US EPA

1440089 

Journal Article 

State of the Art of Pyroprocessing Technology in Japan 

Inoue, T; Koyama, T; Arai, Y 

2011 

Yes 

Energy Procedia
ISSN: 1876-6102 

Energy Procedia 

7 

405-413 

10.1016/j.egypro.2011.06.053 

WOS:000298292800051 

Minor actinide recycling in a fuel cycle is a potential
technology to minimize the environmental radioactivity burden in waste disposal in the fast
reactor era after 2050. Pyroprocessing technology with metal electrorefining expects that no
additional process is required to separate minor actinides and short- cooled fuels can be treated
due to no-use of organic solvent that degrades by radiation. Pyroprocessing has been explored for
metal fuel cycle and nitride fuel cycle in Japan. Metal fuel fast reactor, which can achieve a
high breeding ratio over 1.3, and its fuel cycle is a compact system by integrating
pyroprocessing. Oxide fuel can be also treated by converting to metals by reduction. Separation
of transuranium elements from high level liquid waste originating from aqueous reprocessing has
been challenged. Verification of the process and development of an engineering scale device are
the current interests for study. In addition, irradiation study of metal fuel with minor
actinides currently much advances from the point of fundamental investigation. Accelerator-driven
system (ADS) for transmutation of minor actinides is integrated with pyroprocessing for recycling
system. The denitriding at anode and azotizing at cathode together with electrorefining have been
fundamentally studied by use of plutonium. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or
peer-review under responsibility of Indra Gandhi Centre of Atomic Research 

Pyroprocessing; fuel cycle; electrorefining; minor actinides; metal fuel