Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258

www.elsevier.com/locate/pnucene

Fusion–fission hybrid system for nuclear waste transmutation (II):

From the burn-up optimization to the tests
of different data libraries*
R. Plukiene a, A. Plukis a, D. Ridikas b,*, E.T. Cheng c
a
Institute of Physics, Savanoriu pr. 231, LT-2053 Vilnius, Lithuania
b
DSM/DAPNIA/SPhN, CEA Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
c
TSI Research, 312 S. Cedros Av., Solana Beach, CA 92075, USA

Abstract

A possibility to use a fusion–fission molten salt (flibe) hybrid system to incinerate nuclear waste minor actinides (Np, Am, Cm)
is considered. In this work an optimization procedure was developed in order to determine the fission-blanket composition
corresponding to fast incineration rate of minor actinides.
Performance parameters such as ksrc, burn-up, neutron fluxes and equilibrium conditions were obtained. Monteburns code
system (MCNPCORIGEN) was used for system modeling. Approximately 1.1 ton of minor actinides, originating from the spent
nuclear fuel, could be incinerated annually with an output of 3 GWth fission power. Detailed burn-up calculations show that the
equilibrium conditions of the fuel concentration in the flibe transmutation blanket could be achieved, if the originating tritium and
fission products were removed at least in part and fresh actinides were added during the burn-up on line.
The optimal transmutation blanket in equilibrium is dominated by minor actinides for which the cross sections may vary
depending on the nuclear-data libraries used. Therefore, the system performance was tested comparing different sets of data
libraries. A number of major differences among ENDF, JENDL and JEF data files were identified and quantified in terms of the
averaged one-group cross sections. In this context, our study could be directly generalized for other transmutation systems with
similar neutron-energy spectra.
q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Hybrid system; Incineration of minor actinides; Benchmark of nuclear data libraries

1. Introduction

When transuranium elements (TRU) are removed from the discharged fuel destined for disposal, the toxic nature
of the remaining materials drops below that of natural uranium ore within a period of 500 years. Hence the
possibilities of partitioning and transmutation of long-lived radioactive waste into stable or short-lived isotopes,
which could then be surface-stored with little/no proliferation value, are now under investigation. In addition, TRU
elements could serve as fuel for transmutation systems.
In order to transmute efficiently the long-lived nuclear waste, a high-intensity neutron source is needed. An inertial
confinement fusion (ICF) device (based on the DCT/4HeCn nuclear reaction) could provide a powerful neutron

*
DOI of original article: 10.1016/j.pnucene.2005.09.004
* Corresponding author. Tel.: C33 1 690 878 47; fax: C33 1 690 875 84.
E-mail address: ridikas@cea.fr (D. Ridikas).

0149-1970/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.pnucene.2005.09.005
248 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258

source—1 MW fusion power corresponds to w4!1017 n/s (Cheng and Wong, 2000). A molten-salt blanket
(LiF–BeF2–(HN)F4—‘flibe’), surrounding this neutron source, then could serve as a medium for trans-uranium
actinides (TRU) to be burned. Flibe also has a function of both coolant and carrier of tritium breeding material (6Li in
this case). A well-known advantage of the molten salt is its possibility of both refueling of burned TRU and extraction
of fission products (FP) on-line (Cheng, 2001). The averaged neutron flux is very high (of the order of w1.5!1015 n/
s/cm2) and corresponds to the flux typical only for high-flux reactors. The simplified spherical geometry setup
described in Ridikas et al., (accepted for publication) was used in our calculations. The diameter of the cavity with the
fusion device is 400 cm, surrounded by a 1 cm thick liquid flibe (6Li 0.1% in Li) wall, a 0.3 cm—metallic wall
(SS316, 50%), and 1 cm graphite. A 60 cm thick transmutation blanket with a flibe density—2 g/cm3 and a variable
TRU density (resulting in the TRU mass between 1.52 and 3.04 ton as explained in detail in the next section) is placed
between the graphite and metallic wall. All structure was surrounded by a 20 cm thick graphite reflector and a 5 cm
thick stainless-steel shell (Cheng, 2001; Ridikas et al., (accepted for publication)).
In our companion paper (Ridikas et al., (accepted for publication)) we have shown that in spite of very promising
results on the efficient TRU destruction, significant amount of curium isotopes is accumulated, while for the rest of
actinides fully equilibrated concentrations are reached. In this respect an optimization procedure had to be developed
in order to determine the optimal fission-blanket composition corresponding to the fast incineration rate of actinides
including minor actinides. Another important issue is directly related to the benchmark of different sets of nuclear
data libraries in the case of minor actinide incineration scenarios. These two problems are addressed in detail in this
paper.
All calculations on the flibe-based actinide transmutation blanket were made employing the Monteburns code
system (Trellue and Poston, 1999). MCNP (Briesmeister, 2000) was used to obtain keff and kscr (related to the total
neutron-multiplication coefficient) of the TRU blanket and also to estimate the neutron flux. kscr is defined as:
kscr Z ðMn K1Þ=ðMn K1=nÞ, where n is the average number of neutrons per fission and Mn is the total neutron
multiplication factor of the system.

