Re-examinations of MA fuel composition for accelerator-driven system and its heat removal

Sugawara, Takanori; Moriguchi, Daisuke*; Ban, Yasutoshi; Tsubata, Yasuhiro; Takano, Masahide; Nishihara, Kenji

JAEA-Research 2021-008, 63 Pages, 2021/10

JAEA-Research-2021-008.pdf:4.43MB

This study aims to perform the neutronics calculations for accelerator-driven system (ADS) with a new fuel composition based on the SELECT process developed by Japan Atomic Energy Agency because the previous studies had used the ideal MA (minor actinide) fuel composition without uranium and rare earth elements. Through the neutronics calculations, it is shown that two calculation cases, with/without neptunium, satisfy the design criteria. Although the new fuel composition includes uranium and rare earth elements, the ADS core with the new fuel composition is feasible and consistent with the partitioning and transmutation (P&T) cycle. Based on the new fuel composition, the heat removal during fuel powder storage and fuel assembly assembling is evaluated. For the fuel powder storage, it is found that a cylindrical tube container with a length of 500 [mm] and a diameter of 11 - 21 [mm] should be stored under water. For the fuel assembly assembling, CFD analysis indicates that the cladding tube temperature would satisfy the criterion if the inlet velocity of air is larger than 0.5 [m/s]. Through these studies, the new fuel composition which is consistent with the P&T cycle is obtained and the heat removal with the latest conditions is investigated. It is also shown that the new fuel composition can be practically handled with respect to heat generation, which is one of the most difficult points in handling MA fuel.

Evaluation of the mass transfer coefficients for the minor actinide separation; Evaluation by the single drop method

Sakamoto, Atsushi; Kibe, Satoshi*; Kawanobe, Kazunori*; Fujisaku, Kazuhiko*; Sano, Yuichi; Takeuchi, Masayuki; Suzuki, Hideya*; Tsubata, Yasuhiro; Ban, Yasutoshi; Matsumura, Tatsuro

JAEA-Research 2021-003, 30 Pages, 2021/06

JAEA-Research-2021-003.pdf:1.81MB

Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been developing a solvent extraction process called SELECT to recover minor actinides (MA) from spent nuclear fuel. In the SELECT process, TDdDGA, HONTA, and ADAAM are used as the extractants for MA + Ln corecovery, MA/Ln separation and Am/Cm separation, respectively. These extractants do not contain phosphorus (P), and consist of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), and nitrogen (N). In this study, in order to give beneficial information for designing flowsheet, the mass transfer coefficients of Ln between HNO solution and TDdDGA or HONTA / n-dodecane solvent were evaluated by the single drop technique. Prior to the evaluation of mass transfer coefficient, we had optimized the structure of the single drop apparatus to improve accuracy of the measurement. Based on the mass transfer coefficients obtained in HNO / TDdDGA-n-dodecane system, Ln behaviors in the counter-current extraction and back-extraction using mixer-settlers and centrifugal contactors were estimated by simple calculation, and they had a good agreement with our previous experimental results. We also confirmed the mass transfer coefficients of Ln in HNO / HONTA - n-dodecane system are under 10 m/s.

Production of the minor actinide sources using the electrodeposition method

Nakamura, Satoshi; Kimura, Takahiro; Ban, Yasutoshi; Tsubata, Yasuhiro; Matsumura, Tatsuro

JAEA-Technology 2020-009, 22 Pages, 2020/08

JAEA-Technology-2020-009.pdf:2.92MB

Partitioning and transmutation technology division is planning to measure fission rate ratios that contribute to validate nuclear data of minor actinides (MA). For this purpose, MA sources for fission chambers were prepared using electrodeposition method. The radioactivity of each MA source was quantified, and its uncertainty was evaluated. Seven types of MA sources with different radioactivity were prepared using four nuclides of Np, Am, Am, and Cm. A Cm source solution of which radioactivity was quantified by isotope dilution method was used to prepare working standard sources of Cm. The radioactivities were quantified as 1461 Bq, 2179 Bq, and 2938 Bq for Np sources, 1.428 MBq for Am source, 370.5 kBq and 89.57 kBq for Am sources, and 2.327 MBq for Cm source with, the uncertainty of 0.35% (1). This report summarizes the method for preparation and quantification of MA sources, and uncertainty evaluation.

