Y. Ueda et al., POTENTIAL REPROCESSING IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ADVANCED FUEL RECYCLE SYSTEM, Progress in nuclear energy (New series), 32(3-4), 1998, pp. 349-355
From the aspects of economical competitiveness, proliferation resistan
ce, and minimizing waste problems, PNC has proposed an improved recycl
e concept for the FBR fuel cycle, termed Advanced Fuel Recycle System.
Reprocessing in this system is based on the well-known PUREX flowshee
t and features a ''single cycle Pu/U co-extraction flowsheet'' with lo
wer decontamination factor(DF) than that in the conventional process.
This feature is practical because of the FBR's low neutronic sensitivi
ty to impurities. Such a simplified extraction process without purific
ation cycles should substantially reduce not only the number of proces
s components but also the quantities of liquid to be treated in other
related processes, so it will lead to the proportional reduction in wa
ste processing, waste itself, and all other related equipments and fac
ilities. This should improve overall economics. One method being exami
ned to further reduce the liquid throughputs and simplify the process
is to apply the crystallization technique to dissolver solution. Overa
ll, with this proposed concept, proliferation resistance will be signi
ficantly improved because plutonium is always recovered as a mixture w
ith the uranium and DF of the plutonium product is low. Reprocessing a
nd fabrication processes are integrated into one fuel cycle plant in t
his system further contributing to these improvements. (C) 1997 Publis
hed by Elsevier Science Ltd.