Treatment or processing of used nuclear fuel to recycle uranium and plutonium has historically been accomplished using the well known purex process. The material flows and waste products are summarized in figure 1 see pdf version, normalized to one tonne of reactor fuel in a lightwater reactor, closed fuel cycle. Review of spent fuel reprocessing and associated accident. Costs of reprocessing versus directly disposing of spent nuclear. Contents current situation of nuclear power plants low and intermediate level waste spent fuel management debates on reprocessing spent fuel conclusion 1 3. The radionuclide inventory was developed from origen calculations of spent pwr fuel with an initial enrichment of 4. Reprocessing and spent nuclear fuel management at the savannah river site.
Reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel presents an authoritative overview of spent fuel reprocessing, considering future prospects for advanced closed fuel cycles. Those reactors then operating and those under construction had to begin modifying their reactor fuel cycle design to go from the closed reprocessing cycle to a oncethrough fuel cycle. The recovery of the fissile materials is designed with a target value of. Ebrii fuel reprocessing and refabrication operations were suspended. Nfs began receiving spent nuclear fuel atwest valley in 1965, and operated the facility from 1966 to 1972 tochemically separate and recover plutonium and uranium from the fuel. Domestic political opposition to expanded atreactor spent fuel storage or central storage sites made shipment of spent fuel abroad for reprocessing their only alternative to shutting down their reactors. Reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel woodhead. No permanent repository for hlw has been licenced anywhere in the world to date 2004. During reprocessing, spent fuel elements are reduced mechanically decladding and separated chemically into recycled nuclear fuel material and radioactive waste. Spent fuel and reprocessing myths and realities institute. Plutonium and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel science. 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. On the subject of waste management, it covers the dry storage of used nuclear fuel, novel waste form design, and nuclear waste disposal.
Status and trends in spent fuel reprocessing download. International perspectives on the reprocessing, storage. Method of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel download pdf info publication number ep1237162b1. Jan 31, 2020 the final two accidents included an induced fire from an initial explosion. Draft regulatory basis for a potential rulemaking on spent. Click download or read online button to get status and trends in spent fuel reprocessing book now. Partitioning and transmutation of the spent nuclear fuel is one of these which can be used for the reduction of both volume as well as the radiotoxicity of the spent fuel. The estimated fuel cycle cost is due to the costs of reprocessing and fabrication, less a credit of 2. Spent fuel rods are largely contained at sites near nuclear reactors. If nitric dissolution of spent uox fuel is almost complete with only a very low quantity of remaining solid recovery rate 99. The proper management of spent fuel arising from nuclear power production is a key issue for the sustainable development of nuclear energy. You can copy, download or print oecd content for your own use, and you can include.
Ion exchange is primarily used in reprocessing as a tailend method to concentrate and isolate the plutonium product stream. Costs of reprocessing versus directly disposing of spent nuclear fuel before the committee on energy and natural resources. Available reprocessing and recycling services for research. Spent fuel management, reactor fuel reprocessing, waste disposal, spent reactor fuels. Nuclear fuel reprocessing and waste management modern. For a time, france offset the higher cost of the plutonium fuel by selling reprocessing services to other countriesnotably germany and japan. A presentation to the governors nuclear advisory committee in columbia, south carolina.
Potential applications of sonochemistry in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. Reprocessing is as old as nuclear reactors, because the first reactors were built to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. Sep 28, 2001 the principal foreign customers for british and french reprocessing services have been german and japanese utilities. The use of reprocessing technology to manage magnox spent fuel has been ongoing for over 50 years. Us7445760b2 method of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Without reprocessing, the spent fuel becomes nuclear waste. Subdivision 12 of section 102 of the real property tax law is amended by adding a new paragraph j spent nuclear fuel that is pending further or final disposal, including fuel stored in a spent fuel pool or in a dry cask storage system, from a nuclear power station following the permanent cessation of power operations of such station. Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing implementation act summary pdf. Inauguration of the nuclear reprocessing organization of japan october 3, 2016 the cabinet approved the cabinet orders for stipulating the effective date of the spent nuclear fuel reprocessing implementation act september 27, 2016. Pdf potential applications of sonochemistry in spent.
