Complete Recycling of Boric Acid from the Primary Circuit Coolant Obtaining Commercial Borate Products

The application of the novel concept of boron control to pressurized water reactors (PWRs) can reduce costs and produce radiation-free borate products. The main idea is to remove the boric acid regeneration unit, which annually forms tens of cubic metres of spent ion-exchange resins and generates radioactive compounds. Being immediately removed from the reactor, boric acid is depleted into 10B and is deactivated by ion-selective sorbents and processed into a commercial product. At the same time, the consumption of boric acid during the period of the reactor operation increases by 10 to 15%, with the total amount of waste annually generated at a nuclear power plant (NPP) being significantly reduced. (author)