Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 2493–2497

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Fusion Engineering and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fusengdes

Conceptual study of fusion-driven system for nuclear waste

transmutation
B.G. Hong ∗
Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, Chonbuk, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A conceptual study of a fusion-driven system for nuclear waste transmutation using a low aspect ratio
Received 10 September 2013 (LAR) tokamak as a neutron source is performed. A configuration of the LAR tokamak neutron source
Received in revised form optimised with respect to both transmutation rate and the tritium breeding ratio for aspect ratio A in
22 December 2013
the range of 1.5–2.0 is found. The transmutation characteristics of both transuranic actinides and minor
Accepted 8 January 2014
actinides are investigated and compared. When the transuranic actinides are loaded in the blanket, the
Available online 3 March 2014
neutron multiplication factor decreases from its initial value, keff = 0.95, but with the minor actinides
loaded in the blanket, the neutron multiplication factor shows a peak value during burn-up. The peak
Keywords:
Fusion-driven system
value can be controlled by adjusting the blanket dimensions. To transmute the nuclear waste effectively,
Nuclear waste transmutation an equilibrium fuel cycle is developed for both transuranic actinide and minor actinide transmutation.
LAR tokamak © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
To destroy the nuclear waste contained in spent fuel, a trans-
mutation reactor using a 14-MeV deuterium–tritium (D–T) fusion
neutron source has been studied [1–3]. A low aspect ratio (LAR)
tokamak is a viable option for the 14-MeV neutron source since it
allows a compact tokamak reactor and a large elongated plasma
shape, which is favourable in a transmutation reactor. Depending
on the waste management strategy, fission products are eliminated
and transuranic actinides (TRUs; Pu) and minor actinides (MAs;s)
such as Pu and minor actinides (MAs: Np, Am, Cm, etc.) are trans-
muted, or the MAs are separated from the other nuclear waste and
transmuted. The objectives of this study are to investigate the char-
acteristics of both TRU and MA transmutation and to compare their
characteristics with a LAR tokamak as a fusion neutron source.
A neutron source based on a LAR tokamak needs to destroy as
much of the nuclear waste as possible while minimising the overall
size of the reactor. A radial build of its components must satisfy all
of the plasma physics and engineering constraints. In the transmu-
tation reactor, an optimal configuration can be found with respect
to both the transmutation rate and the tritium breeding ratio (TBR),
while the neutron multiplication factor, keff , is maintained at <1.0,
since the sub-critical reactor concept is preferred for reactor safety
[4]. For an aspect ratio A in the range of 1.5–2.0, tritium self-
sufficiency can be satisfied with an outboard blanket only [5] and
the waste is loaded in the outboard blanket to avoid complexity.
The shield should provide sufficient protection for the supercon-
ducting toroidal field (TF) coil from radiation damage and from the
nuclear heating induced by both the fusion neutrons and the fission
neutrons. Thus, the shielding requirement mainly determines the
minimum major radius, and the neutron multiplication factor and
the tritium breeding requirement determine the outboard radial
build. Systems analysis [6] coupled with one-dimensional radia-
tion transport analysis is used to find the optimal configuration for
the LAR tokamak neutron source with aspect ratio A in the range of
1.5–2.0.
To transmute the nuclear waste effectively, an equilibrium fuel
cycle must be developed. The TRU or MA from spent nuclear fuel
is transmuted in batches, each of which is irradiated for a burn
cycle, then moved to a new location in the blanket and irradiated
for another burn cycle until the equilibrium fuel cycle is devel-
oped. Depending on the burn-up of the nuclear waste, the batch
of depleted fuel could be deposited in a high-level-waste (HLW)
repository or reprocessed to remove fission products and recover
the TRU and MA to be recycled through another fuel cycle in the
transmutation reactor.
The concept and the optimum radial build for the LAR tokamak
neutron source with aspect ratio A in the range of 1.5–2.0 is found in
Section 2. In Section 3, the transmutation characteristics of both the
TRU and the MA are investigated. An equilibrium fuel cycle analysis
is performed in Section 4. In Section 5, we conclude our findings.
2. Concept of a fusion neutron source

∗ Tel.: +82 10 6390 8294. To determine the radial build of the neutron source components,
E-mail address: bghong@jbnu.ac.kr we employed system analysis [6] coupled with a one-dimensional

0920-3796/$ – see front matter © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2014.01.021
2494 B.G. Hong / Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 2493–2497

Table 1
Materials composition of a transmutation reactor.

