Ashing vs. electric generation in accelerator driven system

Accelerator Driven Systems have been conceived as an alternative for the processing of the radioactive wastes contained in spent fuel elements from nuclear power plants. These systems are formed by the coupling of a nuclear reactor - preferably a subcritical reactor - with a particle accelerator providing particles with energy in the order of the GeV. The long-lived fission products and actinides of the spent fuels are transformed by nuclear reactions in stable isotopes or in short-lived radioisotopes. The basic parameters for the electric energy production of the different systems are analysed. (author)