2. Incineration of minor actinides

2.1. Initial condition and 6Li in the system

In the first part of this work, the optimization of minor-actinide transmutation scenarios in the fusion–fission
hybrid-system molten-salt blanket is investigated. For this purpose to improve the neutron balance of the blanket and
to speed the minor-actinides transmutation process, two different molten-salt compositions were tested. The
first molten salt blanket (2LiF–BeF2–(HN)F4) consists of: 28.57%—6LiC7Li, 14.29%—Be, 57.13%—F (F salt),
the second one is a modified molten-salt blanket, where more than half of the blanket volume is occupied by Be:
14.29%—6LiC7Li, 57.14%—Be, 28.57%—F (Be salt). As far as the structure and consistence of Be is not yet strictly
designed in the blanket, for calculation of neutron characteristics the homogeneously distributed Be in molten salt
blanket is assumed. The starting trans-uranium composition in the molten salt was Pu and minor actinides separated
from LWR spent nuclear fuel of 30 MWd/kg burn-up, the subsequent feeding—only minor actinides from the same
spent fuel. The initial TRU mass is 3.04 ton in the F-salt blanket and 1.52 ton in the BeCF-salt blanket. The
accumulated fission products and produced tritium have been removed continuously during the irradiation (see more
detailed discussion in this context in (Ridikas et al., (accepted for publication)).
During the simulation the fission power of the system was kept constant (3 GWth), what corresponds to a variable
fusion power of the fusion device. This implied a renormalization of the absolute neutron flux when the effective
neutron-multiplication coefficient of the system is changed. For all structure materials and actinides we have chosen
the ENDF data files (ENDF/B-VI, 1995) being most frequently employed, while for fission products the JENDL data
library (JENDL-3.2, 1994) was taken due to the largest number of fission products available (w200).
In addition to the different flibe composition, the influence of the 6Li enrichment in Li on the molten-salt blanket
characteristics was tested. The hybrid-system performance parameters with the F-salt blanket containing 0 and 0.6%
of 6Li in lithium with different 6Li feeding modes, and with the BeCF-salt blanket containing 0, 0.2 and 0.6% of 6Li
in lithium with different 6Li feeding modes were analyzed. The 6Li(n,a)T reaction is very important for the tritium
breeding, but at the same time has a strong influence on kscr of the transmutation blanket. This is observed in Fig. 1(a)
and (b), where kscr behavior in the different molten-salt blanket cases with different 6Li treating options is presented.
 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258 249

F molten Salt Be+F molten Salt

(a) 1.00 (b) 1.00
0.2% 6Li without 6Li feeding
0% 6Li without 6Li feeding
0.95 0.2% 6Li 6
Li feeding 0.018kg/d
0.6% 6Li without 6Li feeding
6 6 0.95 0.2% 6Li 6
Li feeding 0.034kg/d
0.6% Li Li feeding 0.068kg/d
0.90 6 6 0.2% 6Li 6
Li feeding 0.046kg/d
0.6% Li Li feeding 0.092kg/d 6 6
0.6% Li Li feeding 0.068kg/d
0.85 0.90
0% 6Li without 6Li feeding
kscr

kscr
0.80
0.85
0.75
0.80
0.70

0.65 0.75
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Time, d Time, d

Fig. 1. The behavior of kscr in F-salt (a) and in BeCF-salt (b) blankets with a different initial 6Li quantity and different feeding modes.

