWIN E. KINTNER,* Chair,

GUP Nuclear Corporation (retired), Norwich, Vermont

ERSEL A. EVANS, consultant,

Richland, Washington

HAROLD K. FORSEN,

Bechtel National, Inc., San Francisco, California

HERMANN A. GRUNDER,*

Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, Newport News, Virginia

WILLIAM M. JACOBI, retired (nuclear engineering),

Monroeville, Pennsylvania

MUJID S. KAZIMI,*

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

JOHN C. LEE,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

GLENN E. LUCAS,

University of California, Santa Barbara

THOMAS H. PIGFORD,*

University of California, Berkeley

KUNIHIKO UEMATSU,

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency, Paris

NRC Staff

MAHADEVEN MANI, Director

JAMES J. ZUCCHETTO, Senior Program Officer

SUSANNA CLARENDON, Administrative Assistant

*  

Also member of the STATS Committee.

  

Served as a member until August 5, 1993, after which time he served as an unpaid consultant.

  

Did not participate.

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTEGRATION

EDWARD A. MASON, Chair, retired,

Osterville, Massachusetts

THOMAS J. BURKE,

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

ALLEN G. CROFF,

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

B. JOHN GARRICK,

Pickard, Lowe, & Garrick, Inc., Newport Beach, California

L. CHARLES HEBEL,

Xerox Corporation, Palo Alto, California

THOMAS HUNTER,

Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico

ROLLAND A. LANGLEY,

BNFL Inc., Washington, D.C.

THOMAS H. PIGFORD,

University of California, Berkeley

NORMAN RASMUSSEN,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

DAN W. REICHER,

Natural Resources Defense Council, Washington, D.C.

JAMES E. WATSON,

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

SUSAN D. WILTSHIRE,

J.K. Research Associates, Inc., Beverly, Massachusetts

NRC Staff

K.T. THOMAS, Senior Staff Officer, Study Director

LISA CLENDENING, Administrative Assistant,

NOTE: The integration Subcommittee was active until May 1992. All Integration Subcommittee members are members of the STATS Committee.

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

BOARD ON RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT

MICHAEL C. KAVANAUGH, Chair,

ENVIRON Corporation, Emeryville, California

B. JOHN GARRICK, Vice-Chair,

PLG, Incorporated, Newport Beach, California

JOHN F. AHEARNE,

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

JEAN M. BAHR,

University of Wisconsin, Madison

LYNDA L. BROTHERS,

Davis Wright Tremaine, Seattle, Washington

SOL BURSTEIN,

Wisconsin Electric Power, Milwaukee (retired)

MELVIN W. CARTER,

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta (emeritus)

PAUL P. CRAIG,

University of California, Davis (emeritus)

MARY R. ENGLISH,

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

ROBERT D. HATCHER, JR.,

University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville

DARLEANE C. HOFFMAN,

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, California

H. ROBERT MEYER,

Keystone Scientific, Inc., Fort Collins, Colorado

PERRY L. McCARTY,

Stanford University, California

CHARLES McCOMBIE,

National Cooperative for the Disposal of Radioactive Waste, Wettingen, Switzerland