The principal foreign customers for british and french reprocessing services have been german and japanese utilities. Ion exchange technology in spent fuel reprocessing. Spent fuel reprocessing international panel on fissile. The current process used for spent fuel reprocessing, drawing on. Reprocessing and spent nuclear fuel management at the. Closing the nuclear fuel cycle by reprocessing the spent fuel and recycle of uranium and plutonium back into reactor systems helps in exploiting the full potential. Tens of thousands of tons of radioactive material were reprocessed at the savannah river site srs near aiken, sc, from the mid1950s through the beginning of this decade.
National inventories and management strategies for spent. The pyrochemical reprocessing developed at itu is based on electrorefining of spent fuel in a molten liclkcl bath using reactive solid aluminium cathodes 3. The safety guide is not intended to cover the storage of spent fuel if this is part of the operation of a nuclear power plant or spent fuel reprocessing facility. The generation of used nuclear fuel commonly known as spent. Kr1086696b1 process for reprocessing a spent nuclear fuel. Mar 02, 2020 the work presented in this report supports the advancement of the safety assessment capabilities of the nrc staff in terms of evaluating accidents that could release radioactivity into the environment and estimating the associated risk during the reprocessing of nuclear fuel. Accordingly, the reprocessing facility can be extremely downsized.
Draft regulatory basis for a potential rulemaking on spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities nrc staff proposals this document summarizes the nrc staffs proposals to resolve the regulatory gaps for licensing a reprocessing facility. Pyrochemical reprocessing of spent fuel by electrochemical. During fuel irradiation, these contaminants are deposited in a thin layer of zirconium oxide zrosub 2 which forms on the. Most hlw, including spent fuel rods, and reprocessing wastes are in temporary storage table 2. Advanced separation techniques for nuclear fuel reprocessing.
We need to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, and can safely. I believe the suspension of reprocessing was in the department of energy organization act, pl 9591, signed 8477, which may be confused with reorganization act of 1977, pl 9517, signed 4677, the latter being reorganization of the executive. Download the presentation presentation topics include. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Recap of past failure consolidated storage and longterm success french reprocessing policy mixed oxide fuel u. Nae website international perspectives on the reprocessing.
Nuclear fuel reprocessing is a chemical separation of spent nuclear fuel into its major components. An overview, fuel reprocessing division, nuclear recycle group, bhabha atomic research centre, 2003. Such a procedure may be useful in negotiations, different. With commercialization of nuclear power, the reprocessed plutonium was recycled back into mox nuclear fuel for thermal reactors. Reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel audrea buckley 21 november 2006 nuclear energy currently provides 20% of the u. As long as doe views reprocessing as a sound method for managing spent fuel, reprocessing will continue to be justified as the solution when additional types of spent fuel are found to be corroding or unstable in the future, and funds will not be devoted in a serious way to developing alternatives. The aec invited public comment on a proposed policy in the form of appendix f to 10 c. Plutonium recovery from spent fuel reprocessing by nuclear fuel services at west valley, new york from 1966 to 1972. This report aims to collect spent nuclear fuel reprocessing flowsheet of various processes developed by member states. The fuel aged for five years after a final 500day irradiation cycle. With its distinguished international team of contributors, advanced separation techniques for nuclear fuel reprocessing and radioactive waste treatment is a standard reference for all nuclear waste management and nuclear safety professionals, radiochemists, academics and researchers in this field. 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. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. The current process used for spent fuel reprocessing, drawing on over 50 years research and industrial development.
Spent nuclear fuel, and can do it safely, at reasonable cost by clinton bastin a veteran nuclear reprocessing expert for the u. Melcor modeling of accident scenarios at a facility for. This report aims to collect spent nuclear fuel reprocessing flowsheet of various. Reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel by robin. Spent nuclear fuel reprocessing flowsheet nuclear energy agency. 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. Review of spent fuel reprocessing and associated accident phenomena nuregcr7232 on this page.