The neutron spectrum is very soft in the BeCF-salt system and hence the conversion of the initial 240Pu inventory into
241
Pu is enhanced compared to the F-salt only blanket. The immediate increase of the fissile 241Pu helps to increase
the kscr until the 240Pu is depleted. In Fig. 1(a), the kscr shape is smooth in the F-salt blanket case because the change of
240
Pu to 241Pu is gradual rather than drastic, compared to the BeCS-salt blanket (we come back to this discussion in
Section 2.2). The highest neutron multiplication factor is obtained in the system with no 6Li, maximal kscr reaches
0.96G0.003 in both molten salt cases. The initial 0.6% 6Li concentration in Li decreases kscr by 0.15G0.003 in the
F-molten salt and by 0.12G0.002 in the BeCF-molten salt, respectively, 0.2% initial 6Li in Li decreases kscr by
0.05G0.002. The lowest fluctuations of kscr (0.74(0.81) and, respectively, Pfus (186(290 MW) in F-salt blanket are
with 0.6% 6Li and without 6Li feeding, at equilibrium stage kscr is 0.79G0.003, Pfusw200 MW. Similarly the lowest
fluctuations of kscr (0.83(0.91), Pfus (91(234 MW) are in the case of the BeCF-salt blanket with 0.2% 6Li and without
6
Li feeding, at equilibrium stage kscr 0.86G0.003, Pfusw163 MW. Different 6Li feeding rate determines the kscr value
at equilibrium as it is seen in Fig. 1(a) for 0.6% initial 6Li F-salt blanket with 0.068 kg/d (kscr at equilibrium is 0.70G
0.003) and 0.092 kg/d (kscrZ0.67G0.003) 6Li feeding options and in Fig. 1(b) for 0.2% initial 6Li BeCF-salt with
0.018 kg/d (kscrZ0.86G0.002), 0.034 kg/d (kscrZ0.83G0.002) and 0.046 kg/d (kscrZ0.82G0.002) 6Li feeding
options.
As far as fission power of the system is kept constant (3 GWth), the neutron capture in 6Li leads to decreasing of
kscr and increasing of the corresponding fusion power—at the same time the consumption of tritium is also increased.
So the production of 3H strongly depends not only on initial 6Li concentration but also on the fusion power needed to
drive transmutation blanket. This is clearly seen by comparing F-salt cases with different 6Li amount at different
irradiation stages in Table 1. Negligible amount of tritium (7Li(n,2n)6Li, 9Be(n,a)6He/6He(b)6Li or directly
9
Be(n,T)7Li) is produced in F-salt without initial 6Li. In this case TBR depends only on fusion power and stabilizes
when system equilibrium is reached (TBRw0.29 at Pfusw200 MW). In case with initial 0.6% of 6Li in Li TBR
decreases constantly with 6Li burning at every step (100 d) of system operation. Stable amount of 6Li in the blanket is
achieved by performing continuous 6Li replenishing. Cases with 0.068 and 0.092 kg/d 6Li feeding and with outer Li
blanket were considered. Simulation results have confirmed that the tritium breeding rate (TBR) stabilizes when
equilibrium of the system (kscr and Pfus) and at the same time equilibrium of 6Li formation and decay is obtained. As it
shown in Table 1, more favorable case in terms of TBR is with bigger (0.092 kg/d) 6Li feeding option in which
actinides equilibrium is reached approximately after 1600 d, TBR at equilibrium w0.98, but the fusion power
increases also by approximately 66 MW.
The additional tritium breeding can be performed in external Li blanket enclosing the fusion–fission system. Such
a blanket does not disturb the neutron balance of the system and at the same time it lets to use the surplus neutrons,
which are leaving the system and even could damage the construction materials. The TBR simulation results with
20 cm thickness outer blanket from natural composition Li (i.e. 7.59% of 6Li and 92.41% of 7Li) enclosing BeCF-salt
blanket is presented in the Table 1 below each feeding case line. Using external Li blanket the tritium breeding ratio
250 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258

Table 1
Tritium breeding rate in the F-salt blanket with different amount of 6Li and at different irradiation stages

Time (d) 0 100 300 500 700 1000 Equilibrium

6
Without Li in the 0.43 0.34 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.29
blanket
0.6% 6Li, without 1.48 1.38 0.99 0.82 0.72 0.58 0.29
6
Li feeding
0.6% 6Li and 0.068 kg/d 1.48 1.33 1.08 0.97 0.95 0.92 0.90
6
Li feeding
System with outer Li 1.73 1.53 1.22 1.09 1.07 1.04 1.02
blanket, 0.6% 6Li and
0.068 kg/d 6Li feeding
0.6% 6Li and 0.092 kg/d 1.48 1.38 1.15 1.04 0.99 0.99 0.98
6
Li feeding
System with outer Li 1.73 1.58 1.29 1.15 1.09 1.09 1.08
blanket, 0.6% 6Li and
0.092 kg/d 6Li feeding

