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Partitioning And Transmuter Research Initiative in a Collaborative Innovation Action

Project description

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Investigating advanced partitioning and transmutation for nuclear fuel

Nuclear power has low CO2 emissions and is a sustainable energy source. However, its safety and waste issues cannot be disregarded. The solution for achieving reduced nuclear waste is to recycle spent fuel. To address this challenge, the EU-funded PATRICIA project aims to follow the EU’s plan for sustainable nuclear energy that describes the technical needs of fuel recycling. To this end, the project will investigate advanced partitioning to efficiently separate the radioactive chemical americium from spent fuel, and it will study the development of transmutation systems. It will also explore the behaviour of americium-bearing fuel under irradiation and conduct safety-related research. The project’s results will pave the way for better radioactive waste management and use of fuel resources.

Objective

Climate change is one of the main issues facing humanity. Due to its low CO2 emission, nuclear power is part of a sustainable energy mix. However, safety and waste issues cannot be taken lightly. For the latter the way forward is to recycle spent fuel with the goal to close the fuel cycle. This eases ultimate radioactive waste management, increases proliferation resistance and drastically improves economy and sustainability by better use of fuel resources.
The SNETP deployment plan describes a technical needs fuel recycling including partitioning of spent fuel, fabrication and characterisation of minor actinide bearing fuel and the development of transmutation systems.
This proposal follows that plan and answers to NRFP7 of the 2018-2019 EURATOM call: Research and Innovation for Partitioning and/or Transmutation. It focusses on research on advanced partitioning to efficiently separate Am from spent fuel, on experimental and fuel performance code development work studying the behaviour of Am bearing fuel under irradiation and on the safety related research supporting the licensing process of MYRRHA in its role in the development trajectory for a dedicated accelerator driven transmuter. It may be noted that for first time, the communities working of partitioning, transmutation and the development of MYRRHA are joint in one project.
Besides the technical work described above, dedicated work packages deals with education focussing on pre-and post-graduate students, and with dissemination where besides the specific stakeholders also high school pupils and the general public is targeted. A further task on knowledge management includes the both foreground data as well as metadata to so ensure proper QA for V&V is possible. The project is performed using a combination of experiments, theoretical studies and numerical simulations for which the expertise of 25 research centres and universities from 11 EU countries, Switzerland and the US is pooled.

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Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

NFRP-2019-2020

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Funding Scheme

RIA - Research and Innovation action

Coordinator

STUDIECENTRUM VOOR KERNENERGIE / CENTRE D'ETUDE DE L'ENERGIE NUCLEAIRE
Net EU contribution
€ 979 507,40
Address
AVENUE HERRMANN DEBROUX 40
1160 Bruxelles / Brussel
Belgium

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Region
Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest Région de Bruxelles-Capitale/ Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest Arr. de Bruxelles-Capitale/Arr. Brussel-Hoofdstad
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost
€ 1 620 492,50

Participants (25)

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Last update: 2 May 2024

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Permalink: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/945077

European Union, 2024