9th IEMPT, Nimes, France, 25-29 September 2006

Current Status on
Development of P & T in Korea

Eung Ho Kim
Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute1Table of Contents

Background
Background
KoreanKorean Nuclear
Nuclear Fuel
Fuel Cycle
Cycle Concept,Concept, KIEP-21
KIEP-21
Timeline
Timeline ofof Korean
Korean PP &&T
T Developments
Developments
Current
Current Achievements
Achievements ofof PP &&T
T R&D
R&D
FutureFuture Plan
Plan forfor KIEP-21
KIEP-21
InternationalInternational Collaboration
Collaboration
Conclusion
Conclusion

2

Backgrounds
 Energy Status in Korea• Korea is importing about 97% of total energy• Energy security becomes the most critical issue for the sustainableeconomic development

 Nuclear power generation and cumulated spent fuel
• PWR 16 units + CANDU 4 units• 17.7 Gwe• About 40% share• 7,962 te (as of Dec. 2005), 19,324 te (by 2020)

 Korea has no fixed policy for spent fuel management
 Decision of AEC on Spent Fuel Management, Dec 2004
• Storage of spent fuels at nuclear power plant sites until 2016
-By expanding interim storage capacity-By studying continuous R & D on spent fuel management technologies“ Non-proliferation Nuclear Fuel Cycle”

 R & D studies on promising fuel cycle technologies are being carried out:
DUPIC, ACP and pyropartitioning for transmutation in either SFR or ADS*DUPIC ( Direct Use of PWR spent fuel In CANDU reactors),
ACP ( Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process)
3

KIEP-21 … Korean Nuclear Fuel Cycle Concept (KAERI Proposal)“K : Korean, I : Innovative, E : Environmentally friendly, P : Proliferation resistant, 21 : 21st C”

DUPIC
Demonstration

Volume Reduction
Demonstration

GEN-IV Closed Fuel CycleDemonstration

PWR

DUPIC Fuel
Fabrication

Pyroprocess(U+TRU+RE)
StorageCANDUPWR SF

DUPIC SF

HLW

GEN-IVFR Burner(U, Cs, Sr, I)
Decay Storage

VHTR

DisposalComparison
Comparison withwith Direct
Direct Disposal
Disposal ofof SFSF

 Reduction
Reduction ofof repository
repository space
space toto 1/100
1/100 Reduction
Reduction ofof radiotoxicity
radiotoxicity to
to 1/100
1/100
 Enhancement
Enhancement ofof proliferation
proliferation resistanceresistance byby
homogeneous
homogeneous transmutationtransmutation ofof TRUs
TRUs

Sustainability
4Schematic Process Diagram of KIEP-21

PWR

DUPIC
VoloxidationCANDUGEN-IV Recycle

OREOX

U-TRU-RE

Reduction to Metal

Electrorefining

GEN-IV

Fuel Fabrication
GEN-IV FRElectrorefining

I, Cs, Sr

U+TRU+RE(Storage)

Uranium(LLW)

Volume Reduction
Disposal

Fission Product(HLW)

5Timeline of Korean P & T Development
 1991
1991 :: Launched
Launched DUPIC
DUPIC feasibility
feasibility study
study (Korea-Canada-US(Korea-Canada-US joint
joint program)
program) 1997
1997 :: Launched
Launched revised
revised 1010 Year
Year MedMed- andand Long-Term
Long-Term Nuclear
Nuclear R&D
R&D Program
Programzz DUPIC/P&T/ACPDUPIC/P&T/ACP 2000
2000 :: Manufactured
Manufactured DUPIC
DUPIC fuelfuel pellets
pellets andand test
test pins
pins usingusing PWR
PWR spentspent fuelfuel 2001
2001 :: Started
Started oxide
oxide electrolyticelectrolytic reduction
reduction andand metal
metal electrorefining
electrorefining studies
studies 2005
2005 :: Successfully
Successfully demonstrated
demonstrated DUPIC
DUPIC pellet
pellet fabrication
fabrication withwith highhigh burnup
burnup fuelfuel(65,000(65,000 MWd/tU)
MWd/tU):: Constructed
Constructed ACP
ACP Demonstration
Demonstration Facility
Facility (ACPF,(ACPF, 2020 kgHM/batch)
kgHM/batch):: Set-up
Set-up 11 kgU/batch
kgU/batch scale
scale ofof uranium
uranium electrorefinningelectrorefinning systemsystem:: Performed
Performed conceptual
conceptual design
design ofof sub-critical
sub-critical reactor
reactor (HYPER)(HYPER) forfor transmutationtransmutation
 2006
2006 :: Agreed
Agreed partnershippartnership inin pyro
pyro andand SFR
SFR under
under GNEP
GNEP:: Carrying
Carrying outout conceptual
conceptual design
design ofof KALIMER-600
KALIMER-600 forfor transmutationtransmutation:: Planning
Planning next
next 10
10 yearyear Med-and
Med-and LongLong Term
Term Nuclear
Nuclear R
R&&D
D Program
Program
DUPIC/Pyroprocess/SFR(KALIMER-600)
DUPIC/Pyroprocess/SFR(KALIMER-600)
6

