Comparative study of plutonium and minor actinide transmutation scenario - 5382

After the Fukushima-accident, visions of plutonium (Pu) utilization by fast breeding reactors (FBRs) becomes unclear in Japan. If FBRs will not be introduced and current light water reactors (LWRs) are not replaced after their closure, Pu remains as legacy in spent fuel (SF) from LWR. This study focuses on transmutation of Pu and minor actinide (MA) in SF without using Pu as resource. Pu can be transmuted by two groups of technology: conventional ones without reprocessing of spent fuel from transmuter and advanced ones with reprocessing. The required number of transmuters, inventory reduction of actinide and impact on repository are revealed by nuclear material balance analysis. As a whole advanced technology performs better in transmutation efficiency, although required number of transmuters is larger