Preliminary study on separation of Dy and Nd by multi-step extraction using TDdDGA

Sasaki, Yuji; Ban, Yasutoshi; Morita, Keisuke; Matsumiya, Masahiko*; Ono, Ryoma*; Shiroishi, Hidenobu*

Solvent Extraction Research and Development, Japan, 27(1), p.63 - 67, 2020/00

https://doi.org/10.15261/serdj.27.63

Mutual separation technique of Dy and Nd in Nd magnet is studied. Dy is more valuable than Nd, then Dy might be isolated and reused. Lanthanide elements can be extracted thoroughly by diglycolamide (DGA) extractants, we use this reagent for the recovery and isolation of Dy. Tetradodecyl-DGA (TDdDGA) has relatively high separation factors(SF) between Dy and Nd (SF=17-18) in HNO extraction system, counter-current extraction using TDdDGA was applied for their mutual separation. From the present study, using the condition, four extraction stages, organic phase: 0.1M TDdDGA in n-dodecane, aqueous phase: 0.3M HNO, 92% Dy can be recovered with 0.7% co-extraction of Nd.

Design of accelerator-driven system consistent to partitioning technology

Sugawara, Takanori; Ban, Yasutoshi; Katano, Ryota; Tateno, Haruka; Nishihara, Kenji

Proceedings of International Conference on the Management of Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Reactors 2019 (Internet), 9 Pages, 2019/06

The JAEA has proposed the double-strata strategy which will introduce a dedicated minor actinide (MA) transmutation cycle using an accelerator-driven system (ADS). In the previous study, the ideal fuel condition was supposed in the neutronics design of the ADS. For example, impurities such as rare earth (RE) nuclides which would accompany with MA, were not assumed. However, these nuclides would accompany with the ADS fuel and the capture reaction of these nuclides deteriorates the neutron economy of the ADS core. This study investigates a new fuel composition based on the SELECT (Solvent Extraction from Liquid-waste using Extractants of CHON-type for Transmutation) process proposed by JAEA. By performing the neutronics calculation of the ADS with the new fuel composition, a feasibility of the new fuel composition will be investigated.

Extraction of trivalent rare earths and minor actinides from nitric acid with -tetradodecyldiglycolamide (TDdDGA) by using mixer-settler extractors in a hot cell

Ban, Yasutoshi; Suzuki, Hideya; Hotoku, Shinobu; Kawasaki, Tomohiro*; Sagawa, Hiroshi*; Tsutsui, Nao; Matsumura, Tatsuro

Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, 37(1), p.27 - 37, 2019/00

https://doi.org/10.1080/07366299.2019.1586347

A continuous counter-current experiment using TDdDGA was performed using mixer-settler extractors installed in a hot cell. Nitric acid containing minor actinides (MAs: Am and Cm), rare earths (REs: Y, La, Nd, and Eu), and other fission products (Sr, Cs, Zr, Mo, Ru, Rh, and Pd) was fed to the extractor. TDdDGA effectively extracted MAs and REs from the feed, while other fission products were barely extracted. The extracted MAs and REs were back-extracted by bringing them in contact with 0.02 mol/dm nitric acid, and they were collected as the MA-RE fraction. The proportions of MA and RE in the MA-RE fraction were 98% and 86%, respectively. These results demonstrated the applicability of TDdDGA as an extractant for MAs and REs.

Uranium and plutonium extraction by -dialkylamides using multistage mixer-settler extractors

Ban, Yasutoshi; Hotoku, Shinobu; Tsutsui, Nao; Suzuki, Asuka; Tsubata, Yasuhiro; Matsumura, Tatsuro

Procedia Chemistry, 21, p.156 - 161, 2016/12

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proche.2016.10.022

A continuous counter-current experiment was carried out to demonstrate the validity of a process using -dialkylamides for recovering U and Pu. This process consisted of two cycles, and the 1st cycle and the 2nd cycle employed -di(2-ethylhexyl)-2,2-dimethylpropanamide and -di(2-ethylhexyl)butanamide as extractants, respectively. The feed solution for the 1st cycle was 5.1 mol/dm (M) nitric acid containing 0.92 M U, 1.6 mM Pu, and 0.6 mM Np. The raffinate collected in the 1st cycle was used as the feed for the 2nd cycle. The ratios of U recovered in the U fraction and U-Pu fraction were 99.1% and 0.8%, respectively. The ratio of Pu recovered in the U-Pu fraction was 99.7%. The concentration ratio of U with respect to Pu in the U-Pu fraction was 9, and this indicated that Pu was not isolated. The decontamination factor of U with respect to Pu in the U fraction was obtained as 4.510. These results supported the validity of the proposed process.

