DAPNIA-02-04 |
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Fusion -- Fission Hybrid System With Molten Salt Blanket for Nuclear Waste Transmutation |
E.T.Cheng, R.Plukiene, D.Ridikas |
An intensive neutron source is needed for the transmutation process of nuclear waste. A plasma based fusion device is naturally a candidate neutron source. In this paper we analyze a typical molten salt (flibe) blanket, driven by a plasma based fusion device, dedicated to burn actinides extracted from the LWR spent fuel. Performance parameters such as k$_{scr}$, burnup, fluxes and equilibrium conditions were obtained to assess the characteristics of a flibe based transmutation plant. It seems that nearly 1.1 metric tons of spent fuel TRU could be burned annually with an output of 3~GW$_{th}$ fission power. Detailed burnup calculations show that equilibrium conditions of the fuel concentration in the flibe transmutation blanket could be achieved, provided that fission products were removed at least in part and fresh spent fuel TRU was added during burnup on-line. |