TRANSMUTATION REACTORS

CLOSING THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE

Fusion Research Center

Closing the nuclear fuel cycle requires 1) extracting the transuranics in spent nuclear fuel and using them as fuel in transmutation reactors, thereby reducing by orders of magnitude the long-lived transuranics that must be buried in waste repositories that must be secured for tens to hundreds of thousands of years, and 2) transmuting a large fraction of the > 99% of uranium that is U238 into plutonium and subsequently fissioning it to extract a large fraction of the energy content of uranium.  There appear to be some advantages to operating these transmutation reactors sub-critical with a neutron source.

The concept of a fast transmutation reactor driven by a tokamak D-T fusion neutron source that could be built on the basis of ITER physics and technology and ITER operating experience has been under development in a series of faculty-student conceptual design studies and student theses at Georgia Tech for the past several years.

1. W. M. Stacey, “Capabilities of a DT Tokamak Fusion Neutron Source for Driving a Spent Nuclear Fuel Transmutation Reactor”, Nucl. Fusion, 41, 135 (2001).

2. W. M. Stacey, J. Mandrekas, E. A. Hoffmann, et al., “A Fusion Transmutation of Waste Reactor”, Fusion Sci. Technol., 41, 116 (2002).

3. A. N. Mauer, W. M. Stacey, J. Mandrekas and E. A. Hoffman, “A Superconducting Fusion Transmutation of Waste Reactor”, Fusion Sci. Technol., 45, 55 (2004).

4. J. Mandrekas, L. A. Cottrill, G. C. Hahn and W. M. Stacey, “An Advanced Tokamak Neutron Source for a Fusion Transmutation of Waste Reactor”, Georgia Tech report GTFR-167 (2003).

5. W. M. Stacey, et al., “A Sub-Critical, Gas-Cooled Fast Transmutation Reactor (GCFTR) with a Fusion Neutron Source”, Nucl. Technol., 150, 162 (2005).

6. W. M. Stacey, et al., “A Sub-Critical, He-Cooled, Fast Reactor for the Transmutation of Spent Nuclear Fuel”, Nucl. Technol., 156, 99 (2006).

7. W. M. Stacey, et al., “Advances in the Sub-Critical, Gas-Cooled, Fast Transmutation Reactor Concept”, Nucl. Technol., 159, 72 (2007).

8. E. A. Hoffmann and W. M. Stacey, “Comparative Fuel Cycle Analysis of Critical and Subcritical Fast Reactor Transmutation Systems”, Nuclear Technol., 144, 83 (2003).

9. E. A. Hoffman and W. M. Stacey, “Nuclear Design and Analysis of the Fusion Transmutation of Waste Reactor”, Fusion Sci. Technol., 45, 51 (2004).

10. J. W. Maddox and W. M. Stacey, “Fuel Cycle Anaysis of a Sub-Critical , Fast, He-Cooled Transmutation Reactor with a Fusion Neutron Source”, Nucl. Technol., 158, 94 (2007).

11. W.M. Stacey, J. Mandrekas and E.A. Hoffman, “Sub-Critical Transmutation Reactors with Tokamak Fusion Neutron Sources”, Fusion Sci. Techn., 47, 1210 (2005).  

12. W. M. Stacey, “Transmutation Missions for Tokamak Fusion Neutron Sources”, Fusion Engr. Des., 82, 11 (2007).

13. W. M. Stacey, “Tokamak Fusion Neutron Source Requirements for Nuclear Applications”, Nucl. Fusion, 47, 217 (2007).

14. W. M. Stacey, “Sub-Critical Transmutation Reactor with Tokamak Fusion Neutron Sources Based on ITER Physics and Technology”, TOFE-17 paper, Fusion Sci. Techn., (2007).

15. W. M. Stacey, et al., “A TRU-Zr Metal Fuel, Sodium Cooled, Fast Subcritical Advanced Burner Reactor”, Nucl. Technol., submitted (2007).

16. J-P. Floyd, et al., “Tokamak Neutron Source for a Fast Transmutation Reactor”, Fusion Sci. Technol., (2007).

17. W. M. Stacey, “SABR SUBCRITICAL ADVANCED BURNER REACTOR”, Georgia Tech., (2007).