Distribution behavior of neptunium by extraction with -dialkylamides (DEHDMPA and DEHBA) in mixer-settler extractors

Ban, Yasutoshi; Hotoku, Shinobu; Tsutsui, Nao; Tsubata, Yasuhiro; Matsumura, Tatsuro

Solvent Extraction and Ion Exchange, 34(1), p.37 - 47, 2016/01

https://doi.org/10.1080/07366299.2015.1130423

The extraction properties of -di(2-ethylhexyl)-2,2-dimethylpropanamide (DEHDMPA) and -di(2-ethylhexyl)butanamide (DEHBA) for Np(V) and Np(VI) were studied by a batch method using various nitrate ion concentrations. The distribution ratios of Np(VI) obtained with DEHDMPA and DEHBA exceeded unity when the nitrate ion concentration was 3 mol/L. DEHDMPA and DEHBA barely extracted Np(V), and the maximum distribution ratios were 0.4 and 0.2 when DEHDMPA and DEHBA were used as extractants, respectively. A continuous counter-current experiment was performed to evaluate the behavior of Np in a process comprising two cycles. The ratio of Np recovered to the U fraction and U-Pu fraction were 63.7% and 29.1%, respectively. The behavior of Np suggested that the valence state of Np changed from Np(V) to Np(IV) or Np(VI) after the 1st experimental cycle. The recoveries of U and Pu to the U fraction stream and the U-Pu fraction stream were 99.9% and 99.8%, respectively.

Application of turbidity measurement for evaluation of two-phase separation in ,-dialkylamides-nitric acid systems

Tsutsui, Nao; Ban, Yasutoshi; Hakamatsuka, Yasuyuki; Urabe, Shunichi; Matsumura, Tatsuro

Proceedings of 21st International Conference & Exhibition; Nuclear Fuel Cycle for a Low-Carbon Future (GLOBAL 2015) (USB Flash Drive), p.1153 - 1157, 2015/09

,-Dialkylamides are promising alternative extractants to tri--butyl phosphate in the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels, but the two-phase separation between their organic and aqueous phases has not been evaluated quantitatively. ,-Di(2-ethylhexyl)-2,2-dimethylpropanamide (DEHDMPA) in -dodecane were agitated with uranyl nitrate-containing nitric acid, and their turbidities and their uranium distribution ratios were measured with respect to the time for the quantitative evaluation. Increasing DEHDMPA, uranium, and nitric acid concentrations enhanced turbidities. Although turbidities decreased with respect to the time, uranium distribution ratios slightly changed, indicating the observed turbidities did not affect these uranium distribution ratios significantly. Therefore, DEHDMPA may act as suitable extractant for uranium in nitric acid from two-phase separation viewpoint, and turbidity may be an indicator for extractant performance evaluation.

Spectroscopic study of Np(V) oxidation to Np(VI) in 3 mol/dm nitric acid at elevated temperatures

Ban, Yasutoshi; Hakamatsuka, Yasuyuki; Tsutsui, Nao; Urabe, Shunichi; Hagiya, Hiromichi; Matsumura, Tatsuro

Radiochimica Acta, 102(9), p.775 - 780, 2014/09

https://doi.org/10.1515/ract-2013-2193

Optical absorption spectra of Np in 3 mol/dm nitric acid at elevated temperatures were measured using an optical glass cell with a water jacket having a light path of 1 cm, and molar extinction coefficients of Np(VI), , were obtained at various temperature. The values of was found to decrease with increasing the temperature, and could be described by the equation = -0.14+85.5, where is the temperature. Oxidation of Np(V) to Np(VI) in 3 mol/dm nitric acid at elevated temperatures was observed using the optical glass cell. Oxidation of Np(V) proceeded as pseudo-first order with respect to Np(V) concentration. The rate equation in the temperature range of 336-362 K was obtained as follows: -d[Np(V)]/dt = 2.210 exp[-6510/()][Np(V)], where and [Np(V)] indicate the gas constant and Np(V) concentration at time , respectively.