The IAEA CRP on Studies of Advanced Reactor Technology Options for Effective Incineration of Radioactive Waste

Abstract

In 2003, the IAEA has initiated the Coordinated Research Project (CRP) on 'Studies of Advanced Reactor Technology Options for Effective Incineration of Radioactive Waste'. The overall objective of the CRP, performed within the framework of IAEA's Nuclear Energy Department's Technical Working Group on Fast Reactors, is to increase the capability of Member States in developing and applying advanced technologies in the area of long-lived radioactive waste utilization and transmutation. Twenty institutions from 15 Member States and one international organization participated in this CRP. The CRP concentrated on the assessment of the dynamic behavior of various transmutation systems. The reactor systems investigated comprise critical reactors, sub-critical accelerator driven systems with heavy liquid metal and gas cooling, critical molten salt systems, and hybrid fusion/fission systems. Both fertile and fertile-free fuel options have been investigated. Apart from the benchmarking of steady state core configurations (including the investigation of transmutation potential, burn-up behavior and decay heat of minor actinide (MA) bearing fuels), the CRP participants determined the safety coefficients for the individual systems and, in a second stage, performed transient analyses which reflected the generic safety related behavior of the various reactors types. (authors)