Fabrication of fuel and recycling of minor actinides in fast reactors

Fuels for future fast reactors will not only produce energy, but they must also actively contribute to the minimisation of long lived wastes produced by these, and other reactor systems. The fuels must incorporate minor actinides (MA = Np, Am, Cm) for neutron transmutation into short lived isotopes. Within Europe oxide fuels are favoured. Transmutation can be considered in homogeneous or heterogeneous reactor recycle modes (i.e. in fuels or targets, respectively). Fabrication of such fuels can be made by advanced liquid processing methods, enabling property determination and screening irradiation experiments. This paper will describe these fabrication processes, and discuss properties and fuel irradiation experiments made to date. Both fertile and inert matrix fuel types are considered.

SOMERS Joseph; 

2010-11-12

Trans Tech Publications Ltd.

JRC58520

www.scientific.net/AST.73.97,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC58520,   

10.4028/www.scientific.net/AST.73.97,