Demand driven salt clean-up in a molten salt fast reactor - Defining a priority list.

Area of Science:

• Nuclear Engineering
• Chemical Reprocessing
• Materials Science

Background:

• Current nuclear reprocessing relies on Plutonium Uranium Redox Extraction (PUREX) technology, primarily for solid fuels in light water reactors.
• Emerging liquid-fueled reactors and integrated fuel cycles necessitate innovative reprocessing solutions.
• Direct links between reactor operation and fuel cycle management are driving technological advancements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the potential of innovative reprocessing technologies for liquid-fueled reactors.
• To discuss boundary conditions, economic, and neutron physical optimization parameters for new reprocessing concepts.
• To develop an element priority list for efficient salt clean-up in advanced nuclear fuel cycles.

Main Methods:

• Theoretical analysis of innovative reprocessing concepts for liquid-fueled reactors.
• Investigation of economic and neutron physical optimization parameters.
• Development of an element priority list for salt clean-up based on criticality loss analysis.

Main Results:

• Separation of Neodymium and Caesium is crucial, accounting for nearly 50% of criticality loss.
• Additional separation of Zirconium and Samarium can remove up to 80% of criticality loss from fission products.
• An innovative approach balances throughput via a minimal number of salt processing steps.

Conclusions:

• Advanced reprocessing strategies are essential for sustainable operation of liquid-fueled reactors.
• Efficient chemical processing for salt clean-up requires strategic fission product separation.
• Further development is needed for economically viable salt clean-up processes with minimized separation steps.