Article | REF: BN3663 V1

Radioactive waste - Management through separation - transmutation

Author: Robert GUILLAUMONT

Publication date: December 10, 2010

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!


Français

2. Principle and issues of separation-transmutation

2.1 Principle

The fundamental principle of ST is to fission minor actinides (see Transmutation box). In a neutron flux, the transmutation of heavy nuclei (U, Pu, minor actinides) depends on competition between fission and capture. The former produces fission products, the latter radionuclides that we want to eliminate. To promote fission, fast neutrons are used, which in turn fission nuclei that have not been fissioned by slow neutrons, such as 238 U. Moreover, the higher the neutron flux, the more nuclei are destroyed. Ultimately, it is the product of the relative efficiency of nuclear reactions (measured by the ratio of the fission and capture cross sections) and the neutron flux that controls the disappearance of radionuclides. For...

You do not have access to this resource.

Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!


The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference

A Comprehensive Knowledge Base, with over 1,200 authors and 100 scientific advisors
+ More than 10,000 articles and 1,000 how-to sheets, over 800 new or updated articles every year
From design to prototyping, right through to industrialization, the reference for securing the development of your industrial projects

This article is included in

Nuclear engineering

This offer includes:

Knowledge Base

Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees

Services

A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources

Practical Path

Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills

Doc & Quiz

Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading

Subscribe now!

Ongoing reading
Principle and issues of separation-transmutation