Fusion solution to dispose of spent nuclear fuel, transuranic elements, and highly enriched uranium

Abstract

The disposal of the nuclear spent fuel, the transuranic elements, and the highly enriched uranium represents a major problem under investigation by the international scientific community to identify the most promising solutions. The investigation of this paper focused on achieving the top rated solution for the problem, the elimination goal, which requires complete elimination for the transuranic elements or the highly enriched uranium, and the long-lived fission products. To achieve this goal, fusion blankets with liquid carrier, molten salts or liquid metal eutectics, for the transuranic elements and the uranium isotopes are utilized. The generated energy from the fusion blankets is used to provide revenue for the system. The long-lived fission products are fabricated into fission product targets for transmutation utilizing the neutron leakage from the fusion blankets. This paper investigated the fusion blanket designs for small fusion devices and the system requirements for such application. The results show that 334 MW of fusion power from D–T plasma for 30 years with an availability factor of 0.75 can dispose of the 70,000 tons of the U.S. inventory of spent nuclear fuel generated up to the year 2015. In addition, this fusion solution eliminates the need for a geological repository site, which is a major advantage. Meanwhile, such utilization of the fusion power will provide an excellent opportunity to develop fusion energy for the future.