Major Achievements in 1997~2006
Phase I

Phase II

‘97

‘00

‘01

Basic study on
Li-reduction process

ACP
ACP

‘03 ‘04‘06

Mock-up demonstration of lab-scale
Li-reduction process (20 kgU/batch)

Basic study on
S/F handling•S/F Disassembly•Cask Transportation

Phase IIILab-scale
Mockup• Safeguards• Digital Mockup• Continuous Voloxidizer• Telescopic Manipulator

Development of electrolytic
reduction process(20 kgU/batch)

Inactive test
(10 and 20kgU/batch)

Constructionof ACPF

Pyro
Pyro
P&TP&T

DUPIC
DUPIC

Launched Pyro- P & Tprogram

Basic study on electrorefining
in chloride molten salt

1 kgU/batch electrorefiner
test

Feasibility study on
pyroprocess
Conceptual Design ofKALIMER-150• Electrorefining experiments [100 gU/batch]• Recovery of Cs/Sr from LiCl salt waste• Basic study on design of ADS core
• Validation of KALIMER-600 modelMinimization of salt waste bycarbonization and oxidation

Approval of U.S.
government for U.S.
spent fuel use (’99)

Fabrication of DUPIC fuel rods/ pellets
using spent PWR fuelAcquisition of IAEA
facility attachment (’98)

High-power
irradiation test
at HANARO

High-burnup
irradiation test
at HANARO

Conceptual design of
ADS and KALIMER core
Fabrication of DUPIC fuelrods/pellets using
high-burnup spent PWR fuelInstrumented irradiation test of
DUPIC fuel at HANARO

7

DUPIC Fuel Performance Evaluation
1998- Installation of DFDF

1999

- Joint Determination (JD)
mini - element
mini - element

2000- Fabrication of DUPIC Pellets
and Rods- High-Power Irradiation Testat HANARO

2002- High-Burnup Irradiation Test

2004

- Instrumentation Irradiation
Test at HANARO

2005- DUPIC Fuel Fabrication Using
High-Burnup Spent PWR Fuel

OREOX Powder

DUPIC Pellets

Remote Welding of Rod
Burnup: 6,700 MWd/tHM
Max. LER: 34 kW/m
Ave. LER:, 25 kW/m

Irradiation Rig

HANARO Irradiation

Post-Irradiation Exam.

DUPIC Fuel Development Facility (DFDF)
8Milestones of ACP Development
Activity

Demonstrationof ACP
ACPF
Installation
5 kgU/batchER concept
Mock-up
Li-reduction

Development ofLi-reduction process’97

Mock-up testand ACPF design’01

Demonstration of
integrated process
’04

’06

Year9

Lab-scale ACPF
20 kgHM/batch Demonstration Process
Remote Operation and MaintenanceInterface Systems between Process Steps
Performance Evaluation of Process Systems

Working Area

Inside Process Hot Cell

10

Main System of ACPF

U
metalIngot

Slitting Device

Voloxidizer

ER Reactor

Smelter

Salt Ingot
Waste Salt
Conditioner
ACP Safeguards Neutron Counter11

Pyro P&T

Electrorefiner
Metallic SFor Ingot
LiCl Salt

Electrorefining-1(solid cathode)Electrorefining-2(liquid cathode)Salt

Cd(LiCl+KCl) Salt

Treatment ofSalt Waste

Gelation
Gelation

Ion
Ion Exchange
Exchangew/w/ Zeolite
ZeolitePrecipitation
Precipitation

LiClRecycle

LiCl/KCl
RecycleWaste
Waste Treatment
Treatment

U-SaltU,TRU,RE-Cd

CathodeProcessor

CathodeProcessor

UU/TRU/RE

SFR or ADS

NMElectrorefining
Electrorefining

Transmutation
Transmutation
12

Electrorefining
Mock-up for U Electrorefining Experiments
1 kgU/batch scale
U electrorefiner & cathode processor

