Recent progress and future R&D plan of nitride fuel cycle technology for transmutation of minor actinides

Hayashi, Hirokazu ; Nishi, Tsuyoshi; Takano, Masahide ; Sato, Takumi  ; Shibata, Hiroki ; Kurata, Masaki 

Uranium-free nitride fuel was chosen as the first candidate for transmutation of long-lived minor actinides (MA) using accelerator-driven system (ADS) under the double strata fuel cycle concept by Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The advantages of nitride fuel are good thermal properties and large mutual solubility among actinide elements. A pyrochemical process is proposed as the first candidate for the reprocessing of the spent nitride fuel, because this technique has some advantages over aqueous process, such as the resistance to radiation damage, which is an important issue for the fuels containing large amounts of highly radioactive MA. This paper overviews the recent progress and future R&D plan of the study on the nitride fuel cycle technology in JAEA.