Description of the European Helium-Cooled EFIT Plant: An Industrial-Scale Accelerator-Driven System for Minor Actinide Transmutation—II

In order to reduce the volume and the radiotoxicity of the nuclear waste coming from the operation of existing pressurized water reactors, accelerator-driven systems (ADSs) have been envisioned.

The Helium-cooled (He) European Facility for Industrial-scale Transmutation (He-EFIT) concept is the EUROpean Research Programme for the TRANSmutation of High Level Nuclear Waste in Accelerator Driven System (EUROTRANS) Integrated Project (IP) (EUROTRANS IP) backup option, whereas Pb-cooled EFIT is the reference one. The plant has a power of [approximately]400 MW(thermal). Like all ADS plants, it consists of three main components: the accelerator, the spallation target module, and the subcritical core.

This paper describes the He-EFIT design at the end of the EUROTRANS IP as well as the studies performed to support this design: spallation performances, trasmutation capabilities, and plant safety analyses.

No specific technology deadlock has been identified, and it might be possible to build such a plant given necessary research and development in support.