increased in by 10% at equilibrium stage. With outer blanket even in F-salt 0.068 kg/d 6Li feeding case TBR is
sufficient to sustain needed fusion power.
In Table 2 the fusion power needed to drive F-salt transmutation blanket at constant 3 GW fission power is
presented. The best system performance results in terms of TBR, kscr and the fusion-power stability were obtained in
the case of the F-salt blanket with 0.6% 6Li, with 0.068 kg/d 6Li feeding and with external Li blanket. The maximal
fluctuations of kscr during irradiation are in the range of 0.69(0.81, Pfus—185(407 MW, TBR—1.73(1.02. Actinides
equilibrium is reached after 1500 d, at equilibrium stage kscr is 0.71G0.007, Pfusw394 MW, TBRZ1.02.
Tritium breeding rates in BeCF-salt blanket with different amount of 6Li and at different irradiation stages are
presented in Table 3. We should note, what tritium breeding ratios in Tables 1 and 3 include tritium produced in 6Li
(6Li(n,a)T), in 7Li (7Li(n,2n)6Li, 9Be(n,a)6He/6He(b)6Li) and in 9Be (9Be(n,T)7Li) reactions. Several cases
containing 0, 0.2 and 0.6% of 6Li in lithium with different 6Li feeding of 0.018, 0.034, 0.046 kg 0.068 kg per day were
analyzed. Production of tritium only from 7Li and 9Be can be observed in the results without 6Li in the blanket (TBR
at equilibrium is 0.35, Pfusw163 MW, kscrw0.86G0.004).
Contrary to F-salt case the TBR in BeCF-salt blanket with 0.6% initial 6Li concentration is sufficient to sustain the
corresponding fusion power without external blanket if continuous 0.068 kg/d 6Li replenishing is performed. In this
case the maximal fluctuations of kscr during irradiation are in the range of 0.76(0.84, Pfus—216(460 MW, TBR—
1.41(1.03, equilibrium is reached after about 1100 d, the TBR at equilibrium is 1.03, kscr is 0.80G0.002, Pfus is
306 MW.
In the case of BeCF-salt with 0.2% initial 6Li concentration at least 0.046 kg/d 6Li feeding and external Li blanket
are needed to obtain TBRw1 during hybrid system operation. This case would be preferable to compare with 0.6%
initial 6Li case because of higher kscr (0.82G0.002) and smaller fusion power (260 MW) at equilibrium, also
in this case faster actinides equilibrium (about 700 d) is obtained. One should notice, that in all BeCF-salt cases
the kscr, TBR and fusion power stabilizes as soon as equilibrium of actinides and 6Li concentrations are reached
(Tables 3, 4 and Fig. 1).
Table 2
Fusion power (MW) needed to drive F-salt transmutation blanket

Time (d) 0 100 300 500 700 1000 Equilibrium

Without 6Li in the 23 41 103 150 182 195 207
blanket
0.6% 6Li, without 186 201 267 290 277 279 228
6
Li feeding
0.6% 6Li and 185 218 308 372 388 407 394
0.068 kg/d 6Li feeding
0.6% 6Li and 185 209 303 384 445 459 459
0.092 kg/d 6Li feeding
 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258 251

Table 3
Tritium breeding rate in the BeCF based molten salt blanket with different amount of 6Li and at different irradiation stages

Time (d) 0 100 300 500 700 Equilibrium

6
Without Li in the blanket 0.16 0.26 0.42 0.34 0.35 0.35
0.2% 6Li, without 6Li feeding 0.84 1.07 0.98 0.59 0.42 0.36
0.2% 6Li and 0.018 kg/d 6Li feeding 0.83 1.06 1.10 0.84 0.70 0.63
System with outer Li blanket, 0.2% 6Li 1.00 1.30 1.28 0.92 0.81 0.75
and 0.018 kg/d 6Li feeding
0.2% 6Li and 0.034 kg/d 6Li feeding 0.83 1.07 1.21 0.95 0.86 0.79
System with outer Li blanket, 0.2% 6Li 1.00 1.30 1.36 1.02 0.95 0.89
and 0.034 kg/d 6Li feeding
0.2% 6Li and 0.046 kg/d 6Li feeding 0.83 1.12 1.22 1.08 0.99 0.90
System with outer Li blanket, 0.2% 6Li 1.00 1.35 1.35 1.14 1.07 1.00
and 0.046 kg/d 6Li feeding
0.6% 6Li and 0.068 kg/d 6Li feeding 1.21 1.37 1.41 1.25 1.21 1.03

Table 4
Fusion power (MW) needed to drive BeCF based transmutation blanket.

Time (d) 0 100 300 500 700 Equilibrium

6
Without Li in the blanket 63 40 65 208 185 163
0.2% 6Li, without 6Li feeding 136 91 104 234 183 163
0.2% 6Li and 0.018 kg/d6Li feeding 139 101 131 276 221 201
0.2% 6Li and 0.034 kg/d 6Li feeding 139 105 147 328 262 238
0.2% 6Li and 0.046 kg/d 6Li feeding 139 104 170 338 279 260
0.6% 6Li and 0.068 kg/d 6Li feeding 263 216 276 460 341 306

According to the results discussed above the F molten salt blanket with initial 0.6% of 6Li in Li with 0.068 kg/d 6Li
feeding option and BeCF molten salt with initial 0.2% 6Li in Li with 0.046 kg/d 6Li feeding option were chosen for
further analysis of optimized transmutation blanket of fusion–fission blanket.

