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60 Years of U: Perspectives on resources, demand, and the evolving role of nuclear energy
Recent years have seen growing global interest in nuclear energy and rising confidence in the sector. For the first time since the early 2000s, there is renewed optimism about the industry’s future. This change is driven by several major factors: geopolitical developments that highlight the need for secure energy supplies, a stronger focus on resilient energy systems, national commitments to decarbonization, and rising demand for clean and reliable electricity.
D. H. Berwald, J. J. Duderstadt
Nuclear Technology | Volume 42 | Number 1 | January 1979 | Pages 34-50
Technical Paper | Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT79-A32160
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A conceptual study of actinide waste partitioning and transmutation options has been performed. The goal was to identify an actinide burner system that could be expected to perform efficiently within the framework of a demonstrated controlled thermonuclear reactor technology. Reasonable extrapolations in technologies that could be expected to develop during the same time frame as the fusion driver itself are utilized. The laser fusion driven actinide waste burner (LDAB) system investigated uses partitioned fission power reactor generated actinide wastes dissolved in a molten tin alloy as feed material (or fuel). A novel fuel processing concept based on the high-temperature precipitation of “actinide-nitrides” from a liquid tin solution is proposed. This concept will allow for fission product removal to be performed entirely within the device at high burnup. No attempt has been made to optimize this system, but potential performance is impressive. The equilibrium LDAB design consumes 7.6 MT/yr of actinide waste. This corresponds to the waste output from 136 light water reactors [1000 MW(electric)]. The mean life of an actinide atom in the LDAB is only 4.5 yr, and actinides, once charged to the LDAB, might be reprocessed fewer times during irradiation than in previously proposed systems.