Review of Integral Experiments for Minor Actinide Management [electronic resource] /
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Paris : OECD Publishing,
2015.
Spent nuclear fuel contains minor actinides (MAs) such as neptunium, americium and curium, which require careful management. This becomes even more important when mixed oxide (MOX) fuel is being used on a large scale since more MAs will accumulate in the spent fuel. One way to manage these MAs is to transmute them in nuclear reactors, including in light water reactors, fast reactors or accelerator-driven subcritical systems. The transmutation of MAs, however, is not straightforward, as the loading of MAs generally affects physics parameters, such as coolant void, Doppler and burn-up reactivity. This report focuses on nuclear data requirements for minor actinide management, the review of existing integral data and the determination of required experimental work, the identification of bottlenecks and possible solutions, and the recommendation of an action programme for international co-operation.
Executive summary 9 1. Introduction 17 2. Requirements of nuclear data for minor actinide management 19 -2.1 Status of MA nuclear data 19 -2.2 Review of relevant activities 22 -2.3 Important nuclear data 27 3. Existing integral data 59 -3.1 Belgium 59 -3.2 France 59 -3.3 Italy 60 -3.4 Japan 62 -3.5 Russian Federation 65 -3.6 Switzerland 65 -3.7 United Kingdom 66 -3.8 United States 67 4. Discussion of experiments to meet the requirements 69 -4.1 Summary of existing integral data 69 -4.2 Specification of missing integral data 73 -4.3 Identification of bottlenecks and possible solutions 74 5. Summary and recommendations 111 -5.1 Additional integral experiments 111 -5.2 Recommendation of an action programme for international co-operation 112 References 113 List of integral experiments for minor actinide management 119
Spent nuclear fuel contains minor actinides (MAs) such as neptunium, americium and curium, which require careful management. This becomes even more important when mixed oxide (MOX) fuel is being used on a large scale since more MAs will accumulate in the spent fuel. One way to manage these MAs is to transmute them in nuclear reactors, including in light water reactors, fast reactors or accelerator-driven subcritical systems. The transmutation of MAs, however, is not straightforward, as the loading of MAs generally affects physics parameters, such as coolant void, Doppler and burn-up reactivity. This report focuses on nuclear data requirements for minor actinide management, the review of existing integral data and the determination of required experimental work, the identification of bottlenecks and possible solutions, and the recommendation of an action programme for international co-operation.
Nuclear Energy