2.2. Neutron characteristics of the system and TRU equilibrium

The observed kscr behavior (Fig. 1) can be explained by the fissile-isotope quantity and the neutron interaction
properties in the blanket. In Fig. 2 the averaged macroscopic fission cross sections are presented for the 238Pu, 239Pu,

(a) 1.4 (b) 2.0

i= all TRU i= all TRU
1.2 3
i=238Np+242Am+243Cm+245Cm+247Cm i= 238Pu
1.0 1.5 i= 239Pu
Σi x 10–3, 1/cm

Σi x 10–3, 1/cm

i= 238Pu
0.8
i= 239Pu

i= 241Pu 1.0 i= 241Pu

0.6
i=238Np+242Am+243Cm+245Cm+247Cm
0.4
0.5
0.2

0.0
0.0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Time, d Time, d

Fig. 2. Averaged macroscopic fission cross sections for fissile isotopes (a) in F-based molten salt with 0.6% 6Li in Li with 0.068 kg/d Li feeding and
(b) in BeCF-based molten salt with 0.2% 6Li in Li with 0.046 kg/d Li feeding.
252 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258

(a) 100 (b) 100

Np Cm Np Cm
80 Pu Cf 80 Pu Cf
Am AllMA Am All MA

60 60
M, %

M, %
40 40

20 20

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
Time, d Time, d

Fig. 3. Fractional contributions to the total mass of actinides in the blanket as a function of burn-up: (a) F salt, (b) BeCF salt.
241
Pu isotopes, MA and all TRU in the F-salt and BeCF-salt blankets correspondingly. At the beginning, 239Pu is the
dominant fissile isotope in the F-salt. Due to incineration of 239Pu, kscr is decreasing until 241Pu and some other fissile
nuclei start dominating the fission process in the blanket. In BeCF-salt the sharp variation in kscr at the early stage of
operation is explained by the fast plutonium isotope mass equilibration process. At the beginning, kscr increases due to
240
Pu conversion to 241Pu, and later it decreases due to intensive burnup of plutonium isotopes (239Pu, 240Pu 241Pu).
kscr increases again before equilibrium is reached due to 238Pu accumulation from different chains
(237Np(n,g)/238Np(b-)/238Pu, and (241Am(n,g)/242Am(b-)/242Cm) 242Cm(a)/238Pu). Finally, 238Pu
converts to 239Pu by the (n,g) reaction compensating the 239Pu disappearance.
In both salt cases the same incineration rate (1.1 ton/year) of minor actinides was obtained, but in the case of BeC
F-salt the equilibrium stage is reached after 2 years and in F-salt case—only after 5 years. The equilibrium of hybrid
system was determined by the procedure introduced in the previous paper (Ridikas et al., (accepted for publication)),
which is defined by the stabilization of Pu mass in the blanket (Fig. 3).
The different plutonium incineration in F and BeCF molten-salt blankets is due to the different neutron spectra.
The neutron spectra for both transmutation blankets are presented in Fig. 4. Due to better neutron slowing down
properties and the neutron multiplication via (n,2n) reaction the neutron balance in BeCF-salt is better comparing
with F-salt. The thermal-neutron contribution in the neutron spectrum of the BeCF-salt medium is w10 times larger
at the beginning of the irradiation and at the equilibrium stage as it shown in Fig. 4.
By comparing two molten-salt transmutation media, better hybrid system performance parameters were obtained
in the BeCF-salt case: a lower fusion power to sustain 3 GWth is needed (260 MW), an equilibrium is reached faster
(after 2 years), the total mass of the trans-uranium elements in the blanket is smaller, so the criticality safety
and radiation-protection concerns are of somewhat smaller scale. In addition, the incineration of long-lived TRU
(237Np, 239Pu, 240Pu) is also more efficient.

1014 19
F
Neutron flux, n/(cm2* s * lethargy)

6
242
Pu Li
240
Pu
239
Pu
1013

Beginning
1012
F-molten salt
Be+F-molten salt
Equilibrium
1011 F-molten salt
Be+F-molten salt

1010
10–8 10–7 10–6 10–5 10–4 10–3 10–2 10–1 100 101
E, MeV

Fig. 4. Averaged neutron energy spectra at the beginning of irradiation and at equilibrium stage for F and BeCF molten salt blankets.
 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258 253

242
240 Pu
237 Pu

Neutron flux, n/cm2/s / lethargy

1013
239
Np
Pu

1012
0d 3000d
ENDF/B-VI
JEF 2.2
JENDL 3.2

10–8 10–7 10–6 10–5 10–4 10–3 10–2 10–1 100 101
E, MeV

Fig. 5. Neutron spectra in the blanket for different nuclear data libraries.

