Accelerator driven systems for transmutation: Fuel development, design and safety

• Published in: Progress in nuclear energy (New series) Vol. 50; no. 2; pp. 333 - 340
• Main Authors: Maschek, W., Chen, X., Delage, F., Fernandez-Carretero, A., Haas, D., Matzerath Boccaccini, C., Rineiski, A., Smith, P., Sobolev, V., Thetford, R., Wallenius, J.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Tarrytown, NY Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2008; Oxford Elsevier
• Subjects: Accelerator driven systems; Applied sciences; CERCER; CERMET; Electrostatic, collective, and linear accelerators; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Experimental methods and instrumentation for elementary-particle and nuclear physics; Fission nuclear power plants; Fuel safety; Fysik; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; NATURAL SCIENCES; NATURVETENSKAP; Nuclear physics; Physics; Transmuter; CERMET; Accelerator driven systems; Transmuter; CERCER; Fuel safety; Accelerator driven system; Safety analysis; Proton accelerator; Burnup; Research and development; Nuclear reactor; Reactivity; Cermet; Transmutation; Database; Subcriticality; Reactor core
• ISSN: 0149-1970; 1878-4224
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pnucene.2007.11.066

European R&D for ADS design and fuel development is driven in the 6th FP of the EU by the EUROTRANS Programme. In EUROTRANS two ADS design routes are followed, the XT-ADS and the EFIT. The XT-ADS is designed to provide the experimental demonstration of transmutation. The EFIT, the European Facility for Industrial Transmutation, aims at a conceptual design of a full transmuter. A key R&D issue is the choice of an adequate fuel. Various fuel forms have been assessed and CERCER and CERMET fuels, specifically the matrices MgO and Mo, have finally been selected. Within EUROTRANS, the domain ‘AFTRA’ is responsible to more deeply assess the behavior of these dedicated fuels and to provide the fuel database for the EFIT. The EFIT is optimized towards: a good transmutation efficiency, high burnup, low reactivity swing, low power peaking, adequate subcriticality, reasonable beam requirements and a high safety level. In the current paper the fuels under investigation are described, including their production route and their safety limits. First core designs of CERCER and CERMET fuelled 400 MWth EFITs have been developed within AFTRA. The trends found in the design studies and first safety analyses are presented.