Main results of the French program on Partitioning and Transmutation of Minor Actinides
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Main results of the French program on Partitioning and Transmutation of Minor Actinides Ch.Poinssot1, B Boullis2, C.Rostaing1, D.Warin2 1 CEA, Nuclear Energy Division, RadioChemistry & Processes Department, BP17171, F-30207 Bagnols sur Cèze, France, contact author: [email protected] 2 CEA, Nuclear Energy Division, Nuclear Innovation and Support Program Division, CEA Saclay, F-91919 Gif sur Yvette cedex, France.
ABSTRACT In the framework of the successive 1991 and 2006 Waste Management Act, French government supported a very significant R&D program on partitioning and transmutation of minor actinides (MA). This program aims to study potential solutions for still minimizing the quantity and the hazardousness of final waste, by MA recycling. Indeed, MA recycling can reduce the heat load and the half-life of most of the waste to be buried to a couple of hundred years, overcoming the concerns of the public related to the long-life of the waste. Within this framework, this paper aims to present the most recent progress obtained in CEA on the development of innovative actinide partitioning hydrometallurgical processes in support of their recycling, either in an homogeneous mode (MA are recycled at low concentration in all the standard reactor fuel) or in an heterogeneous mode (MA are recycled at higher concentration in specific targets, at the periphery of the reactor core). Recovery performances obtained on recent tests in high active conditions of the so-called GANEX and DIAMEX-SANEX process will be presented and discussed in light of the potential P&T scenarios. Finally, recent developments regarding the recycling of the sole Am will be presented as well as the results obtained on highly active solutions for this so-called EXAM process. This set of results gives to the French government a portfolio of potential recycling processes which could be separately and progressively implemented if decided. 1. INTRODUCTION Coping with the energy issues is one of the most crucial and demanding challenge for the current century since it requires to relate and find a balance between the contradictory following drivers: (i) the anticipated significant increase of the energy needs worldwide, (ii) the required need for decreasing the green-house gases (GHG) emissions to limit the climate change, and (iii) the need to develop a new energy model which is accepted by the population. In a sense, it is a clear illustration of the interdependent three-dimensions of the various worldwide problems that humankind has to face to propose a pathway towards a sustainable development which includes both the environmental, economics and societal aspects. In this context, nuclear energy could be an important player since it allows producing base-load electricity with a very low GHG emission and at a predictable cost. However, nuclear energy is all but widely accepted by the public opinion, in particular since the 11th March Fukushima accident. One of the main issues raised by the public opinion is on the short term, the management of the res
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