Accelerator-Driven Transmutation Technology For Incinerating Radioactive-Waste And For Advanced Application To Power Production

Recent work at Los Alamos has revealed new techniques leading to greatly enhanced feasibility for using intense particle accelerators to drive systems for burning existing radioactive waste, and for electrical power generation with a much reduced waste stream in the future. The system requires the intense flux levels that can only be provided by an accelerator to exploit thermal energy neutrons for transmutation; thus the new physics of transmutation is different and more advanced than earlier ideas. Another key aspect affords the use of a dilute inventory system that reduces significantly the amount of fertile/fissile material required in the system at one time, with significant safety and engineering advantages. These concepts will be reviewed, and the requirements on the accelerator, which is on the order of 1.5 GeV, 50-250 mA continuous current, will be outlined.