Component Materials

Toroidal field coil Nb3 Sn, SUS316, L, He

Vacuum vessel Borated steel, H2 O
Low temp. shield WC, H2 O
High temp. shield WC
Blanket 1 TRU or MA, SUS316, He, SiC
Blanket 2 SUS316, PbLi, SiC
First wall SUS316, H2 O
Fig. 1. Radial build of a transmutation reactor.

Table 2
Plasma performance and machine parameters of a neutron source.
radiation transport calculation. The one-dimensional radiation
transport code, BISON-C [7], with a 42 neutron group cross-section Parameters A = 1.5 A = 1.8 A = 2.0
library based on JENDL-3 [8] was used. For the estimation of the Fusion power (MW) 150 150 150
local TBR, the JENDL dosimetry file was used. In the BISON-C code, Major radius (m) 3.49 2.72 2.49
the one-dimensional radiation transport equation was solved to Minor radius (m) 2.32 1.51 1.24
Plasma elongation 3.2 2.9 2.7
obtain the neutron flux, and the nuclide production–depletion Triangularity 0.3 0.3 0.3
equations were solved using the obtained flux and the burn-up Plasma current (MA) 12.3 9.2 7.9
library. Plasma beta 0.491 0.297 0.22
The LAR tokamak neutron source was modelled in cylindrical Edge safety factor 2.6 2.7 2.8
Neutron wall load (MW/m2 ) 0.18 0.38 0.51
geometry as shown in Fig. 1, and the radiation transport calculation
Heating power (MW) 122 125 126
was performed in the same geometry. It has been shown that in LAR H factor 1.2 1.2 1.2
tokamak tritium, self-sufficiency can be satisfied with the proper Inboard shield (cm) 40.8 44.8 46.5
choice of inboard shield material and thus there we used no inboard Bore radius (cm) 28.4 29.2 29.2
blanket [5].
The toroidal magnetic field coil is made of a Nb3 Sn super-
inboard shield thickness increases compared to the case in which
conductor which was used in the international thermonuclear
no TRU or MA is present, since the neutron flux from the fission
experimental reactor (ITER). To determine the radial build of the
of the TRU or MA will be added. With a fusion power of 150 MWth ,
TF coil, the current density and maximum toroidal magnetic field
the required inboard shield thickness to provide adequate shielding
at the inner leg of the TF coil, as well as the neutron damage to the
for a 40 FPY lifetime with 75% availability is calculated as 40.8 cm
superconductor, must be taken into account.
for A = 1.5, 44.8 cm for A = 1.8 and 46.5 cm for A = 2.0, which was
The vacuum vessel is assumed to be 0.15 m thick and made of
determined for the case in which TRU was present. The increased
borated stainless steel cooled with water.
shield thickness for the case of large A is due to the fact that, as the
The shield is made of WC cooled with water. Sufficient space
aspect ratio increases, the maximum elongation, , and the plasma
for the shield is necessary to protect the superconducting TF coil
surface area decrease, and the neutron wall loading thus increases.
against nuclear heating and radiation damage, including fast neu-
