ONWARDS | RADWASTE MANAGEMENT


Volatility for Waste Reduction and/or Reuse of Metallic-, Oxide-, and Salt-Based Reactor Fuels project is to adjust chloride-based volatility (CBV) parameters to achieve a high degree of uranium recovery. By doing so waste volumes will be significantly reduced. With prior work having already demonstrated recovery of more than 99% of the uranium from irradiated oxide fuel, it may be possible to reduce repository burdens by a factor of 10-20 times, TerraPower says. The work will start with surrogate UNF and progress to actual oxide UNF in a demonstration of the process which can be applied to metallic-, oxide- and salt-based reactor fuels. “We are actively exploring new solutions across the fuel


cycle, including the best way to address used fuel,” said TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque.


Rock on with waste In a project getting more than US$3 million in ARPA-E funding Citrine Informatics, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and University of North Texas will use artificial intelligence and simulation methods to develop novel phosphate waste materials that significantly reduce repository burden from molten salt reactors. The aim of the project is to rapidly develop phosphate


glasses, ceramics, and their composites to enable removal of halides and the more secure immobilization of salt waste from molten salt reactors. The programme hopes to culminate in a kg-scale proof-of-concept of a designed waste form and to demonstrate a more than six times increase in waste mass loading and an 80% decrease in waste volume when compared with existing technologies. The proposal will also result in 60% decrease in the capital and operating expenditures of waste form processing, Citrine says. “By combining the knowledge and capability of the top


experts in nuclear waste manufacturing and glass and ceramic simulation with our data-driven methods, our ARPA-E program promises to disrupt the nuclear waste


industry by designing more efficient, less expensive, and safer waste forms in only three years,” said Dr. James Saal, Citrine’s Director of External Research Programs and the Principal Investigator. Orano subsidiary Orano Federal Services (FS) is to receive


$2.2 million in project funding to develop a modular off-gas treatment unit. The ‘plug and play’ unit will be tailored to the off-gases created when processing used nuclear fuel from different advanced reactor types, including metal fuel, TRISO fuel, and molten salt reactor liquid fuel. Optimised to efficiently capture regulated radioactive and non-radioactive off-gases, the treatment processes will themselves only generate low-level waste suitable for either disposal or decay storage. Principal investigator Dr Sven Bader will be working with the state-of-the-art research and development performed by Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in the off-gas treatment. “Advanced reactors will require advanced processes


for preparing their used nuclear fuel to be reused. We appreciate this opportunity to… work with ONWARDS in support of the next generation of advanced reactors,” said Dr Dorothy Davidson, Orano FS president.


A case for study Among a number of projects underway at academic institutions, the New Brunswick, New Jersey site of Rutgers University is receiving grant funding worth US$4 million for the Pioneering a Cermet Waste Form for Disposal of Waste Streams from Advanced Reactors (PACE-FORWARD) project. The University aims to deliver a simple, scalable route


for immobilizing multiple waste streams like metals, salts and carbon into a singular, high-density, durable cermet. The goal is to encapsulate waste emanating from any potential advanced reactor fuel cycle into a heat-resistant ceramic and metallic composite waste form. The cermet will comprise stainless steel waste as the primary phase, encapsulating a ceramic phase dispersed U


Left:


The RADMASS team will have access to GE’s Research campus in Niskayuna, NY to develop its new inspection technique in support of fuel recycling


Pictured (from left to right): Bogdan Neculaes, Principal Scientist, and Uwe Wiedmann, Senior Scientist, who specialize in radiation physics and system design; and the project’s PI, Andrew Hoffman, a materials scientist


Source: GE Research


www.neimagazine.com | July 2022 | 19


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