Photonuclear treatment for spent fuel radiotoxicity reduction: a case study investigation on minor actinides
Fuente:
arXiv
Salvato in:
| Autori principali: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2025
|
| Soggetti: | |
| Accesso online: | |
| Tags: |
Aggiungi Tag
Nessun Tag, puoi essere il primo ad aggiungerne!!
|
| _version_ | 1866908425641787392 |
|---|---|
| author | Cammi, Antonio Loi, Lorenzo Missaglia, Andrea Tumminelli, Ludovica Giacobbo, Francesca Padovani, Enrico |
| author_facet | Cammi, Antonio Loi, Lorenzo Missaglia, Andrea Tumminelli, Ludovica Giacobbo, Francesca Padovani, Enrico |
| contents | The management of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) is one of the main challenges in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Thermal reactors, such as Light Water Reactors (LWRs), produce significant amounts of minor actinides (MAs) such as Americium, Curium, and Neptunium, which are key contributors to the long-term radiotoxicity and decay heat in SNF. Currently, the long term widely accepted solution is the geological disposal. At the same time, advanced technologies like Partitioning and Transmutation (P\&T) offer promising solutions to reduce SNF long-term radiotoxicity. While most transmutation strategies rely on neutron fluxes, in this study the adoption of photon beam to induce photonuclear reactions in SNF is investigated, without depending on neutron based systems. In particular, the study focuses on the probability of inducing transmutations and fissions on MAs, by leveraging the Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR) region of photonuclear interactions. In the investigated case study, the effect of a photon driven transmutation of minor actinides present in a spent fuel from SMR technology was evaluated. This approach offers a novel solution to the challenges of nuclear waste management which may become an alternative path in treating the radiotoxicity of minor actinides with the adoption of high enough photon fluxes. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_07182 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Photonuclear treatment for spent fuel radiotoxicity reduction: a case study investigation on minor actinides Cammi, Antonio Loi, Lorenzo Missaglia, Andrea Tumminelli, Ludovica Giacobbo, Francesca Padovani, Enrico Instrumentation and Detectors Physics and Society The management of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) is one of the main challenges in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. Thermal reactors, such as Light Water Reactors (LWRs), produce significant amounts of minor actinides (MAs) such as Americium, Curium, and Neptunium, which are key contributors to the long-term radiotoxicity and decay heat in SNF. Currently, the long term widely accepted solution is the geological disposal. At the same time, advanced technologies like Partitioning and Transmutation (P\&T) offer promising solutions to reduce SNF long-term radiotoxicity. While most transmutation strategies rely on neutron fluxes, in this study the adoption of photon beam to induce photonuclear reactions in SNF is investigated, without depending on neutron based systems. In particular, the study focuses on the probability of inducing transmutations and fissions on MAs, by leveraging the Giant Dipole Resonance (GDR) region of photonuclear interactions. In the investigated case study, the effect of a photon driven transmutation of minor actinides present in a spent fuel from SMR technology was evaluated. This approach offers a novel solution to the challenges of nuclear waste management which may become an alternative path in treating the radiotoxicity of minor actinides with the adoption of high enough photon fluxes. |
| title | Photonuclear treatment for spent fuel radiotoxicity reduction: a case study investigation on minor actinides |
| topic | Instrumentation and Detectors Physics and Society |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.07182 |