Study on the LLFPs transmutation in a super-critical water-cooled fast reactor

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

The performance of the super-critical water-cooled fast reactor (Super FR) for the transmutation treatment of long-lived fission products (LLFPs) was evaluated. Two regions with the soft neutron spectrum, which is of great benefit to the LLFPs transmutation, can be utilized in the Super FR. First region is in the blanket assembly due to the ZrH 1.7 layer which was utilized to slow down the fast neutrons to achieve a negative void reactivity. Second region is in the reflector region of core like other metal-cooled fast reactors. The LLFPs selected in the transmutation analysis include 99Tc, 129I and 135Cs discharged from LWR or fast reactor. Their isotopes, such as 127I, 133Cs, 134Cs and 137Cs were also considered to avoid the separation. By loading the isotopes ( 99Tc or 127I and 129I) in the blanket assembly and the reflector region simultaneously, the transmutation rates of 5.36%/GWe year and 2.79%/GWe year can be obtained for 99Tc and 129I, respectively. The transmuted amounts of 99Tc and 129I are equal to the yields from 11.8 and 6.2 1000 MWe-class PWRs. Because of the very low capture cross section of 135Cs and the effect of other cesium isotopes, 135Cs was loaded with three rings of assemblies in the reflector region to make the transmuted amount be larger than the yields of two 1000 MWe-class PWRs. Based on these results, 99Tc and 129I can be transmuted conveniently and higher transmutation performance can be obtained in the Super FR. However, the transmutation of 135Cs is very difficult and the transmuted amount is less than that produced by the Super FR. It turns out that the transmutation of 135Cs is a challenge not only for the Super FR but also for other commercial fast reactors.