A Forthcoming reprocessing plant for processing fast and thermal reactor fuels

Koma, Yoshikazu  ; Yano, Kimihiko ; Ohtaki, Akira ; Sato, Koji

On the course of changing the fuel cycle of thermal reactors into that based on fast reactors, those reactors share the capacity of electricity generation. The first commercial aqueous reprocessing plant for the fuels from a sodium cooled fast reactor was investigated in having a function of thermal reactor fuel treatment. After summarizing the differences in reprocessing fast and thermal reactor "FATHER" fuels, a process considering the change of head end and addition of secondary crystallization was proposed. Arrangement of the additional equipments was made and the resulted increase of the plant volume seems only a slight difference. For reprocessing the FATHER fuels at a throughput of 200 t/y, a plant for fast reactor fuels is appropriate for the design basis.