EFFECT OF DECONTAMINATION FACTOR OF RECYCLED ACTINIDE AND FP ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF SCNES

Effect of the decontamination factor (DF) of nuclides to be confined i n the closed fuel cycle was examined in terms of the system characteri stics. Two kinds of indices, equilibrium mass and equivalent radiotoxi city, were used to determine the recovery perfectivity of the nuclides . By using the equilibrium mass, extremely high DF had to be attained. The required values of DF were 10(8) for LLFP and 10(12) for actinide s. On the other hand, using the radiotoxicity, inferior perfectivity o f recovery, DF = 10(6), could be acceptable for actinides and there is no necessity of LLFP recycling for transmutation because they only ha ve comparable radiotoxicity with the supplied uranium to the system. T he required DF which provide ignorable loss of waste to the outside of the system depends on what index we use. Generalization of index to q uantify the hazard or nuisance of nuclear waste and setting the criter ia remains unsettled questions. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.