PRISCILLA P. NELSON,

University of Texas at Austin

D. KIRK NORDSTROM,

U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado

D WARNER NORTH,

Decision Focus, Incorporated, Mountain View, California

GLENN PAULSON,

Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago

PAUL SLOVIC,

Decision Research, Eugene, Oregon

BENJAMIN L. SMITH, Independent Consultant,

Columbia, Tennessee

Staff

CARL A. ANDERSON, Staff Director

KEVIN D. CROWLEY, Associate Director

ROBERT S. ANDREWS, Senior Staff Officer

KARYANIL T. THOMAS, Senior Staff Officer

THOMAS E. KIESS, Staff Officer

SUSAN B. MOCKLER, Research Associate

ROBIN L. ALLEN, Administrative Assistant

REBECCA BURKA, Administrative Assistant

LISA J. CLENDENING, Administrative Assistant

DENNIS L. DUPREE, Administrative Assistant

PATRICIA A. JONES, Project Assistant

ANGELA R. TAYLOR, Project Assistant

ERIKA L. WILLIAMS, Project Assistant

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

COMMISSION ON GEOSCIENCES, ENVIRONMENT, AND RESOURCES

M. GORDON WOLMAN, Chair,

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

PATRICK R. ATKINS,

Aluminum Company of America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

JAMES P. BRUCE,

Canadian Climate Program Board, Ottawa, Ontario

WILLIAM L. FISHER,

University of Texas, Austin

GEORGE M. HORNBERGER,

University of Virginia, Charlottesville

DEBRA KNOPMAN,

Progressive Policy Institute, Washington, D.C.

PERRY L. MCCARTY,

Stanford University, California

DEBRA MCDOWELL,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

S. GEORGE PHILANDER,

Princeton University, New Jersey

RAYMOND A. PRICE,

Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario

THOMAS A. SCHELLING,

University of Maryland, College Park

ELLEN SILBERGELD,

University of Maryland Medical School, Baltimore

STEVEN M. STANLEY,

The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

VICTORIA J. TSCHINKEL,

Landers and Parsons, Tallahassee, Florida

Staff

STEPHEN RATTIEN, Executive Director

STEPHEN D. PARKER, Associate Executive Director

MORGAN GOPNIK, Assistant Executive Director

GREGORY SYMMES, Reports Officer

JAMES MALLORY, Administrative Officer

SANDI FITZPATRICK, Administrative Associate

SUSAN SHERWIN, Project Assistant

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

PREFACE

Beginning in the 1940s, the U.S. government engaged in a very vigorous program of research, development, and utilization of nuclear energy. One part of the program was focused on the design and production of nuclear weapons. The other part of the effort was focused on the development of nuclear power reactors for both military and civilian use. From the beginning it was clear that use of nuclear energy would result in the generation of considerable amounts of high-level waste, containing radionuclides that are intensely radioactive and/or have long half-lives. Though it was recognized quite early that high-level waste would have to be managed safely without unacceptable risks to humans, for many decades other parts of the nuclear program (including interim storage) were given higher priority. The spent reactor fuel was stored in pools at the reactor site, and the high-level liquid wastes resulting from processing of defense reactor waste were put into underground tanks as temporary solutions to the problem. The age of the oldest of these "temporary" tanks containing processed liquid wastes is now approaching 50 years. Spent civilian-reactor fuel storage has been uneventful, but the high-level waste tanks are corroding and some have developed leaks, creating a hazardous situation. At many reactor sites these storage pools are nearly full—a situation requiring the construction of additional on-site pools or dry storage facilities.

It is expected that by about 2010 the U.S. civilian nuclear power reactors will have produced about 63,000 Mg (about 70,000 tons) of spent fuel. This will contain about 90% of all high-level radioactive waste in the U.S. nuclear program. The remaining spent fuel will result from the military program.

Extensive work has been done on research, development, and evaluation of methods for the ultimate safe disposal of this spent fuel and high-level radioactive waste. These studies have almost all concluded that the most practical approach would be to vitrify the liquid high-level wastes in a glass matrix. The resulting glass would then be encapsulated in suitable containers and buried in a specially selected and evaluated stable geological formation deep underground. Present U.S. policy is that spent power reactor fuel would also be encapsulated and buried.

To implement the disposal process, several recent administrations have announced their intention to establish a national repository for high-level radioactive waste. They developed a program schedule and passed legislation to provide the funding mechanism needed to carry out the program. However, the schedule for the program has been marked by continuous delays, and successive plans have had to be abandoned, resulting in billions of dollars of wasted expenditure. Some reasons for this dilemma are technical, but many are nontechnical. The current stalemate on the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is an example of such a case. When Yucca Mountain was identified by the U.S. Congress as the first site to be evaluated, the Nevada governor initiated legal steps to try to stop the federal government from taking any steps to evaluate the site, even though it is on federal property.