Table 2 shows the optimum plasma performance and machine
tron fluence to the superconductor below 1019 n cm−2 for Nb3 Sn,
parameters of a LAR tokamak neutron source when A = 1.5, 1.8 and
displacement damage to the Cu stabiliser below 5 × 10−4 dpa, and
2.0.
a dose to the insulators of <109 rad for organic insulators. A design
lifetime for the neutron source is assumed to be 40 years with 75%
3. Transmutation characteristics
availability.
The functions of blankets 1 and 2 differ, so they can be managed
We investigate the transmutation characteristics of a LAR toka-
separately. In blanket 1, the TRU or MA is loaded for transmutation.
mak reactor with its fusion power maintained at 150 MWth . The
SUS316LN coated with SiC is used as a structural material and He
maximum fusion power of 150 MW produces more than 5 × 1019
is used as a coolant. Blanket 2 is used for tritium breeding where
neutrons (14 MeV)/s, which is sufficient to transmute waste while
SUS316LN coated with SiC is used as a structural material and PbLi
producing electric power of more than a few hundred MWe . Table 3
is used both as a coolant and a tritium breeding material. By locat-
shows the nuclide composition of the TRU and MA contained in the
ing the tritium breeding blanket after the transmutation blanket,
spent fuel of 1 GWe Korea Standard Nuclear Power Plant (KSNP).
tritium self-sufficiency can be easily satisfied due to the abundant
The radial build of the outboard blankets is determined to limit
thermal neutrons produced by fission of the TRU or MA. Natural Li
the maximum neutron multiplication of keff to below 0.95 and to
can therefore be used, while Li-6 needs to be enriched for a fusion
satisfy a tritium self-sufficiency of TBR > 1.35. A TBR of at least 1.35
reactor [5], and the inboard reflector is not necessary.
The first wall is made of SUS316LN cooled with water and the
thickness is assumed to be 3 cm. Table 3
Composition of TRU and MA in the spent fuel.
The radial build of a LAR tokamak neutron source with aspect
ratio A in the range of 1.5–2.0 was investigated for a maximum Nuclide Volume (%)
fusion power of 150 MWth . In the LAR tokamak, the various models Np237 6.35
for plasma performance and geometry depend on the aspect ratio Pu238 2.04
[3] and they are valid when A is small. The materials composition Pu239 42.86
of the reactor components is listed in Table 1. Water is selected for Pu240 20.69
Pu241 1.15
cooling of the reactor components while He is used for cooling of Pu242 6.90
the blankets. The minimum major radius is mainly determined by Am241 16.78
the inboard components that satisfy the physics and engineering Am243 2.96
constraints, which are assumed to be the same as those used in the Cm244 0.20
Cm245 0.06
design of ITER. With the TRU or MA loaded in blanket 2, the required
 B.G. Hong / Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 2493–2497 2495

