Incineration of Radioactive Fission Products and Transuranics by Muon-Catalyzed Fusion

A system of nuclear transmutation is presented in which fission products and transuranics (TRU) are incinerated using 14-MeV neutrons produced by muoncatalyzed fusion (µCF) and a subcritical core composed of fission products and TRU, The 14-MeV neutrons produced by µCF are used to transmute ⁹⁰Sr (fission product) by the (n,2n) reaction. The outcoming neutrons from the ⁹⁰Sr cell transmute TRU through fission reactions and ⁹⁹Tc through (n, γ) reactions. This fission energy is converted into electric energy to supply 4 GeV-25 mA deuteron beam power, which is used to produce µ⁻ mesons. We also evaluate the production of tritium that is consumed as a fuel for µCF. The feasibility of the system was analyzed by the MCNP Monte Carlo neutron transport code. The results show that this system can be subcritical and can transmute fission products and TRU with an incineration half-life of ∼1 yr and that the deuteron beam energy and tritium fuel required to operate the system can be supplied within the system cycle itself.