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Ned Xoubi Waste Management Presentation 1
The Politics, Science & EnvironmentThe Politics, Science & EnvironmentThe Politics, Science & EnvironmentThe Politics, Science & Environmentofofofof
Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing
3 decades Later 3 decades Later 3 decades Later 3 decades Later
Dr. Ned Xoubi Dr. Ned Xoubi Dr. Ned Xoubi Dr. Ned Xoubi
2008200820082008
8/14/2019 Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing, Ned Xoubi, 2008
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The Politics, Science,The Politics, Science,Environment, and common sense Environment, and common sense
of of
Spent Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing3 decades Later
Dr. Ned XoubiCommissioner for Nuclear Fuel Cycle
Jordan Atomic Energy Commission
Symposium on the Technology of Peaceful Nuclear Energy
October 14-16, 2008
Irbid - Jordan
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Reprocessing Reprocessing
is a must, for any meaningful and is a must, for any meaningful and permanent solution to SNF permanent solution to SNF
Nuclear power produce 20% of all U.S. electric power,economically, safely, and reliably, it does that withoutemitting harmful pollutantsProducing this energy, nuclear power in the US generatesapproximately 2500 tons of spent nuclear fuel annually
Spent nuclear fuel is classified as HLWDealing with it, presents a wide range of social, political,economical, and technical issuesFor the last three decades SNF have been stored intemporarily storage pools in power plants across thecountry, the US current plans is to dispose of this fuel inYucca Mountain repositoryA meaningful and permanent solution to spentnuclear fuel requires reexamining our policytoward Reprocessing
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April 7, 1977 , President Carter
banned the reprocessing ofcommercial reactor spent nuclear fuel
The Politics
The key issue driving this policy:
The serious threat of nuclear weaponsproliferation by diversion of plutonium from thecivilian fuel cycle
Encourage other nations to follow its lead
A weak argument with many holes, coming from a
Nuclear Engineer !!
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power reactor-grade plutonium is not thematerial of choice for making weapons
India , Israel , Pakistan , North Korea , andnow Iran
This failed policy is hindering the development and
advancement of nuclear power industry, and broadening the environmental, and economical problems of dealing with the spent fuel
Proliferation is sought by
desperate governments, that will tryany possible route to get them
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Weapon plutonium destructionWeapon plutonium destructioncapability ofcapability of HTRsHTRs VsVs LWRsLWRsWeapon Pu
0
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1 00
R e l a t i v e p
l u t o n i u m
i s o t o p e q u a n
t i t i e s
LWR spentfuel option
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N e t c o n s u m p t i o n
P u 3 9 : ~ 5 1 %To t a l P u: ~ 2 7 %
GT-M HR spentfuel option
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N e t c o n s um p t io n
P u3 9 : 90 - 9 5 %To t a l P u : 6 5 - 7 2 %
Pu 239
Pu 240
Pu 241
Pu 242
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The Environmental ProblemThe Environmental Problem
Since the dawn of time we as humans havebeen producing waste, and adverselyeffecting our environment
The more advanced we became, the morecomplicated our waste becameNuclear waste is radioactive
Very dangers and deadly effect on bothhumans and the environment if leftunmanaged
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SNF Activity and Volume
To Effectively Manage Radioactive Waste
Reduce the Volume and Radioactivity of SNF
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The Spent Nuclear FuelThe Spent Nuclear FuelChallengeChallenge
2,500 Mt of spent fuel isgenerated annuallyTemporarily stored on
site at 130 sites crossthe countrySNF Pools are full
SNF Cumulative Genration
0
1000020000
3000040000
50000
60000
70000
80000
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2 005 2010 2015 2020
Year
S N F ( M t )
Send it to the planned geologic repositoryYucca Mountain statutory limit of 63,000 Mt of spentfuel, will be reached by 2011Thus the disposal SNF will continue to be a problem
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The percentage constituentsThe percentage constituentsof Spent Nuclear Fuelof Spent Nuclear Fuel
