The subcritical assembly at Dubna (SAD): Coupling all major components of an accelerator driven system (ADS) for nuclear waste incineration

Full text: Various concepts of accelerator driven systems (ADS) for the incineration of nuclear wastes like minor actinides (MA) and long-lived fission products (LLFP) are under investigation now worldwide. Creation of large subcritical accelerator driven systems ADS should precede experimental checks of the theoretical predictions and estimation of technological features of such systems. Tasks requiring the solution are: - Active core design; - Safety assessment; - Fuel, target and reflectors; - Keff control and monitoring; - High-energy neutrons shielding. To resolve some of this tasks the ADS with thermal power of several kW is sufficient. At the present time the project on creation of the 27 kW ADS with U-Pu MOX fuel is under realization at JINR. Existing 660 MeV proton accelerator will drive subcritical core of the SAD installation. Main components of the designed facility are: - U-Pu MOX multiplying blanket; - Replaceable (Pb or W) spallation target; - Proton beam line, delivering 1 kW beam from the existing proton accelerator to the spallation target. Current status of the project will be reported. (author)