Nuclear reprocessing uses chemical procedures to separate the useful components learn with flashcards, games, and more for free. From a safeguards standpoint, once uranium has reached the uf 6 stage, material balance areas mbas are the relevant points of location. Nuclear fuel reprocessing franke institute university of chicago. The nea data bank provides nuclear data and computer program services for participating countries.
It contains a mixture of actinides and fission products. For example, while purex completely separates plutonium from the spent nuclear fuel, leading to a nuclear proliferation risk due to the ability to easily create nuclear bombs from plutonium, the newer. The current version of the simulation code is in ms excel spreadsheet format. The structure of the iaea nuclear energy series comprises three levels. Keywords robotics, teleoperation, forcefeedback control, radiation tolerant electronics. Environmental analysis of the uranium fuel cycle \part iii nuclear fuel reprocessing\. In fact, the vast majority of the nuclear fuel remains unused when the fuel rod must be replaced. With commercialization of nuclear power, the reprocessed plutonium was recycled back into mox nuclear fuel for thermal reactors. First, a state operating a reprocessing plant could use that technology to divert weapons. Metalorganic frameworks for removal of xe and kr from. In 2007, the commission directed the staff to complete an analysis of title 10 of the code of federal regulations 10 cfr to identify regulatory gaps for licensing an advanced reprocessing facility and recycling reactor in mid2008, two nuclear industry companies informed the agency of their intent to seek a license for a reprocessing facility in the u. Nuclear power plants use a certain type of uraniumu235as fuel because its. This safety guide addresses all these stages in the lifetime of a reprocessing facility as defined in ref.
We cover reprocessing technology as well as current research and innovation in the area, as well as its environmental impact, the current policy climate in the united states, and an. The safety of nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities1 is ensured by means of their proper siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation including management, and decommissioning. Their report, the economics of the nuclear fuel cycle oecdnea, 1993, concluded that the levelized fuel cost for the oncethrough lwr fuel cycle is approximately 14% less than for the reprocessing cycle. An industrial perspective an overview of policies, plans, and experience in producing and reprocessing nuclear fuels, and in the utilization of plutonium by yu. Unfortunately, reprocessing proponents have used this opportunity to promote reprocessing as the solution for managing our nuclear waste.
The nuclear power markets addressed in this report include the designconstruction of reactors, and the nuclear fuel cycle services of conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, used fuel storage and reprocessing. More detailed information for reprocessing is given in a. Nuclear fuel cycle international atomic energy agency. This paper analyzes the process of nuclear fuel reprocessing, where spent nuclear.
An assessment of the proliferation risks of spent fuel. The objective of the present study is to compare the associated costs of longterm storage of spent nuclear fuelopen cycle strategywith the associated cost of reprocessing and recycling strategy of spent fuelclosed cycle strategybased on the current international studies. The importance of public acceptance for a reprocessing strategy is discussed. Reprocessing of highlevel waste is controversial because it produces large quantities of liquid highlevel waste from the solvents used, and also because extracted plutonium or uranium is easily amenable to illicit nuclear weapons. Reprocessing has been politically controversial because of the potential to contribute to nuclear proliferation, the potential vulnerability to nuclear terrorism, the political challenges of repository siting a problem that applies equally to direct disposal of spent fuel, and because of its high cost compared to the oncethrough fuel cycle. Pdf reprocessing and recycling of spent nuclear fuel. The production of nuclear fuel can serve both peaceful.
Trade in nuclear fuel materials and services takes place between producers and. Since the last report, covering the period 19992003 and published in 2005 rp143, new member states with nuclear facilities have acceded to the union. Costs of reprocessing versus directly disposing of spent nuclear. The world nuclear waste report 2019 5 the world nuclear waste report wnwr is a common project by a group of renowned experts who want to draw more attention to radioactive waste as a significant and growing challenge. Nuclear fuel reprocessing an overview sciencedirect topics. Nuclear fuel reprocessing is a controversial process by which spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed to extract uranium. Currently, american nuclear power plants store the spent fuel in spent fuel poolswithout reprocessing. The analysis presents cost trends for both strategies. Reshetnikov i rom the very beginning, the development of nuclear power in the former soviet union was based on a closed fuel cycle. Without major changes in government policies and aggressive financial support, nuclear power is actually likely to account for a declining percentage of. In theory, this could be a system that could convert its nuclear waste into usable fuel on site and thus could be largely selfcontained.
A brief description of the nuclear fuel cycle is included as. Ebrii fuel reprocessing and refabrication operations were suspended. United states of america sixth national report for the. Global nuclear markets market arrangements and service. Radioactive effluents from nuclear power stations and.