95.6% Uranium3.0% Stable/Short-
lived fission products
0.9% Plutonium
0.3% Cs / Strontium
0.1% Minor Actinides
97% can be used to manufacture new nuclear fuel
Resulting in dramatic reduction of HLW
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SNF is a ResourceSNF is a Resource
The present SNFinventory stored incommercial nuclearpower plants, has
Approximately 500tons of plutoniumEnergy equivalent tomore than 7 billionbarrels of oilEquivalent to $280billion dollars
This issue, therefore, has significant economic
and energy security implications
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Why ReprocessWhy Reprocess
I. Reduce Spent Fuel Volume to be disposedof as HLW about
3 % of the original fuel quantity remainsas HLW
II. Reclaim Spent Fuels Valuable Energy byrecovering unused uranium andplutonium
97% of the spent fuel can be used
again in manufacturing fresh fuelIII. Conserve valuable and limited naturalresources
Saving about 30% of the natural
uranium otherwise required
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Who is ReprocessingWho is Reprocessing
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What is ReprocessingWhat is Reprocessing
After unloading, initial cooling forabout 180 days
Fuel is then shipped to a reprocessingplantFuel rods are then chopped anddissolved in nitric acidChemical separation of U & PuThe separated Pu is returned to fuelfabrication plantThe separated U returned toconversion plantHLLW is stored in SS tanks inside
concrete cells until they are solidified
Waste is shipped to its final burialground, like Yucca Mountain
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Solidifying Liquid Waste
The main method isvitrification
Based on evaporation to adry powder
Incorporation in borosilicateglass
Poured into small stainlesssteel canisters (40 cm indiameter, and 130 cm height)
The waste is then shipped to its final burial ground,
like Yucca Mountain.
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Reprocessing TechnologiesReprocessing TechnologiesPlutonium-Uranium EXtraction (PUREX ) Developed by the United States in the late 1940s.
Both uranium and plutonium are produced Proliferation concerns This is the most used reprocessing method in the worldUranium EXtraction (UREX) Only uranium is separated plutonium, TRU, and FP are extracted in a single stream
from which TRU could be extracted for reuse in fuelUREX+ Separate selected actinide and fission product isotopes
from the UREX stream after the uranium has been extractedin a manner that minimizes waste
Plutonium and selected minor actinides are separated foruse in preparing proliferation-resistant fuels.
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Typical 1000Typical 1000 MWeMWe plantplant
produces approximately 25000 kg/ Yr. of HLWReduced to 700 kg after reprocessingAfter vitrification and packaging the waste willbe contained in 5 tons of glassPacked in about twelve small canisters andoccupying less than 4 cubic meters230 kilograms of plutonium is separated inreprocessingThis can be used in fresh MOX fuelProducing the same amount of electricity as230,000 tons of oil, saving about 44 milliondollars per year
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Reprocessing in the USAReprocessing in the USASince the 1940s the US has continued to reprocessfuel mostly at defense plantsOver 250 plant-years of reprocessing experienceWest Valley, New York, with a reprocessing
capacity of 300 ton/yr The plant was operated successfully from 1966- 1972 .Morris, Illinois, with a reprocessing capacity of 300ton per year The plant incorporating new technology that was tested
and proven on a pilot-scale, but failed to worksuccessfully in the production plant.Barnwell, South Carolina, with a reprocessingcapacity of 1500 tons/yr
abounded after the 1977 decision to ban all commercialreprocessing
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The advanced fuel cycleThe advanced fuel cycle
initiative (AFCI )initiative (AFCI )
Loading silos with canisters containingvitrified high-level waste in UK,
Each disc on the floor covers a silo holding tencanisters
AFCI mission is to developAdvancedSafeCost Effective
Environmentally FriendlyProliferation-Resistant
Technologies to treat andtransmute spent fuel
in order to enable a transitionFrom the current oncethrough nuclear fuel cycleTo a future sustainable,closed nuclear fuel cycle
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ReprocessingReprocessing
completes the fuel cyclecompletes the fuel cycle
Questions ?
