Prediction of spallation induced transmutation rates for long-lived fission products via proton accelerator

TL;DR

This study explores using proton accelerators to transmute long-lived nuclear waste isotopes, finding some are more viable than others.

Contribution

The paper evaluates spallation-driven transmutation for specific fission products, revealing isotope-specific feasibility and cost trade-offs.

Findings

Technetium, iodine, and selenium are strong candidates for transmutation via spallation.

Zirconium and cesium are inefficient or costly to transmute due to competing isotopes.

Tin shows partial resistance but benefits from thermal neutron flux.

Abstract

Long-lived fission products represent a major challenge in nuclear waste management due to persistent radiotoxicity over very long timescales. This study focuses on six of these fission products: Se-79, Zr-93, Tc-99, Sn-126, I-127, Cs-135. This study investigates the feasibility of spallation-driven transmutation, in which a high energy proton beam strikes a heavy spallation target to generate neutrons that induce transmutation in the fission products surrounding the target. Lead and depleted uranium are identified as the principal spallation target candidates, reflecting contrasting trade offs in neutron yield, secondary reactions, and heat generation. Simulations assess nuclide specific behavior under reactor scale inventories and practical geometric constraints. Results demonstrate that technetium, iodine, and selenium are strong candidates for transmutation using this pathway, while tin shows partial resistance but benefits from thermal flux. By contrast, zirconium is inefficient to transmute, and cesium suffers from low net reduction due to competition with lighter isotopes. Cost effectiveness is highly isotope-dependent: technetium is most favorable, whereas cesium and zirconium remain expensive. These findings highlight the advantages and limitations of spallation driven systems and motivate strategies with optimized target–blanket designs.

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