Due to legal interventions such as this, the DOE-sponsored work to establish Yucca Mountain as the first U.S. high-level waste repository is over budget and behind schedule. Still in its investigative phases after many years of effort, it has not yet even been determined if the site is suitable.

Because of all these difficulties, DOE continues to explore other disposal options that might circumvent such problems. Some of the proposed solutions have focused on separating the hazardous long-lived radioactive nuclides in the waste and transmuting them by neutron bombardment to form nuclides that would be either stable or radioactive

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

with a much shorter half-life. During the last decade, there has been a renewed interest by a few countries in such proposals, and some technological progress has been reported. This has led several of the DOE national laboratories to reexamine this concept to see if it might be put to practical use. Although this approach is technically feasible, its use involves several practical problems—a major technical problem is the requirement for production of very high neutron source intensities, which poses severe engineering and material challenges. Another difficult problem is achieving the very high efficiency required in the chemical separation of the radionuclides to be transmuted from the other wastes. Unless high separation efficiency is obtained, full benefits of transmutation may not be achieved. The residual waste may still be contaminated to the extent that it must be considered as high-level waste. In addition to these technical problems, the issues of economics, licensing, and public acceptance present significant obstacles to the adoption of transmutation systems.

As part of the reexamination of separations and transmutation (S&T) technology systems, in 1991 the Secretary of Energy, Admiral James D. Watkins, Jr., requested the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct a broad systems review of the application of S&T concepts to radioactive waste disposal. To implement this request, the NRC formed a 19-member multidisciplinary committee on Separations Technology and Transmutation Systems (STATS), under the direction of the Board on Radioactive Waste Management. The committee was assisted by a subcommittee on Separations, under the NRC's Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, and a subcommittee on Transmutation, under the NRC's Board on Energy and Environmental Systems. These subcommittees included 10 additional experts. A third STATS subcommittee on Integration functioned until May 1992.

The expertise of these committees included engineering, physical and chemical sciences, accelerator physics, radioactive and hazardous waste disposal technologies, health and safety assessment, economics, public and regulatory policies and procedures, and plant operations.

The scope of the study was to prepare a reviewed report evaluating the relative effects, costs, and feasibility of employing separations and transmutation technologies in the Department of Energy's programs for managing (1) spent nuclear fuel from civilian power reactors, and (2) radioactive wastes in tanks at selected existing defense production reactor sites.

To initiate the study, an international workshop was held in January 1992, where the committee was briefed on the current status of knowledge in the field by experts representing a wide cross section of disciplines. Following the workshop, the committee undertook an in-depth evaluation of all the aspects concerned with separations technology and transmutation through a number of meetings and briefings. It met with representatives of laboratories and organizations involved with the work and visited their sites in the United States and abroad.

In May 1992, in response to a request by the Secretary of Energy, an interim report of the committee was submitted that summarized the committee's information at that time concerning actinide burning in advanced liquid-metal reactors and the possible impacts on the repository program.

The committee examined the currently used ''once-through" fuel cycle versus proposed separations technology and transmutation systems for dealing with high-level radioactive waste. Two principal transmutation concepts involving critical reactors, both light-water reactors and advanced fast reactors were examined. In addition, a system was reviewed in which an accelerator combined with a subcritical reactor assembly produced neutrons. The committee also examined in detail the applicability of S&T in the management of defense wastes stored in tanks at the Hanford site.

This volume constitutes the final report of the STATS Committee. It provides a comprehensive evaluation of separations technology and transmutation technologies, its current status, and some insight on future potential. Associated topics dealing with health, safety, proliferation, socioeconomical, and regulatory issues are covered, as are possible schedules and economics of potential S&T systems. The report further examines whether implementation of S&T concepts can contribute to a safer and more economical waste disposal option than the present "once-through" fuel cycle and waste disposal option.