This document provides updates and revisions to 40 cfr 190. Other fuel cycles such as plutonium recycle, plutonium, and thorium have been excluded. Most countries using nuclear energy do not reprocess their spent fuel. The potential proliferation threats from reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel are twofold. Originally, reprocessing was used solely to extract plutonium for producing nuclear weapons. Alliedgeneral nuclear services began constructing a large commercial. Though mof materials showed superior sorption properties toward i 2 over silverbased sorbents and activated carbon 62, most of the experiments were performed in organic solvent i. Removal of xenon xe and krypton kr from process offgases containing 400 ppm xe, 40 ppm kr, 78% n2, 21% o2, 0. The publications in the iaeanuclear energy series provide information in the areas of nuclear power, nuclear fuel cycle, radioactive waste management and decommissioning, and on general issues that are relevant to all of the above mentioned areas.
B the cost of directly disposing of spent nuclear fuel is less than the cost of reprocessing it. This paper analyzes the process of nuclear fuel reprocessing, where spent nuclear fuel is refined to reduce waste and provide further material for nuclear fuel. The program will begin with the establishment of a smaller scale secure fuel cycle facility that would serve as a model for international nuclear fuel reprocessing centers that would eventually be. The aec invited public comment on a proposed policy in the form of appendix f to 10 c. Limiting transfers of enrichment and reprocessing technology. Reprocessing means the separation of uranium and the produced plutonium from the spent fuel, fabrication of new fuel elements with this material, and reuse in a reactor. There are two basic types of reprocessing spent nuclear fuels purex and pyroprocessing a couple simple definations from wikipedia purex is a chemical method used to purify fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. Pyroprocessing was billed as a simpler, cheaper and more compact alternative to the conventional aqueous reprocessing plants that have been operated in france, the united kingdom, japan and other countries. Introduction in the facilities of the end of the nuclear fuel cycle, like spent fuel storage pools, reprocessing plants, plutoniumbased fuel manufacturing plants or waste temporary storage. The reprocessed uranium, also known as the spent fuel. Iodine i 2 should be captured in nuclear fuel reprocessing or nuclear accidents mainly due to its longlived 129 i isotope t 12 1. The dualuse nature of the fuel cycle allows for the creation of civilian nuclear power as well as the production of weaponsgrade material for nuclear. It is an acronym standing for plutonium uranium redox extraction.
The nuclear fuel cycle is a series of steps that produce fuel for nuclear power reactors, which in turn generate electricity. In addition, reprocessing spent fuel and burning the resulting fuel in fastreactors can help reduce the volume and radioactivity of highlevel waste. The spent fuel reprocessing options assessment of economics, proliferation resistance, and environmental impact are discussed. Insofar as uranium may be used in high temperature gascooled. Nuclear reprocessing technology that separates actinides from the spent fuel via liquidliquid extraction involving acidic aqueous and organic liquid phases. As far as available, discharge information from nuclear power stations that have stopped operation has also been taken up. Purchase advanced separation techniques for nuclear fuel reprocessing and radioactive waste treatment 1st edition. Testimony before the committee on energy and natural resources, united states senate.
Issues, constraints, options, cambridge, mass project on managing the atom, harvard university, may 2011. These newer technologies could make nuclear reprocessing much more viable in the future. But the reality of nuclear energys future is more complicated. The safety of nuclear fuel reprocessing facilities1 is ensured by means of their proper siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation, and decommissioning. The nuclear fuel cycle consists of frontend steps that prepare uranium for use in nuclear reactors and backend steps to safely manage, prepare, and dispose of usedor spentbut still highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel uranium is the most widely used fuel by nuclear power plants for nuclear fission. Nuclear reprocessing is the chemical separation of fission products and unused uranium from spent nuclear fuel. Two wellknown metalorganic frameworks mofs, hkust1 and nidobdc, which both have unsaturated metal centers but different pore morphologies, were selected as novel adsorbents. A new approach to the nuclear fuel cycle nuclear threat initiative. Costs of reprocessing versus directly disposing of spent nuclear fuel. Nuclear fuel that has gone through at least one irradiation cycle in a nuclear reactor. Contrary to their claims, however, reprocessing is extremely expensive, highly polluting, and a proliferation threat, and will.
Categorization of used nuclear fuel inventory in support of a. Reprocessing separates the unused nuclear fuel from the waste products so that it can be used in a reactor again. Spent nuclear fuel accumulation direct disposal 0 30,000 60,000 90,000 120,000 150,000 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 year. Forcefeedback teleoperation of an industrial robot in a. Costs of disposal of spent fuel and reprocessing wastes. Joint convention on the safety of spent fuel management and on the safety of. Costs of reprocessing versus directly disposing of spent. Their analysis included a credit for both the uranium and the plutonium recovered through reprocessing.
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