Electrorefiner

U-deposited
CathodeCathode Processor
13

Example of Innovative Electrorefining Development
Existing Cathode Necessity of scrapper to recover uranium dendrite
during electrorefinning Occurrence of operation discontinue due to sticking
between uranium dendrite and scrapper Impediment of high-throughput operationGraphite Cathode Keeping a relatively clean surface during
electrorefinning without scrapping Spontaneously felling down uranium deposit into
the collector14

Experimental Results by Using Graphite Cathode
Graphite Cathode for High-throughput Electrorefining
Self-scrapping of the deposited uranium dendrite
Improving current efficiency and continuity of an operationa)b)a)a)b)b)c)c)d)d)a)100mA/cm2 b)70mA/cm2 c)140mA/cm2 d) 177mA/cm2Graphite CathodeSelf-scrapped Uranium Dendrites• The morphology of U deposit was not changed
with current density• The recovered deposit was metallic U, butlittle contamination(300ppm) of C wasdetected• The effect of the minute C is not clear, but thecarbon might be cleaned by using yittrium
during casting(2UC+Y→2U+YC2, YC2 will befloated on the U melt)
15

Strategy of Waste Salt Treatment
Gases FPXe, Kr, etc.
Spent
Fuel

Disassembled/chopped

UO2
PelletFuelFabrication

Objective

Cathodeprocess

Cs
Collected
Airvoloxidation

Transmutater

Electrorefiner
LiCl-KCl-RE To present the feasibility to removein a consecutive manner To propose a salt regeneration system
to minimize the amount of waste
 To suggest a reference flowsheet forremoving the decay heat elements

U3O8
Powder

LiCl-KCl

Precipitation of O2
RE’s elements

Metal
PowderElectrolyticReduction

TE, U, TRU, RE LiCl-Sr,Ba

Li2CO3

LiCl

Precipitation ofGroup II(Sr/Ba)CO3Oxidepowder

Conversion tooxideVitrification

Stored till
decayedPermanent Disposal

16Cumulative Release Fraction of Cs during Voloxidation
Release behavior of Cs

Cs-134(SVT-2)
Cs-137(SVT-2)
Temperature(1,500oC)

3890

1200 oC

80
70
60
50
4030
20

Pulverizing temp.

10800 oC

0

Further Study

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8T e m p e ra tu re , o C

NoNorelease
releaseofofCs
Csatatthe
thepulverizing
pulverizing
temperatureofasinteredtemperature of a sinteredUO
UO2 2pellet
pellettoto
UU3OO8 powderpowder

C u m u la tiv e F ra c tio n a l R elea se o f
C s-1 3 4 an d C s-1 3 7 , %100

Cs
Csreleasereleaseo• •StartingoC
Startingatatabout
about800
800 C• •Obtaining
about90%
Obtaining
about 90 %release
releasefraction
fractionoatat1200
Co1200 C• •Removing
higherRemoving
higherthan
than9595%%ofofCs
Cso
atat1500
Co1500 C

1,800
1,700
1,600
1,500
1,400
1,300
1,200
1,100
1,000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0110

9Operation time, hr

Effect8 powder
Effectofofaacharacteristics
characteristicsofofUU3O
3O8 powder
heatedheatedtotohighhightemperaturetemperaturetotoremove
removeCs
Cs
onoxidereduction
attheelectroreductionon oxide reduction at the electroreduction

Cumulative release fraction of Cs-134 and Cs-137

17Removal of Sr from Waste LiCl Salt by Precipitation
LiCl-SrCl2 Salt

1200

Li2CO3

SrCO3

1000

 Equipment-10 g of LiCl salt
in capacity-Stirring for mixing-Alumina crucible-Inert Atmosphere (N2)CountsCarbonate Precipitates(small size precipitator)

800
600
400

 Operation Conditions-Temp. = 750 oC-Using a fixed Sr content[Sr wt.%=2.38]-Molar ratio of[Li2CO3/SrCl2= 1 ~ 5]2000102030

