US EPA

1438926 

Book/Book Chapter 

A realistic plutonium elimination scheme with fast energy amplifiers and thorium-plutonium fuel 

Rubbia, C; Buono, S; Gonzalez, E; Kadi, Y; Rubio, JA 

1997 

NATO ADVANCED SCIENCE INSTITUTE SERIES, SUB-SERIES 1: DISARMAMENT TECHNOLOGIES 

15 

89-134 

WOS:000072546400011 

In a previous report [1] we have presented the conceptual
design of a subcritical device designed for energy amplification (production). The present note
further explores the possibilities of the Energy Amplifier (EA) in the field of the incineration
of unwanted actinide ""waste"" from Nuclear Power Reactors (PWR) and from the disassembly of
Military Weapons. The key idea which is developed is the one of using a Thorium-Plutonium mixture
which is much more effective in eliminating Plutonium at acceptable concentrations (less than or
equal to 20%) than the conventional mixture of Uranium-Plutonium. The device operates as an
effective Plutonium to U-233 converter. The latter can be later mixed with ordinary or depleted
Uranium and it constitutes an excellent fuel for the PWRs. The EA sub-critical mode is preferred
over the conventional Fast Breeder Reactor, because of the much smaller risks associated to the
narrow criticality window (approximately +/- 0.15 % in Delta k) of a Fast Reactor, the negative
void coefficient related to the presence of Plutonium and the inevitable presence of large
amounts of highly toxic Plutonium. It is shown that a cluster of EAs operated in conjunction with
existing PWRs is a very effective and realistic solution to the ultimately complete elimination
of the accumulated Plutonium and Minor Actinide stockpiles and it greatly alleviates the problem
of definitive geologic disposal. Preliminary economical considerations show that Plutonium
incineration when compared to direct geological disposal is not only environmentally more
acceptable but also an economically profitable alternative.