The book covers two wellknown and welldeveloped reprocessing technologies. Waste policy act of 1982 nwpa, which directed the department of energy. Several methods are there to treat the spent nuclear fuel. The estimated fuelcycle cost is due to the costs of reprocessing and fabrication, less a credit of 2. The hulls are primarily contaminated with fission products and actinides from the fuel.
Kr1086696b1 process for reprocessing a spent nuclear. It also considers developments associated with nuclear fuel, such as higher enrichment, mixed oxide fuels and higher burnup. Feb 11, 2020 subdivision 12 of section 102 of the real property tax law is amended by adding a new paragraph j spent nuclear fuel that is pending further or final disposal, including fuel stored in a spent fuel pool or in a dry cask storage system, from a nuclear power station following the permanent cessation of power operations of such station. Spent nuclear fuel storage congressional research service this report focuses on the current situation with spent nuclear fuel storage in the united states. Sep 28, 2001 h istorically, chemical separation or reprocessing technologies have been used to separate the plutonium and uranium in irradiated nuclear fuel from fission products and from other isotopes that have built up as a result of neutron absorption. Pdf the formation of hydrated zirconium molybdate in. 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. This publication is designed to address the issues of available reprocessing and recycling services for research reactor spent fuel and discusses the various back end management aspects of the research reactor fuel cycle. Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical treatment of spent fuel involving separation of its. The reprocessing of commercial spent nuclear fuel snf generates a zircaloy cladding hull waste which requires disposal as a high level waste in the geologic repository. Reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel robin. Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor usually at a nuclear power plant. Costs of reprocessing versus directly disposing of spent.
Home factsheets reprocessing and spent nuclear fuel management at the savannah river site. Fuel cycle initiative and the more recently promulgated global nuclear energy partnership gnep, and the weapons ambitions of north korea and iran have thrust the topic more into the spotlight. Ep1237162b1 method of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. Reprocessing reduces the volume of highquality waste products vitrified hlw that can be stored and disposed of at lower cost. The present invention is a method for producing spent fuel reprocessing and uraniumplutonium mixed oxide, a separating uranium and plutonium from fission products, americium and curium contained in an aqueous solution of nitric acid obtained by dissolving spent fuel in nitric acid, and coextracting uranium and plutonium from the aqueous solution of nitric acid using a solvent phase at. Trends project on spent fuel and radioactive waste. 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. Approximately 50,000 tonnes of magnox spent fuel has been produced in this time. Status and trends in spent fuel reprocessing download ebook. 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 authorized general electric company ge to construct a spent fuel reprocessing facility in morris, il. Oct 05, 2007 perhaps carter announced in april the intent to suspend reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel snf. Sep 01, 2003 they wish to move spent fuel off reactor sites, but neither storage nor disposal facilities are available. It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor and depending on its point along the nuclear fuel cycle, it may have considerably different isotopic constituents.
Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and unused uranium from spent nuclear fuel. In this process, the fuel is electrochemically dissolved in the carrier melt forming a mixture of actinides an and fission products fp ions. Solvent extraction research and development in the us fuel cycle. In spent fuel, the major actinides of interest are uranium, plutonium, neptunium, americium, and curium.
Pdf reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel. Solvent extraction is the major unit operation employed in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. It does not address all of the issues associated with permanent disposal of snf, but rather focuses. Risky relapse into reprocessing institute for energy and. 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 and recycling of spent nuclear fuel 1st edition. Most part of an amount of uranium contained in the spent nuclear fuel is removed by making fluorine or a fluorochemical act on the spent nuclear fuel to convert the uranium into uf 6, and the uranium is purified through a simple method of distilling the uf 6 together with a. Spent fuel definition and meaning collins english dictionary. As originally enacted, the nuclear waste policy act of 1982 called for studies of three potential.