The report begins with an Executive Summary followed by a brief introduction to S&T technology in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 gives a description of the technologies involved. Chapters 3 and 4 describe the current status of separations and transmutation technologies, respectively. Some of the issues associated with defense waste are covered in Chapter 5. A number of important issues including licensing, health and safety, proliferation, and economics are reviewed in Chapter 6. Those desiring a more technical discussion will want to refer to Appendices C through K and Appendix P. Because of the frequent use of acronyms, the reader may find Appendix O valuable.

The STATS report had the benefit of the time and talents of highly professional and dedicated committee members, and it was my privilege and pleasure to work with them on this project. I acknowledge with thanks the many long hours and arduous work they provided in researching, writing, and revising their contributions to the many complex issues involved in separations technology and transmutation systems. Similarly, I extend my appreciation to the Department of Energy, which funded the study and express my appreciation to its staff for their technical support for

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

the committee's work. On behalf of the committee I also express gratitude to the many scientists and engineers representing various organizations and laboratories who briefed the committee and supplied it with the required technical reports dealing with research, development, and evaluation studies on the subject.

The Subcommittee on Transmutation was chaired by Ed Kintner. The Subcommittee on Separations was chaired by Fred McLafferty. Edward Mason was chairman of the Subcommittee on Integration. My special thanks go to the chairs and members of the subcommittees for their valuable contributions to the STATS committee work.

John M. Googin, a STATS Committee member, died in January 1994. His vast knowledge in engineering and chemical sciences and extensive corporate memory made his contributions to the STATS Committee invaluable. We grieve his loss.

The successful conclusion of a study of this magnitude is very dependent on the skills, dedication, and energy of the NRC staff who were assigned to the committee. In particular I thank K.T. Thomas, STATS Study Director and Senior Staff Officer of the Board on Radioactive Waste Management for his many valuable contributions to the study. His pleasant personality, dependability, and talents were responsible for many improvements in the final report. Carl A. Anderson, Director of the Board on Radioactive Waste Management, also made many contributions, particularly to the interim report.

Thanks also go to James J. Zucchetto, Staff Officer for the Subcommittee on Transmutation, and Scott T. Weidman, Staff Officer for the Subcommittee on Separations, and their respective directors of the two boards, Mahadevan Mani and Douglas J. Raber. Finally, I thank Lisa Clendening, Verna Bowen, and Patricia Jones of the Board on Radioactive Waste Management for their valuable work and guidance in seeing this report through to completion.

NORMAN C. RASMUSSEN, Chair

Committee on Separations Technology and Transmutation Systems

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
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Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
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CONTENTS

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×

5

 

DEFENSE WASTES

 

87

   

The Hanford Tanks

 

87

   

Scenarios for Hanford Tank Remediation

 

93

   

Conclusions and Recommendations

 

98

   

References

 

98

6

 

ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUES

 

99

   

Impact of S&T On Waste Repository

 

99

   

Transportation-Related Issues

 

102

   

Proliferation Issues

 

104

   

Health and Safety Issues

 

108

   

Cost of Fuel Reprocessing

 

112

   

Policy, Institutional, and Management Issues

 

118

   

Regulatory Issues

 

120

   

Research and Development Needs

 

125

   

References

 

126

 

 

APPENDIXES

 

 

   

A STATEMENT OF WORK

 

131

   

B LIST OF COMMITTEE AND SUBCOMMITTEE ACTIVITIES

 

133

   

C BASE CASE ONCE-THROUGH URANIUM FUEL CYCLE FOR LIGHT-WATER REACTOR WITH GEOLOGICAL REPOSITORY

 

135

   

D SEPARATIONS TECHNOLOGY

 

147

   

Introduction

 

147

   

Aqueous Processes

 

148

   

Nonaqueous Processes

 

152

   

Reprocessing Experience in the United States and Abroad

 

164

   

Future Separations Processes

 

168

   

References

 

186

   

E DEFENSE WASTES — ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

 

191

   

Hanford Disposal Costs for High-Level Waste Canisters

 

191

   

Savannah River Site Plans for A Defense Waste Processing Facility

 

193

   

References

 

199

   

Selected Bibliography

 

200

   

F TRANSMUTATION CONCEPTS

 