3. Sensitivity to different nuclear data libraries

3.1. Actinides

As shown in Fig. 3, both the F-salt and BeCF-salt transmutation blankets investigated above are dominated in
equilibrium by MAs for which the cross sections may vary depending on the data libraries used. Therefore, we
decided to test the performance of the hybrid system by comparing different sets of data libraries in terms of ksrc,
equilibrium conditions, neutronics characteristics and the evolution of the fuel composition in particular. In all cases,
the same Monteburns code system was used making our results dependent only on the evaluated data tables 3, 4. The
sensitivity analysis due to different data libraries was performed only in the case of the BeCF salt blanket with an
initial 6Li content of 0.2% and without 6Li feeding (in order to have less variables).
First, the different data files (ENDF/B-VI (ENDF/B-VI, 1995), JEF 2.2 (JEF-2.2, 1996) and JENDL 3.2
(JENDL-3.2, 1994)) for actinides were tested. ENDF data files were taken for molten salt components (F, Be, Li),
while JENDL was chosen for structure materials (Ni, Cr, Fe) and for fission products as previously. The neutron
spectra obtained in the blanket and the performance of the system was quite similar for all actinide data files
considered. As shown in Fig. 5 quite similar neutron spectra at the beginning and at equilibrium stage were observed.
On the other hand, significant differences in kscr and actinide mass evolution were obtained due to non-negligible
differences in the MA cross sections. Indeed, differences in kscr in the case of JENDL 3.2 were observed (Fig. 6), and
they are due to higher fission cross section of 238Np as presented in Fig. 7. Consequently, less of 238Np is converted by

0.94

0.92
ENDF/B-VI
JEF 2.2
0.90
JENDL 3.2
0.88
kscr

0.86

0.84

0.82

0.80
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Time, d

Fig. 6. Evolution of kscr in the transmutation blanket for different actinide data files used for the calculation (1sZ0.004).
254 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258

Fig. 7. 238Np microscopic fission cross section data taken from http://t2.lanl.gov

b-decay to 238Pu (by w30 kg) and less of 239Pu (by w4 kg) is produced by (n,g) reaction (Table 5). We conclude that
the 238Np (n,f) cross section should be measured as the major parameter for the Np–Pu chain.
At equilibrium less of 242mAm and 243Am are obtained with ENDF data library due to the higher fission cross
section of 242mAm in this case as it is presented in Fig. 8.
Large differences were also observed for Cm isotopes both for capture and fission cross sections (Fig. 9, Tables 5
and 6 for details). In the case of 243Cm, one group capture and fission cross sections differ by 10% at the beginning
(epithermal neutron flux) and by 20% in the equilibrium stage (more thermal neutron spectrum). Eight percent
difference in one group capture cross sections is observed for 244Cm when comparing ENDF and JENDL data
libraries. As shown in Table 5 244Cm accumulation in molten salt is substantial w240 kg and this isotope has
influence on entire system actinides mass. Ten percent deviation in fission cross section is observed for 245Cm at
Table 5
Actinide mass in the blanket, obtained using different actinide data libraries

Irradiation Mass, kg
time (days)
0 800 3000
Library ENDF JEF JENDL ENDF JEF JENDL
Np-237 57.5 208.0 206.0 208.0 205.0 204.0 204.0
Pu-238 27.5 475.0 483.0 461.0 464.0 480.0 442.0
Pu-239 788.0 98.2 96.3 93.7 97.2 96.8 92.2
Pu-240 375.0 18.0 17.4 17.8 17.6 18.3 17.9
Pu-241 125.0 38.9 38.2 37.7 39.0 39.2 37.0
Pu-242 70.0 65.1 75.0 73.7 59.5 66.7 65.1
Am-241 64.1 81.1 78.1 81.0 80.7 76.4 79.3
Am-242m 0.0 1.2 1.7 1.7 1.2 1.7 1.6
Am-243 11.7 45.4 47.3 48.2 41.9 44.2 44.3
Cm-242 0.0 210.0 206.0 205.0 208.0 205.0 203.0
Cm-243 0.0 10.3 11.9 11.4 10.1 11.9 11.1
Cm-244 2.8 260.0 258.0 256.0 240.0 245.0 229.0
Cm-245 0.0 39.9 44.7 47.4 36.5 42.1 41.6
Cm-246 0.0 39.1 46.4 46.2 107.0 126.0 118.0
Cm-247 0.0 2.8 3.3 3.6 9.5 11.4 11.9
Cm-248 0.0 1.4 1.7 2.1 15.0 17.9 20.2
Total 1521.6 1594.5 1615.0 1594.5 1632.2 1686.6 1618.2
 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258 255

600

500
242m
Am
ENDF/B-VI
400
JEF 2.2

σfiss , b
JENDL 3.2
300

200

100

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

Time, d

242m
Fig. 8. Am one group fission cross sections in molten salt blanket for different data files.

