4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 1 of 20 Session I.4.9i Part I Review of Fundamentals Module 4Sources of Radiation Session 9iFuel Cycle - Reprocessing IAEA Post Graduate Educational Course Radiation Protection and Safe Use of Radiation Sources

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 2 of 20 Reprocessing

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 3 of 20 What is reprocessing?  Reprocessing is the separation and removal of fission products from the SNF  U, Pu may be separated and reused or stored  Fission products vitrified as HLW glass (ideally)  Many processes  wet  dry  transmutation

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 4 of 20 Reprocessing  Spent Fuel  95% 238 U  1% 235 U  1% Pu  3% fission products  Reprocessing separates it into 3 groups  U  Pu  Waste

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 5 of 20 Reprocessing

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 6 of 20 Reprocessing

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 7 of 20 Reprocessing

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 8 of 20 Reprocessing Facilities  Domestic U.S. - > 100,000 te, mainly low burnup  West Valley - shutdown/cleanup  Barnwell/AGNS - not allowed to operate  GE/Morris - didn’t work, SNF wet storage  DOE - several, only SRS operating to any degree  International - > 100,000 te total; > 30,000 te; decent burnups  France - La Hague  UK - Sellafield/THORP  India, Pakistan, Russia/FSU, China  Japan - pilot operating, full-scale plant 70% complete

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 9 of 20 What is the Wet Route?  shear, dissolve fuel in nitric acid  clarify, solvent extraction  partition U/Pu  recover UO 3, PuO 2 powders  Purex variations most successful  % recovery of U/Pu

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 10 of 20 What are the Facilities?  Several large facilities for power reactor SNF  All heavily shielded - 4 ft walls  Cells, manipulators, remote operations  France - La Hague  2 plants, about 1,700 te/yr capacity  running at 1,500-1,600 te/yr  Bq vitrified HLW  UK - Sellafield  2 plants  THORP - about 700 te/yr (800 capacity)  0.3 x Bq vitrified HLW

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 11 of 20 La Hague Plant (2) 800 MTHM/yr Plants, about $10 B

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 12 of 20 Dry Reprocessing  Sometimes called pyroreprocessing, pyrometallurgical  Uses melting, electrolysis, volatilization to separate U/Pu from fission products  Proposed in transmutation schemes  Difficult to adapt to commercial fuels

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 13 of 20 Transmutation Perform nuclear processes and reactions on radioactive wastes to render them either non- radioactive or significantly less radioactive so that radiotoxic and disposal concerns are substantially reduced or eliminated.

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 14 of 20 Why Transmutation?  Some Fission Products and Transuranics radioactive/hazardous for 10,000+ years and environmentally mobile  Why not transmute them into stable (nonradioactive) or short-lived materials?  Why not reduce quantities, isotopes, types going to disposal?  Ideally, only LLW disposal requirements needed  Main focus on Actinides (Np, Pu, Am, Cm)  Secondary focus on Tc, I, Ni, Zr  Tertiary focus on Cs, Sr

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 15 of 20 What does this mean?  Methods can reduce the risks of SNF/HLW disposal  Not obvious that any route can meet desired destruction % for LLW  All require significant money and take time

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 16 of 20 Reprocessing Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 17 of 20 World Commercial Reprocessing Capacity CountryLocationLWR fuel tonnes/yr FranceLa Hague1,600 UKSellafield (THORP)1,200 RussiaChelyabinsk (Mayak)400 Japan90 Total2,940 Other nuclear fuels: UKSellafield1,500 FranceMarcoule400 India200 Total2,100 Total civil capacity5,040

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 18 of 20 Reprocessing

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 19 of 20 Reprocessing  Occurs 5 – 25 years after removal from reactor  Partitioning  Separate individual radionuclides  Transmutation  Neutron bombardment converts one radionuclide into another with better characteristics  Radiotoxicity reduced within 1000 years

4/2003 Rev 2 I.4.9i – slide 20 of 20 Reprocessing  PUREX process  Dissolving fuel  Separation of U and Pu by solvent extraction  Remaining 3% is HLW – vitrified pending disposal  UREX process  Proposed by USA – only U recovered