ADAPT concept: An accelerator driven system for the rapid and efficient disposal of plutonium

摘要

A new concept termed ADAPT for the rapid and virtually complete burning of plutonium is described. ADAPT employs a high current CW linear accelerator (linac) to generate neutrons in a lead/D.0 target. The neutrons are then absorbed in a surrounding subcritical (K(sub eff) (approximately) 0.95) blanket assembly, that holds small ((approximately) 0.5 cm diameter) graphite beads containing the plutonium to be burned. The graphite beads are coated and sealed to contain all fission products, including the noble gases. After destruction of virtually all ((ge) 90%) of the original plutonium loading, the fuel beads are discharged and sent to a geologic repository for ultimate disposal. (ERA citation 19:032380)