Fig. 2. Specific transmutation rate with TRU burn up.

in the one-dimensional model is required for the blanket coverage

factor in the fusion reactor. For the case of TRU transmutation, the
volume of blanket 1 is filled with TRU 5%, He 75%, SUS316 15% and
SiC 5%. To achieve neutron multiplication, keff was set at 0.95 at the
beginning of the cycle (BOC) and the radial thickness of blanket 1
was found to be 20.2 cm for A = 1.5, 21.7 cm for A = 1.8 and 22.5 cm
for A = 2.0. For the case of the MA transmutation, the volume of
blanket 1 is filled with MA2 O3 50%, He 35% and SUS316 15%. To
limit the maximum neutron multiplication of keff to below 0.95,
the radial thickness of blanket 1 was found to be 7.5 cm for A = 1.5,
7.9 cm for A = 1.8 and 8.2 cm for A = 2.0. Blanket 2 is loaded with PbLi Fig. 3. Variation of (a) keff , specific power, and (b) TBR.
90% (Nat. Li), He 7% and SUS316 3%, and its radial thickness, BL2 ,
is determined by the requirement that TBR be >1.35.
decreased as A increased, and thus for large A, the loaded MA
3.1. TRU transmutation amount was smaller than for small A. For smaller A, a larger blan-
ket height was possible and, while a large amount of MA could be
Fig. 2 shows the specific transmutation rate as the TRU was loaded, the specific transmutation rate was small.
burned up. The specific transmutation rate decreased and was large Fig. 5 shows the variation of keff , specific power and TBR as the
for large A since the neutron wall loading is large for large A. The MA burned up when A = 2.0. The keff , the TBR and the specific power
specific transmutation rate and the specific power at initial cycle initially increased but decreased as the MA burned up. As shown in
were large for large A, but were similar for all A after 2000 days Fig. 5(b), TBR increased until the burn-up reached 2200 days, then
since it is proportional to  N ·(1 − keff )/keff , where  N is the neu- decreased. To satisfy the requirement that TBRav > 1.35, the burn-
tron wall loading. The major radius and the reactor height (which up cycle was limited to <4300 days with BL2 = 20 cm, and 7900
is proportional to  a) decrease as A increases. Thus, for large A, days with BL2 = 30 cm, although it can be longer than 8000 days
the loaded TRU amount was smaller than for small A. However, the with BL2 > 40 cm.
specific transmutation rate was larger than for small A. For small
A, while a larger amount of TRU could be loaded due to the larger 3.3. Summary of transmutation characteristics
blanket height, the specific transmutation rate was smaller than for
large A. We compared the transmutation characteristics of the TRU and
Fig. 3 shows the variation of keff , specific power (=power per unit MA when A = 2.0 since this value allows the largest transmutation
height), and TBR as the TRU burned up when A = 2.0. The power rate. The blanket height was assumed to be 1/2 a = 1.68 m.
produced was the sum of the fusion power from the plasma and Table 4 summarises the transmutation characteristics of the TRU
the fission power produced in blanket 1. The keff and the specific and MA for several burn cycles. The availability of the transmutation
power decreased as the TRU burned up. As shown in Fig. 3(b), reactor was assumed to be 75%.
TBR decreased as the TRU burned up, and the end of the cycle
(EOC) was determined by the TBR requirement. To satisfy the
TBRav requirement (averaged over burn cycle) >1.35, the burn-up
cycle was limited to <1500 days with BL2 = 20 cm and to 3300
days with BL2 = 30 cm; but, it can be longer than 5000 days with
BL2 > 40 cm.

3.2. MA transmutation

Fig. 4 shows the specific transmutation rate as the MA burned

up. The specific transmutation rate was large for large A since
the neutron wall loading was large. The large neutron wall load-
ing enhanced the transmutation efficiency and thus enhanced the
specific power. When A was large, the maximum specific transmu-
tation rate occurred earlier than for smaller A. The major radius and
the reactor height, which is proportional to ·a ( — — elongation), Fig. 4. Specific transmutation rate as the MA burned up.
2496 B.G. Hong / Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 2493–2497

Table 5
Equilibrium 5-batch fuel cycle analysis.

5-Batch residence (day) 500 1000 2500 5000 7500

TRU
Trans. rate (kg/y) 638 511 352 241 187
Burn-up (%) 13.3 21.3 36.8 50.3 58.7
BL2 (cm) <20 20 30 40 60

MA
Trans. rate (kg/y) 174 195 286 479 412
Burn-up (%) 1.9 4.3 15.8 53.1 68.4
BL2 (cm) <20 20 30 30 40