40506070

2theta110

Recovery
Recoveryofofprecipitate
precipitate-The-Thesalt
saltdissolved
dissolvedinincold
coldwater,water,thetheresulting
resultingprecipitate
recovered,driedandanalyzed
precipitate recovered, dried and analyzed
Analysis
Analysisinstruments
instruments: :XRD,
XRD,SEM,SEM,ICP
ICP

Precipitation yield, %

100

90

80

7060

50

Precipitation
PrecipitationMechanism
Mechanism
SrCl
SrCl2 ++Li
Li2CO
CO3 →→SrCO
SrCO3 ++2LiCl
2LiCl2233400123456M olar ratio (Li 2 C O 3 /SrC l 2 )18

Removal of Rare earth Elementsfrom Waste LiCl-KCl Salt by Oxidation
 Objective of this study
To remove rare earths as a precipitateby the reaction with oxygen gas

 Equipment-The oxygen bubbling through the salt containing
rare earth in an alumina crucible-The loaded salt: 207 g (LiCl- 44.2wt.%) Operating Conditions-Contents of RE: 2.8 %-Y, 3.0%-Ce, 2.5%-Nd,6.0%-Pr, 6.5%-La, 5.5%-Gd-Operation temperature: 723 – 1023 K-Oxygen flow rate: 1.5 ℓ/min-Measurement of RE contents in the salt by ICPExperimental
Experimentalcontent
content-Identified-Identifiedthe
theproduced
producedprecipitates
precipitates
byXRDby XRD-Established-Establishedprecipitation
precipitationmechanisms
mechanisms-Calculated
Precipitation-Conversion-Calculated Precipitation-Conversionyields
yieldswithanvarianceoftemperature
andtimewith an variance of temperature and time
-Evaluated-Evaluatedoxydation-precitationoxydation-precitationkinetics
kinetics

O2 bubble

LiCl-KCl-RE salt

•Alumina crucible : 6cm I.D., 15cm H.
•Heater : surrounding ceramic heater•Oxygen sparger : 7cm I.D.(1mm I.D. hole size ⅹ10)19Precipitation Yields of Rare Earth Elements
Precipitation yields of RECl3(O2 flow rate: 1.5 ℓ/min, Time: 7 hours)
T(K)

723

823

923

1023

YCl3

56.87

71.76

98.08

99.91

LaCl3

33.26

63.44

86.42

94.39

RECl3

CeCl3

99.87

> 99.98> 99.98> 99.98

PrCl3

55.08

87.84

99.94

> 99.98

pure salt
phase

precipitate
phase

phase separation

NdCl3

99.77

99.91

GdCl3

95.68

> 99.89

Precipitation
Precipitationyields
yieldsofofeach
eachelement
element

LaOCl

CeO2

NdOCl

GdOCl

-All
-Allofofrare
rareearths:
earths:precipitation
precipitationyield
yieldofofhigher
higherthan
than9999%%-Ce:-Ce:overover9999%,%,irrespective
irrespectiveofoftemperaturetemperature-La
recovered
tolessthan95%,-La recovered to less than 95 %,compared
comparedtotoothers
othersprecipitates
20

Schematic Diagram for Waste Salt Recycle
metal ingot
Electro-refining

REUSE

pure LiCl/KCl

condensation

3+3+TRUU

pure LiCl/KClLiCl/KClwaste

Pure salt phse

LiCl/KClvapor
Vacuum Distillation&Oxidation/Dechlorination

2)
1)

Precipitation
O2Phaseseparation

1)
2)

Precipitate phse
RE/TRU Oxychloride(or oxide)+ Salt residue

RE oxide

FinalWaste
form

RECl3 + 0.5O2 → REOCl + Cl2
or RECl3 +O2 → REO2 + 1.5Cl2
REOCl + 0.25O2 → 0.5RE2O3 + 0.5Cl221

SFR-KALIMER-Development Plan
Objective
Objective
PHTS

IHTS

SGSo

526.0 oC

4.6 MWt

503.1 C
16.5 MPa

500.0 oC
16.0 MPa663.25 kg/s

QRHRS,Loss
320.7 oC
545.0 oC
PHTS
pump

7731.3 kg/s
4.8 MWe

TBN

637.5 MWe
Generator

SGKALIMER-600
KALIMER-600

1528.9 MWt
IHX
1523.6
MWt

ReactorCore
1523.4 MWt
390.0 oC-To
-Todevelop
developenergy
energygeneration
generationasaswellwellasastransmutationtransmutationofoflong-lived
long-livednuclide
nuclide-To
developaadvanced
conceptual-To develop a advanced conceptualdesign
designofofaaSFR
consistentwiththeGEN-IV
SFR consistent with the GEN-IVSFR
SFR
SystemResearchPlan.
System Research Plan.