(a) 36 (b) 140

ENDF/B-VI JEF 2.2 JENDL 3.2
243
32 Cm 120
244
Cm
28 247
Cm 100
σcapt , b

ENDF/B-VI JEF 2.2 JENDL 3.2

σfiss , b

24
80 243
Cm
20 245
Cm
60 247
16
Cm
40
12
20
8
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Time, d Time, d

Fig. 9. One group capture (a) and fission (b) cross sections for Cm isotopes in the molten-salt blanket with ENDF, JEF and JENDL data libraries.

Table 6
Relative deviations of one group fission cross sections in the case of ENDF, JEF and JENDL data files

Equilibrium Capture cross sections deviations (%) Fission cross sections deviations (%)
ENDF/JEF ENDF/JENDL JEF/JENDL ENDF/JEF ENDF/JENDL JEF/JENDL
Np-237 K0.42 2.17 2.60 1.81 K16.36 K17.84
Pu-238 3.39 1.33 K1.99 K5.81 K6.58 K0.82
Pu-239 K1.11 K0.92 0.18 K0.63 K1.05 K0.42
Pu-240 K2.57 2.02 4.71 K15.93 0.88 20.00
Pu-241 K1.14 K2.79 K1.68 K0.96 0.98 1.96
Pu-242 17.36 12.42 K4.21 K12.22 K1.02 12.76
Am-241 K3.97 1.68 5.88 K11.70 3.08 16.74
Am-242m K62.41 K62.82 K1.08 207.06 205.26 K0.58
Am-243 K0.12 K0.12 0.00 26.48 0.00 K20.94
Cm-242 K3.35 3.43 7.01 K59.49 K73.33 K34.17
Cm-243 K19.68 K3.82 19.75 20.75 20.75 0.00
Cm-244 K8.10 K9.20 K1.20 K7.78 25.13 35.68
Cm-245 K5.08 1.08 6.49 4.84 10.17 5.08
Cm-246 0.00 K5.55 K5.55 0.72 5.29 4.53
Cm-247 0.00 K7.14 K7.14 0.00 13.50 13.50
Cm-248 K0.72 K1.44 K0.72 K1.95 K14.48 K12.77

The following notation is used, e.g. ENDF/JEFZ(s(ENDF)Ks(JEF))/s(JEF).

256 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258

1.00
ENDF/B-VI
0.95
JEF 2.2
0.90 JENDL 3.2

0.85

0.80

kscr
0.75

0.70

0.65

0.60
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Time, d

Fig. 10. kscr evolution in the transmutation blanket in case of different data files for structure materials (ENDF, JENDL 1sZ0.002, JEF 1sZ0.008).

equilibrium. Large differences in flux weighted averaged fission and capture cross sections were observed for 247Cm
especially at the beginning stage (w60%) as it is shown Fig. 9.
Concerning the actinides mass variation in the fusion–fission hybrid system due to different actinides data libraries
the largest amount of total actinides mass was obtained in JEF 2.2 case—20 kg more at 800 d and 68 kg at 3000 d
(Table 5 for details).
In Table 6 the relative deviations of one group fission cross sections in the case of ENDF/B-VI, JEF 2.2 and
JENDL 3.2 data files are calculated at equilibrium stage of the hybrid system. The largest differences observed for
isotopes are printed in bold. The worst situation is for Am and Cm isotopes in the entire energy range. We conclude
that new evaluations should be done both for the 241–242mAm capture and fission, and equally for Cm isotopes.

3.2. Construction materials

The sensitivity analysis was also performed using different data libraries for molten-salt (F, Be, Li) and structure
materials (Ni, Cr, Fe) (note the difference with respect to the choice of data libraries in Section 3.1, where JENDL was
also used for Ni, Cr, Fe). Now the same ENDF data file was used only for all actinides and JENDL only for fission

Fig. 11. 9Be (n,total) cross section data taken from http://t2.lanl.gov.
 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258 257

120
48
100 46

44
σfiss , b

σcapt , b
80
42 237
Np
60 40 ENDF/B-VI
ENDF/B-VI JEF 2.2 JENDL 3.2 38 JEF 2.2
239
Pu JENDL 3.2
40 241 36
Pu
34
20
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
Time, d Time, d

Fig. 12. One group fission cross sections for fissile Pu isotopes (left) and capture cross section for 237Np (right) obtained in the molten salt blanket
with different data libraries for structure materials.