4. Equilibrium fuel cycle analysis

To transmute nuclear waste effectively, we analysed the equi-

librium fuel cycle, where the TRU or the MA from the spent nuclear
fuel was transmuted in batches. Each batch was irradiated for a burn
cycle, then moved to a new location in the blanket and irradiated
for another burn cycle, until equilibrium was reached. Depending
on the burn-up of the nuclear waste, the batch of the depleted fuel
could either be deposited in a high-level-waste (HLW) repository or
be reprocessed to remove fission products and recover the TRU and
MA to be recycled through another fuel cycle in the transmutation
reactor.
Table 5 summarises several five-batch fuel cycles. It is shown
that for the TRU transmutation, the five-batch fuel cycle improved
Fig. 5. Variation of (a) keff , specific power, and (b) TBR.
both the transmutation rate and the burn-up fraction. The burn-up
fraction reached 58.7% with a 7500-day burn cycle. For TBRav > 1.35,
BL2 increased with the burn cycle, and 60 cm was necessary for
For the TRU transmutation, about 624 kg of the TRU was trans- a burn cycle of 7500 days. However, for the MA transmutation, the
muted over 1 year for the 500-day burn cycle. However, the five-batch fuel cycle had the advantage when the five-batch resi-
burn-up fraction was only 13.0%. As the burn cycle increased, dence reached 5000 days. The largest MA transmutation rate was
the transmuted TRU decreased since the specific transmutation 479 kg years with a 5000-day burn cycle since the transmutation
rate decreased as shown in Fig. 2. However, the burn-up fraction rate, as shown in Fig. 5(b), showed a maximum at 2300 days. The
increased as the burn-up cycle increased. The burn-up fraction five-batch equilibrium fuel cycle consisted of fresh fuel, 1000-day
reached 49.4% for a 7500-day burn cycle, and the required BL2 irradiated fuel, 2000-days irradiated fuel, 3000-days irradiated fuel
for TBRav > 1.35 was larger than 60 cm. and 4000-days irradiated fuel. The burn-up fraction reached 68.4%
For the MA transmutation, about 525 kg of the MA was trans- with a 7500-day burn cycle. For TBRav > 1.35, BL2 increased with
muted for a 1-year operation with a burn-up fraction of 29.1% for the burn cycle and 40 cm was necessary for a burn cycle of 7500
the 2500-day burn cycle. The largest MA transmutation rate was days, which was smaller than required for TRU.
550 kg year–1 with a 2960-day burn cycle, and the burn-up frac-
tion was 36.2%. The burn-up fraction reached 58.9% for a 7500-day
burn cycle. The requirement that TBRav be >1.35 was satisfied with 5. Conclusion
BL2 = 40 cm.
If we assume that the minimum burn-up fraction for repro- The optimum radial build for a transmutation reactor based on
cessing is 50%, then 157 kg year–1 of the TRU can be transmuted, a LAR tokamak neutron source was found using a self-consistent
while 457 kg year–1 of the MA can be transmuted. Considering that calculation of the physical and engineering constraints that relate
the TRU and the MA produced from 1 (PWR) (1.0 GWe capacity) to the various components of a transmutation reactor.
were about 250 and 35 kg year–1 , respectively, 0.6 PWRs (1.0 GWe It was shown that within the limits of the ITER physics and engi-
capacity) for the TRU and 13 PWRs (1.0 GWe) for the MA can be neering constraints, a compact transmutation reactor based on a
supported with one unit of the transmutation reactor based on the LAR tokamak neutron source with an aspect ratio of <2 can be used
LAR tokamak producing 150 MWth of fusion power. for transmutation of the nuclear waste contained in the spent fuel
of PWR. It was shown that MA transmutation was more effective,
and that if the MA was separated from the other nuclear waste and
Table 4 then transmuted in the transmutation reactor (based on the LAR
Transmutation characteristics of TRU and MA. tokamak producing 150 MWth of fusion power), 457 kg year–1 of
Burn cycle (day) 500 1000 2500 5000 7500 the MA could be transmuted and thus 13 PWR (1.0 GWe) for the
MA can be supported.
TRU
Trans. rate (kg/y) 624 472 300 202 157 The equilibrium fuel cycle improved both the transmutation rate
Burn-up (%) 13.0 19.8 31.3 42.2 49.4 and the burn-up fraction for the TRU transmutation. However, for
BL2 (cm) <20 20 30 40 >60 the MA transmutation, the five-batch fuel cycle had the advantage
MA in the burn-up fraction when the five-batch residence reached 5000
Trans. Rate (kg/y) 190 233 525 457 355 days.
Burn-up (%) 2.1 5.2 29.1 50.1 58.9 It is clear that, with a fusion power of 150 MWth , a burn-up frac-
BL2 (cm) <20 <20 20 30 40
tion of >70% is difficult to achieve and a larger fusion power and
 B.G. Hong / Fusion Engineering and Design 89 (2014) 2493–2497
larger reactor size are necessary to achieve a burn-up fraction of
>90%.
Acknowledgements
This paper was supported by research funds from the Chon-
buk National University in 2013. This paper was also supported
by a Korea Research Foundation (KRF) grant funded by the Korean
government (MEST) under contract Nos. 2011-0009653 and 2008-
0061900.
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