Study of Minor Actinides Transmutation in PWR MOX fuel

TL;DR

This study investigates the transmutation of minor actinides in PWR MOX fuel using Monte Carlo simulations, demonstrating effective reduction of long-lived radionuclides for sustainable nuclear waste management.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed simulation of MA transmutation in PWR MOX fuel, highlighting the efficiency of transmuting key long-lived isotopes like $^{237}$Np and $^{241}$Am.

Findings

High transmutation efficiency for $^{237}$Np and $^{241}$Am.

Inclusion of $^{237}$Np does not significantly affect other MAs.

Transmutation in MOX fuel is promising for nuclear waste management.

Abstract

The management of long-lived radionuclides in spent fuel is a key issue to achieve the closed nuclear fuel cycle and the sustainable development of nuclear energy. Partitioning-Transmutation is supposed to be an efficient method to treat the long-lived radionuclides in spent fuel. Some Minor Actinides (MAs) have very long half-lives among the radionuclides in the spent fuel. Accordingly, the study of MAs transmutation is a significant work for the post-processing of spent fuel. In the present work, the transmutations in Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) mixed oxide (MOX) fuel are investigated through the Monte Carlo based code RMC. Two kinds of MAs, $^{237}$Np and five MAs ($^{237}$Np, $^{241}$Am, $^{243}$Am, $^{244}$Cm and $^{245}$Cm) are incorporated homogeneously into the MOX fuel assembly. The transmutation of MAs is simulated with different initial MOX concentrations. The results indicate an overall nice efficiency of transmutation in both initial MOX concentrations, especially for the two kinds of MAs primarily generated in the UOX fuel, $^{237}$Np and $^{241}$Am. In addition, the inclusion of $^{237}$Np in MOX has no large influence for other MAs, while the transmutation efficiency of $^{237}$Np is excellent. The transmutation of MAs in MOX fuel depletion is expected to be a new, efficient nuclear spent fuel management method for the future nuclear power generation.