Accelerator-driven transmutation of plutonium and nuclear waste

The ultimate disposition of spent reactor fuel and processed high-level nuclear waste (HLW) has been a subject of much concern and little progress since the dawn of the nuclear era. In the United States today, the spent fuel from more than 110 commercial light water reactors continues to be stored onsite while highly toxic liquid HLW continues to be stored in tanks at several U.S. Department of Energy sites. The management policy that has been followed in the United States for the past 12 yr is defined by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 and its subsequent amendment of 1987. The NWPA requires the disposal of spent fuel assemblies in geologic waste repositories, the first of which will presumably be located at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The pace of the process for implementing the Yucca Mountain repository discussed in a recent General Accounting Office (GAO) assessment, remains frustratingly slow. By GAO estimation, an operational permanent waste repository at Yucca Mountain could be delayed beyond the 2020 time frame. The approach to formulating an acceptable HLW disposal strategy has always involved serious consideration of nonproliferation issues. Most recently, the nuclear weapon build-down following the Cold War has stimulated the needmore » for the United States and Russia to dispose of surplus plutonium. Consideration of this has motivated (a) a recognition that all plutonium is a proliferation hazard and (b) a renewed debate on the best approach to dispose of plutonium in general. From an international perspective, there is little agreement on the best strategy for the ultimate disposition of HLW and plutonium. This paper discusses the concept of transmutation of plutonium.« less