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Contenuto archiviato il 2022-12-05

Joint EFTTRA experiment on Am transmutation

Obiettivo



THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS TO STUDY THE TRANSMUTATION OF AM-241 EMBEDDED IN AN INERT MATRIX BY PREPARING, PERFORMING AND ANALYSING AN IRRADIATION EXPERIMENT IN THE HIGH FLUX REACTOR AT PETTEN. IT SERVES AS A EUROPEAN PILOT PROJECT TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF AM TRANSMUTATION AND INCLUDES THE FABRICATION OF A TARGET PIN, THE EXECUTION OF IRRADIATION AND POST-IRRADIATION EXPERIMENTS AND THE ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS. THE WORK WILL BE PERFORMED JOINTLY BY THE EXISTING EFTTRA GROUP OF LABORATORIES AND INSTITUTES. EFTTRA IS AN ACRONYM FOR "EXPERIMENTAL FEASIBILITY OF TARGETS FOR TRANSMUTATION" AND PRESENTLY CONSISTS OF CEA, CEA-JRC-ITU, CEC-JRC-IAM, ECN, EDF AND FZK. THESE LABORATORIES HAVE EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL AND FACILITIES TO RUN THE PROPOSED PROJECT.
IN ORDER TO MEET THE OBJECTIVES DESCRIBED ABOVE THE WORK IS DIVIDED INTO 8 WORKPACKAGES, ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING SCHEME: 1. CO-ORDINATION BY ECN, 2. DESIGN AND SAFETY REPORT FOR THE IRRADIATION IN HFR BY ECN, CEC-JRC-IAM. 3. TARGET PREPARATION AND TRANSPORT BY CEC-JRC-ITU AND ZFK, 4. IRRADIATION FACILITY PREPARATION BY CEC-JRC--IAM, 5. IRRADIATION IN HFR BY CEC-JRC-IAM AND ECN, 6. NON-DESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS BY ECN, 7. TRANSPORT, PIE AND 8. INTERPRETATION AND FINAL REPORT BY CEC-JRC-ITU, FZK, CEA, EDF AND ECN. THE PROJECT WILL COVER THE PERIOD UPTO DEC 1998, THE IRRADIATION WILL TAK PLACE DURING JULY 1996 TO DEC 1997. MOST ACTIVITIES ARE CONCENTRATED IN THE INITIAL TARGET FABRICATION AND EXPERIMENT PREPARATION PHASE BEFORE JULY 1996 AND IN THE POST-IRRADIATION EXAMINATION PHASE DURING 1998.
THE SCIENTIFIC JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROJECT IS ITS CONTRIBUTION TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE HETEROGENEOUS TRANSMUTATION OF MINOR ACTINIDE BY INTENSE NEUTRON IRRADIATION. THE CHOICE OF AM-241 IS MADE BECAUSE THIS IS - AFTER PU - THE MOST RADIOTOXIC COMPONENT IN THE WASTE. MOREOVER IT DECAYS TO GEO-CHEMICALLY MOBILE NP-237, THAT ENHANCES THE RISK OF STORED NUCLEAR WASTE BY MEANS OF LEAKAGE AND DISPERSION TO THE BIOSPHERE. THE MATERIAL PROBLEMS ARE NOT YET WELL UNDERSTOOD AND ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO PREDICT WITHOUT PERFORMING A NUMBER OF KEY EXPERIMENTS. THE PROPOSED EXPERIMENT IS ONE OF SUCH KEY EXPERIMENTS.
THE TECHNICAL JUSTIFICATION IS THAT TRANSMUTATION COMPRISES A LARGE NUMBE OF STEPS INVOLVING TARGET FABRICATION, ENCAPSULATION, CONSTRUCTION OF IRRADIATION DEVICES, THE IRRADIATION AND MONITORING, THE POST-IRRADIATION ANALYSIS. TRANSPORT, ETC. THE PRESENT PROJECT COVERS A LARGE RANGE OF THESE TECHNICAL STEPS AND IS THEREFORE USEFUL TO CONTRIBUTE TO A DEMONSTRATION OF THE TECHNICAL FEASIBILITY OF TRANSMUTATION OF AM IN INERT MATRICES.
THE ECONOMIC JUSTIFICATION IS THAT THE PROJECT MAY GIVE FURTHER INSIGHT IN THE COSTS OF TRANSMUTATION AND THE ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF IT.

Invito a presentare proposte

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Meccanismo di finanziamento

CSC - Cost-sharing contracts

Coordinatore

Netherlands Energy Research Foundation
Contributo UE
Nessun dato
Indirizzo
3,Westerduinweg
1755 LE Petten
Paesi Bassi

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Costo totale
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Partecipanti (5)