NEA Mandates and Structures

Task Force on the Demonstration of Fuel Cycle Closure including Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) for Industrial Readiness by 2050 (TF-FCPT)

Mandate (Document reference):

• Summary record of the 31st meeting of the Nuclear Science Committee held in 2020 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2020)20]
• Summary Record of the NSC meeting held on 8-10 June 2022 [NEA/SEN/NSC(2022)10] (forthcoming).
• Mandate of the Task Force on Demonstration of Fuel Cycle Closure Including Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) for Industrial Readiness By 2050 (TF-FCPT) [NEA/SEN/NSC(2022)6/FINAL]

Mandate (Document extract):

Extract from document [NEA/SEN/NSC(2022)6/FINAL]

Background^[1]

Nuclear power produces eleven percent of the world’s electricity today. Nuclear power plants are recognised to produce virtually no greenhouse gases nor air pollutants during their operation – and the emissions over their entire life cycle are very low. Nuclear energy can play a significant role in achieving a low-carbon energy mix in many regions of the world as of today and for decades to come, with a huge potential to contribute in particular to the decarbonisation of the power sector. However, many uncertainties weigh on the future role of nuclear energy, as concern for escalating costs arises and historical challenges such as spent fuel and radioactive waste management persist. In Europe, 2 500t of spent fuel are discharged annually from reactors containing uranium (U), plutonium (Pu), minor actinides (MAs) – namely neptunium (Np), americium (Am) and curium (Cm) – and fission products (FPs). The long-term management of waste at the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle remains one of the most critical issues affecting the acceptance of nuclear power and consequently challenges the global expansion of nuclear power. Spent fuel can be reprocessed or not, depending on national fuel cycle options and waste management policies. Only 1 200t of the 2 500t of spent fuel produced annually in Europe are processed to recover and recycle plutonium (12t) and potentially uranium (U) (1 140t), the remaining 48t (MAs and FPs) being vitrified (nuclear glass). Currently, the reference option is to dispose of waste (spent fuel and/or nuclear glass) in engineered disposal facilities located in suitable geological formations.

Advanced Fuel Cycles can be defined as any fuel cycle operating with Gen IV reactors and other advanced concepts [e.g. Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFR), Lead-alloy-cooled Fast Reactors (LFR), Gas-cooled Fast Reactors (GFR), Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTR), Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) and Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS)] – and emerging concepts with innovative fuel management options (hydro-/pyro-reprocessing, Pu burning/multi-recycling, MA transmutation, etc.). Advanced Fuel Cycles are based upon the following four pillars:

• Sustainability: optimisation of resource utilisation (non-enriched U and reused U) and reduction of waste with direct impact on fuel composition, fuel treatment and recycling (Pu, MAs, FPs, etc.).
• Safety and reliability: increased safety requirements (vs Generation II and III) and, in particular, fuel elements with enhanced safety performance.
• Economic competitiveness (better use of resources, reduction of qualification timeframe, waste reduction, flexibility).
• Proliferation resistance and physical protection across every step of the fuel cycle.

Advanced Fuel Cycles are unique in the sense that the whole system is intrinsically interconnected (fuel cycle, reactors and fuels, and fuel treatment).

Advanced Fuel Cycles can also enable better use of natural resources while minimising proliferation concerns, as well as the volume and longevity of nuclear waste. Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) has been pointed out in numerous studies as the strategy that can relax constraints on geological disposal, e.g. by reducing both the waste radiotoxicity and the footprint of the underground facility. Therefore, a special effort has been made to investigate the potential role of P&T and the related options for waste management along the fuel cycle. Transmutation based on critical or sub-critical fast spectrum transmuters should be assessed in terms of its technical and economic feasibility and its capacity at pre-industrial scale, which could ease deep geological disposal implementation.

Although R&D on advanced fuel cycle technologies has been carried out for a few decades, there is consensus within the international community that a complete programme is needed to demonstrate the feasibility of a closed fuel cycle, safely and with the aim of industrial maturity. Indeed, most technologies for advanced transuranic (TRU) management strategies – e.g. Pu multi-recycling and MA transmutation – need to achieve a higher level of technological and economic development before they can be deployed at industrial scale. Further efforts are needed in the following areas:

• Advanced separation technologies for conventional used fuels;
• Advanced fuel fabrication and performance;
• Transmutation systems;
• Advanced fuel reprocessing;
• Advanced fuel technological aspects (particularly for MA-loaded fuels): transportation, cooling, and handling.

Scope

The TF-FCPT will cover different advanced fuel cycles and P&T options, with consideration for all existing and emerging technologies.

Objective

Under the guidance of the Nuclear Science Committee (NSC), the TF-FCPT will produce a “High-level Report” to serve as a comprehensive reference paper covering the technological, economic and societal aspects of Advanced Fuel Cycles.

The “High-level Report” will:

• give a short review of the work performed over the last 30 years in the field of Advanced Fuel Cycles including P&T to highlight the knowledge accumulated, and the main findings and breakthroughs based on existing literature;
• consider concepts of Liquid Metal FRs, ADSs and MSRs and commonalities between the different fuel cycle strategies;
• establish the current status of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) for each “building block” (based on existing studies and reassessed if needed), looking at their evolution over the last 30 years;
• identify R&D needs to increase the TRL, depending on the considered process of technology;
• identify R&D gaps and clearly state what needs to be done in the next two decades by five-year intervals to reach a pre-industrial stage;
• lead to the drawing of a long-term vision for the industrial readiness of advanced nuclear fuel cycles including P&T by 2050 and give recommendations on the priority actions to be implemented by 2030;
• perform an economic analysis that focuses on the pre-industrial demonstration and addresses the following topics:  i) return on investment in comparison to other public investments, ii) maintaining capabilities, iii) uncertainty reduction and option value, and iv) impact on resources; and
• provide an overview of societal aspects of the closure of the nuclear fuel cycle, addressing the public perception, worries and concerns related to waste management, proliferation and sustainability, to win the support of the general public and political decision-makers for the use of nuclear energy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

In addition to the preparation of the paper, the review of existing documents will lead to the creation of a library of published documents addressing the benefits of P&T, and technical challenges and developments in the field.

Based on the recommendations, the TF-FCPT can provide guidance on establishing a joint experimental programme.

Working Methods

The TF-FCPT will report to the NSC. Regular remote meetings will be organised to ensure progress of work.

Interactions

The TF-FCPT will liaise closely with the NSC Working Party on Scientific Issues of Advanced Fuel Cycles (WPFC), the Committee for Technical and Economic Studies on Nuclear Energy Development and the Fuel Cycle (NDC), the NEA Forum on Stakeholder Confidence (FSC) established by the NEA Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMC), and the Generation-IV International Forum (GIF).

Deliverables

The deliverables of the TF-FCPT are:

• The “High-level Report” as described above; and
• An online “catalogue” of published reports and articles on Advanced Fuel Cycles and P&T options addressing the benefits, the technical challenges and developments in the field.

[1] Partly based on Hamid Aït Abderrahim et al., “Partitioning and transmutation contribution of MYRRHA to an EU strategy for HLW management and main achievements of MYRRHA related FP7 and H2020 projects: MYRTE, MARISA, MAXSIMA, SEARCH, MAX, FREYA, ARCAS”, EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol. 6, 33 (2020)