Burn and Bury Option for Plutonium.

Cubic-stabilized zirconia (ZrO2 doped with, for instance, MgO, CaO, Y2O3) is a fluorite-structure oxide that exhibits high chemical stability and durability. It is an actinide-host phase in which actinides have high solubility (over 10 wt.% for uranium and plutonium). In fact, cubic zirconia is isostructural with actinide oxides such as urania (UO2), plutonia (PuO2), and thoria (ThO2). Cubic zirconia exhibits good radiation damage resistance and so it is attractive as an actinide-bearing nuclear fuel-form and as an actinide-host waste form. We propose that cubic zirconia be used as a material to assist with the dispositioning of the global surplus plutonium inventory (both weapons- and reactor-derived plutonium). Plutonium can be incorporated in a cubic zirconia matrix and destroyed by burning in an existing light-water reactor and then buried in a geologic repository (perhaps without further processing); alternatively, the plutonium-bearing zirconia can be sent directly to a repository.

SICKAFUS K.E.;  HANRAHAN JR R.J.;  MC CLELLAN Kenneth J.;  MITCHELL J.N.;  WETTELAND Ch.J.;  BUTT D.P.;  CHODAK Paul Iii;  RAMSEY K.B.;  BLAIR T.H.;  CHIDESTER K.;  MATZKE Hj.;  YASUDA K.;  VERRALL R.A.;  YU Ning; 

1998-11-18

JRC17256

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC17256,