Research and development on nuclear transmutation technology progressing in Europe

Oigawa, Hiroyuki 

As one of the options for nuclear transmutation technology aiming at the reduction of the burden for disposal of high-level radioactive waste, research and development on Accelerator Driven System (ADS) is being vigorously promoted in Europe. From 2005 to 2010, wide range of research and development including design study, physics experiment, fuel, material and nuclear data were conducted in the EUROTRANS project, and a design of an experimental ADS was proposed. In accordance with this movement, the MYRRHA project, which is an experimental ADS in Belgium, is under way aiming for the start of construction in 2016. In Japan, there is a plan to build a Transmutation Experimental Facility (TEF) as Phase-2 of the J-PARC project. It is of importance to promote the collaboration between MYRRHA and TEF and to lead the world-wide research and development to realize the ADS for nuclear transmutation.