Photo-transmutation of long-lived nuclear waste Cs-135 by intense Compton gamma-ray source

摘要

MeV-range Compton gamma-ray beam via Compton scattering of a laser pulse against a high-current relativistic electron beam can be used to induce photo-transmutation reactions. In this work, we investigate through Monte Carlo simulations the possibility of transmutation of radioactive nuclear waste, by high-intensity Compton gamma-ray source, for the long-lived Cs-135 with a half-life of 2.3 x 10(6) years into short-lived Cs-134 with a half-life of 2.07 years, or into stable nuclide Cs-133. Our simulation results show that the transmutation reaction yield is in the order of 6 x 10(9) per hour for a given gamma-flux of 2 x 10(8) phs/s that can be obtained from the Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma-ray Source which is under construction. The transmutation capability of worldwide Compton gamma-ray facilities is also evaluated, showing that the photo-transmutation induced by brilliant Compton gamma-ray source, such as ELI-NP could be an efficient approach to transmute long-lived radioactive nuclear waste. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.