IHTS
pump
5800.7 kg/s
5.3 MWe-Pool-type-Pool-typeSodium-cooled
Sodium-cooledFast
FastReactor
Reactor-FuelType:
U-TRU-Zr
metal
fuel-Fuel Type: U-TRU-Zr metal fuel-Reactor-Reactordesign
designlife
lifetime:
time:60
60years
years

320.0 oC

Condenser

230.0 oC
19.5 MPa

Pre Heater

NSSS
NSSSofofKALIMER-600
KALIMER-600-PHTS-PHTS(Primary(PrimaryHeat
HeatTransport
TransportSystem)
System)-IHTS(IntermidiateHeat
Transport-IHTS(Intermidiate Heat TransportSystem)
System)FWpump16.7 MWe-SGS(Steam-SGS(SteamGeneration
GenerationSystem)
System)KALIMER-600 Steady State Heat Balance

22600MWe TRU Transmutation Core Design
 Metal fuels with recycle of transuranics by pyroprocessing Enhanced proliferation resistance by removing blanket assemblies
 Core design studies for TRU transmutation
 Transmutation of TRUs produced by 2 LWRs of the same power and cycle length

Thermal Output (MWth)Active Core Height (cm)
Equivalent Active Core Diameter (cm)Average Breeding Ratio
Cycle length (EFPM)
Fuel Batches
Fuel Composition
TRU in Heavy Metal (%)
Burnup Reactivity Swing (pcm)
Average Core Power Density (W/cc)
Power Peaking Factor (BOEC/EOEC)
Average Discharge Burnup (MWD/kg)
Peak Fuel Discharge Burnup (MWD/kg)
Peak Fast Neutron Fluence (1023 n/cm2)
Effective Delayed Neutron Fraction
Sodium Void Worth (pcm)

1,523
90
483.8
0.6562
116
U-TRU-10Zr
34.2
3014
223.8
1.509/1.479
121.7
181.7
3.83
0.00312821

23

Future Plan for KIEP-21
Phase IV

Phase V
’11 ’12’07
Pyroprocess scale-up

Eng-scale
mock-up demo.

z Process• Electrolytic reduction• High-throughput
electrorefiner• LCC electrowinner• Head-end process• Salt waste recycle

PYROPYROPROCESSPROCESSz System Engineering• Safeguards technology• Remote technology• Waste handling• Evaluation of
proliferationresistanceEng-scale
mockupOptimization ofprocesses & equipmentz Process Optimization• Integrated cathodesystem• High-throughput
electrorefining system• Continuous Salt/Cd
distillation system• Head-end process• Cs/Sr recovery
z System Engineering• ESPF safeguards• Remotization• Process waste handling& storage• ESPF design &construction’16
Eng-scaledemonstration

ModularHigh
throughput
Eng-scalepyroprocessfacility(ESPF)z Conceptual design of core and reactor system

SFRSFR(KALIMER)(KALIMER)

z Advanced R & D: improvement of economics, safety and metal fuelz Basic Key Technology Development: computational tools and sodium technology

Simple Design
Easy
operationalMinimum
waste
Safeguardable

AdvancedSFR
Conceptual
Design24

International Collaboration

Russia RIAR
ISTC Program

Switzerland
MEGAPIE
Canada AECL
DUPIC R&D

USA INL
Process Dev.

KAERI

USA SNL
Nonproliferation
PolicyUSA ANL
Process Dev.

France CEAInformation
Exchange

Japan CRIEPI
Information
Exchange

USA LANL
Safeguards R&D

25

Conclusion

Recently, Korea has been focusing on the development of a pyroprocess, bytargeting a reduction of the volume, heat load and toxicity of the spent fueland its application to the GEN-IV reactor systems through recycling andtransmutation to close the fuel cycle
The KIEP-21 based on pyroprocessing technology is expected to meet thechallenges and will be harmonized with the GEN-IV reactor systemdevelopment scheduleThis program will be continue through the long-term nuclear R & D plan ofKorea by 2016
International collaboration is essential and expected for the timely
implementation of the pyroprocessing and transmutation technologies.

26