Accelerator-driven transmutation of nuclear waste and electrical power production

The capabilities of modern proton or deuteron linear accelerators (1 GeV, 200 mA average current) enable a new physics and engineering approach using thermal neutrons to transmute both actinide and fission product radioactive wastes to short-lived or non-radioactive by-products. A clean and economically attractive energy source with a long-term plentiful fuel supply and no long-term waste legacy results from using thorium fuel concurrently with waste burning. The proposed method, with relatively straight-forward development and demonstration, provides an alternative to radioactive waste storage problems and continued depletion of organic fuel reserves