products in all cases. As it is shown in Fig. 10, JEF data files used for structure materials give a very different level of
sub-criticality in the system. The large differences of the entire system behavior are caused by discrepancies in 9Be
elastic scattering and (n,2n) reaction cross section.
Indeed, the molten-salt transmutation blanket enriched in 9Be (57.14%) is extremely sensitive to its cross
sections. The absence of the 9Be (n,2n) reaction (in the case of JEF) gives a different neutron multiplication value in
the system. With JEF the amount of 9Be remains constant, but with ENDF about 300 kg 9Be and in JENDL case
about 100 kg 9Be are transmuted during the irradiation. Accordingly, the bigger contribution to neutron propagation
from the 9Be(n,2n) reaction is obtained with ENDF and JENDL data files. Additionally, the elastic-scattering cross
section for 9Be in the JEF 2.2 data file is smaller by 0.15 b (2.5%) comparing with ENDF/B-VI and JENDL 3.2
(Fig. 11), where for the last two the curves are identical. This difference results in a slightly different level of
neutron-flux moderation in the blanket—about 1% less thermal neutrons, and about 1% more epithermal neutrons
were obtained with JEF. Consequently, difference in one group cross sections for actinides is observed with JEF as
presented in Fig. 12.

Table 7
Actinide mass in the blanket, obtained using different data libraries for construction materials

Irradiation Mass (kg)

time (d)
0 800 3000
Library ENDF JEF JENDL ENDF JEF JENDL
Np-237 57.5 207.0 209.0 208.0 203.0 208.0 201.0
Pu-238 27.5 471.0 479.0 471.0 445.0 474.0 433.0
Pu-239 788.0 98.8 99.0 97.9 95.2 98.2 93.7
Pu-240 375.0 17.9 18.0 17.8 17.4 17.5 17.2
Pu-241 125.0 39.0 39.2 38.9 37.9 39.6 37.1
Pu-242 70.0 65.1 67.3 66.7 59.5 61.0 58.9
Am-241 64.1 80.1 81.3 80.9 79.5 82.5 78.2
Am-242 0.0 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.1
Am-243 11.7 45.1 44.7 45.2 41.7 41.6 41.6
Cm-242 0.0 211.0 210.0 210.0 208.0 207.0 208.0
Cm-243 0.0 10.5 10.3 10.4 10.0 10.1 9.9
Cm-244 2.8 264.0 258.0 262.0 240.0 234.0 243.0
Cm-245 0.0 39.9 40.8 40.1 35.4 37.5 34.4
Cm-246 0.0 38.8 38.6 38.9 109.0 107.0 109.0
Cm-247 0.0 2.7 2.7 2.7 9.6 9.8 9.5
Cm-248 0.0 1.4 1.4 1.4 15.4 15.3 15.5
Total 1521.6 1593.6 1600.6 1593.2 1607.8 1644.4 1591.2
258 R. Plukiene et al. / Progress in Nuclear Energy 48 (2006) 247–258

Concerning the actinides mass variation in the fusion–fission hybrid system due to different construction
materials data libraries the largest amount of total actinides mass was obtained in JEF 2.2 case—7 kg more at 800 d
and about 50 kg at 3000 d (Table 7 for detail). In brief, observed differences in elastic scattering and (n,2n) reaction
of 9Be strongly influences the entire system behavior. Consequently, the cross sections of 9Be should be
reexamined.

4. Conclusions

The MA transmutation scenarios in the fusion–fission hybrid system with two different molten-salt compositions
were investigated. We show that it is possible to equilibrate not only the Pu mass in the transmutation blanket but also
that one of minor actinides (including Cm isotopes). In both F-salt and BeCF-salt cases the same incineration rate
(1.1 ton/year) of minor actinides was obtained, but BeCF-salt shows a better hybrid-system performance in terms of
the ksrc behavior, smaller requested fusion power, shorter equilibration period and smaller actinide mass in the
blanket.
A number of major differences between ENDF, JENDL and JEF data files were identified and quantified in terms
of the averaged one-group cross sections. One should note that the performance of the system is very similar despite
of non-negligible differences in the actinide cross sections comparing calculations with different nuclear-data files.
The worst situation is for Am and Cm isotopes in the entire energy range. The 238Np(n,f) cross section should be
measured as the major parameter for the Np–Pu chain. New evaluations should be done both for the 241–242mAm
capture and fission as well as for Cm isotopes.
Our analysis with different construction-material data files showed significant differences in elastic scattering and
the (n,2n) reaction of 9Be from JEF, what strongly influences the entire system behavior. Therefore, the cross sections
of 9Be should be reexamined.
Finally we add that the present study could be directly generalized for other transmutation systems, characterized
by a similar neutron energy spectrum.

Acknowledgements

This work was accomplished in the frame of the French-Lithuanian cooperation program ‘Gilibert’ (Ref. No.
06452PG) and partly was supported by a Lithuanian State Science and Studies Foundation within C-03049 project.

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