Description of the European Helium-Cooled EFIT Plant: An Industrial-Scale Accelerator-Driven System for Minor Actinide Transmutation—II
Résumé
In order to reduce the volume and the radiotoxicity
of the nuclear waste coming from the operation of existing
pressurized water reactors, accelerator-driven systems
(ADSs) have been envisioned.
The Helium-cooled (He) European Facility for
Industrial-scale Transmutation (He-EFIT) concept is the
EUROpean Research Programme for the TRANSmutation
of High Level Nuclear Waste in Accelerator Driven
System (EUROTRANS) Integrated Project (IP) (EUROTRANS
IP) backup option, whereas Pb-cooled EFIT
is the reference one. The plant has a power of ;400
MW(thermal). Like all ADS plants, it consists of three
main components: the accelerator, the spallation target
module, and the subcritical core.
This paper describes the He-EFIT design at the end
of the EUROTRANS IP as well as the studies performed
to support this design: spallation performances, trasmutation
capabilities, and plant safety analyses.
No specific technology deadlock has been identified,
and it might be possible to build such a plant given necessary
research and development in support.