201

   

Advanced Liquid-Metal Reactor

 

201

   

The Light-Water Reactor

 

224

   

The Los Alamos Accelerator Transmutation of Waste

 

241

   

The Particle Bed Reactor Concept

 

285

   

The Accelerator-Based Phoenix Concept

 

297

   

References

 

308

   

G EFFECTS ON REPOSITORY

 

315

   

Background Information On Repository Performance

 

315

   

Impact of Transmutation

 

320

   

Summary and Conclusions

 

348

   

References

 

351

Suggested Citation:"FRONT MATTER." National Research Council. 1996. Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4912.
×
   

H NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION ISSUES

 

355

   

Introduction

 

355

   

Nonproliferation Policy and International Safeguards

 

358

   

Assessment of Proliferation Issues for S&T Systems

 

368

   

Case 1: Integral Fast Reactor Breeder/Burner

 

375

   

Case 2: Baseline Accelerator Transmutation of Waste

 

376

   

Case 3: Advanced Accelerator Transmutation of Waste

 

377

   

Case 4: Hybrid Almr/Lwr System

 

377

   

References

 

378

   

I HEALTH AND SAFETY

 

383

   

Introduction

 

383

   

Discussion of Concepts

 

386

   

ATW

 

387

   

ALMR/IFR

 

388

   

LWR

 

389

   

PBR

 

390

   

CURE

 

390

   

Risk and Safety Summaries: Radioactive Waste Treatment Concepts

 

392

   

References

 

411

   

J FUEL REPROCESSING ECONOMICS

 

413

   

Introduction

 

413

   

Historical Perspective

 

413

   

Relative Economics of Reprocessing Versus Once-Through Fuel Cycle

 

416

   

Principal Issues in Determining Whether To Adopt Reprocessing and Transmutation As A Waste Management Strategy

 

416

   

Reprocessing-Plant Capital Costs

 

417

   

Reprocessing-Plant Operating Costs

 

426

   

Financing of Reprocessing/Transmutation Reactor Facilities

 

427

   

Estimated Unit Costs of Lwr Reprocessing

 

431

   

Comparison With Published Reprocessing Prices

 

431

   

Comparison With OECD/NEA Breakeven Reprocessing Price

 

434

   

Reprocessing-Cost Sensitivity Studies

 

436

   

Potential Savings for Nth-Of-A-Kind Plants

 

436

   

Threshold Cost of LWR Fuel Reprocessing for ALMR Use

 

440

   

Historical Cost Growth On Projects Employing Advanced Technologies

 

442

   

Summary and Conclusions

 

443

   

References

 

444

   

K SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL SEPARATIONS AND TRANSMUTATIONS ACTIVITIES

 

447

   

Programs of Individual Nations

 

447

   

International Organizations

 

452

   

OECD/NEA

 

453

   

Observations

 

454

   

References

 

455

   

L INTERIM REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON SEPARATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSMUTATION SYSTEMS

 

457

   

M BIOGRAPHIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON SEPARATIONS TECHNOLOGY AND TRANSMUTATION SYSTEMS

 

475

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NUCLEAR WASTES

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Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation Get This Book
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Disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear weapons production and power generation has caused public outcry and political consternation. Nuclear Wastes presents a critical review of some waste management and disposal alternatives to the current national policy of direct disposal of light water reactor spent fuel. The book offers clearcut conclusions for what the nation should do today and what solutions should be explored for tomorrow.

The committee examines the currently used "once-through" fuel cycle versus different alternatives of separations and transmutation technology systems, by which hazardous radionuclides are converted to nuclides that are either stable or radioactive with short half-lives. The volume provides detailed findings and conclusions about the status and feasibility of plutonium extraction and more advanced separations technologies, as well as three principal transmutation concepts for commercial reactor spent fuel.

The book discusses nuclear proliferation; the U.S. nuclear regulatory structure; issues of health, safety and transportation; the proposed sale of electrical energy as a means of paying for the transmutation system; and other key issues.

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