Plasma Torch Development Activities at Archimedes

The Archimedes FilterJohn R Gilleland

2PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL

Document may not be reproduced in whole or in part without express written permission. MIT / October 3, 2005

Hanford Site Location

WTP



Potential Location of Archimedes Filter Plant at Hanford



Hanford Tank Waste is Extremely Challenging to Process

• Hanford tanks hold 53 million gallons of Defense Waste:

– 26 wt% sludge– 44 wt% saltcake– 30 wt% supernatant

• Archimedes is focused on the sludge fraction, the most challenging to process

– chemical complexity with different past operations and subsequent mixing

– significant variability from batch to batch

• Hanford has planned an aggressive campaign to chemically separate this material in order to reduce the volume of waste that must be vitrified as High Level Waste (HLW) glass.

• There is great uncertainty and practical limits to the effectiveness of chemical separations due to:

– waste inventory uncertainty– batch sampling uncertainty– chemical processing times– processing temperatures required– unintended chemical reactions– recycle streams– additional waste generated from added agents, etc.



Hanford ORP Solids Dissolution Targets Result in IHLW Reduction

Archimedes Offers an Alternative for Even Greater Reduction

• Hanford’s baseline targets dissolution of ~90% of the tank HLW oxides to yield an inventory of 9,860 MT solids to be sent to vitrification, producing 34,676 MT of HLW glass and take 22 years to process.2

*Notes: (1) HLW glass production assumes ORP’s “relaxed” glass model.(2) Assumes 6 MTG/day with 70% utilization for HLW Vit and 1.1 MT oxide/day per Archimedes Filter with 70% utilization.

HLW Glass*: 272,000 MT 73,000 MT 46,100 MT 34,676 MT (ORP “revised target”)

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

Tank Inventory Estimate Water Washing Caustic Washing Oxidative Leaching

HLW Glass Estimates (MT)1

HLW Solids: 84,403 MT 17,553 MT 10,100 MT 9,858 MT



Archimedes Approaches the Problem from a Physics Perspective

Separating HLW Oxides Based on Atomic Mass

Heavy Fraction

Radioactivity

LightFraction

Waste Mass

10%

99.9%

90%

• Archimedes Filter Separates “heavy” from “light” ions.

• This effectively separates radioactive from non-radioactive elements.

• The Filter could isolate 99.9% of the radioactivity in just 10% of sludge mass.

• Thus, deployment of Archimedes at Hanford enables up to 90% of the HLW sludge to be treated as Low Activity Waste.

• Separation of ions in plasma is relatively indifferent to the chemical complexity of waste feed.

Hanford HLW Solids(17,553 MT “Water Washed Solids”

Inventory)

0.1%

AMU 89



Company Mission

• From the time of its founding in 1998 Archimedes’ primary corporate mission has been the development of a breakthrough separations technology for treatment of high level waste from nuclear weapons production.

• A new invention, called the “Archimedes Filter,” promises to reduce the required number of HLW canisters at Hanford by up to 85%.

• Archimedes has raised $100 million dollars of private funds to insure speed, flexibility and IP ownership necessary to support this mission.

• An international team of 12 institutions supports the Filter technology development as well as associated systems development, plant design and licensing work for US waste site applications.

• Archimedes now believes that our development of plasma based separation represents a platform technology that may be applied to commercial endeavors such as spent fuel recycling.



• Archimedes has attracted a world-class team of physicists, chemists, and engineers, including:

Tihiro Ohkawa Chairman Vice Chairman, General Atomics Company John Gilleland CEO Chief Scientist and VP Commercial Programs, BechtelLarry Papay Senior VP SVP, SAIC, Bechtel and Southern California EdisonRichard Freeman VP Science & Tech. Dev. General Atomics Company, RF PhysicsLeigh Sevier VP Engineering General Atomics, Princeton, Plasma SystemsStephen Agnew Senior Chemist Los Alamos Chemical Sciences DivisionSergei Putvinski Senior Physicist International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor

• Government Relations- David Gerson, Vice Chairman of Archimedes is also Executive Vice President of the American Enterprise

Institute and a former Associate Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB)- Daniel Evans, Director of Archimedes, former United States Senator and Governor of the State of Washington- John Wagoner, Vice President of Archimedes, former DOE Hanford Site Manager (1990-1999)

• Business- Scott Tierney, President and Chief Operating Officer, former Morgan Stanley investment banker

• Industry Consultants- Harold Forsen, former VP Bechtel, member National Academy of Engineering - David McAlees, former President Siemens Nuclear Fuels- Harry Harmon, former Hanford tank waste manager- Greg Choppin, Professor of Nuclear Chemistry, Florida State University

• Archimedes has also attracted prominent scientists as investors in the Company- Ted Geballe, Stanford University, Professor Emeritus in Applied Physics- Daniel Koshland, UC – Berkeley, Professor Emeritus, past Manhattan Project scientist- Ken Fowler, former Associate Director Lawrence Livermore National Labs

Archimedes Team Has Deep Domain Expertise



Demonstration Program

CommercialPlant Collaboration / Role in the Archimedes Process

UC San Diego Physics tests and diagnostics equipment; Start-up electrode

UC Berkeley Physics tests and diagnostics equipment

Univ. of Texas Physics tests and diagnostics equipment; Plunge probe

St Petersburg Univ. Russia Torch used to vaporize waste into Filter; Studies on molten NaOH

Budker Institute Novosibirsk, Russia

Electrode/ Light Collector Design and fabrication; Electrode power supply design and component fabrication

CEA, France Calcination of HLW and LAW waste; Glass studies; Off-gas

EDF, French Utility Two visiting scientists/engineers

Oak Ridge Nat’l Lab RF Antenna Modeling; Conceptual Design: Remote Maintenance

Battelle/PNWD Pacific Northwest Division. Hanford process flow; Archimedes integration and cost savings analysis; chemical engineers

Westinghouse SMS Criticality Safety analysis for commercial plant design

Jacobs Engineering Hanford Teaming Agreement Partner (Plant Design); Conceptual Design: AFP Design Balance of Plant

Cogema/SGN Conceptual Design: Off-gas treatment; Waste removal; Systems design

Nuvotec Filter plant detailed process flow model

BWXT Hanford Teaming Agreement Partner (Plant Operator)

Archimedes Has Created a Global R&D Effort

Key Partnerships Have Helped us Meet Technical Milestones



Archimedes Plasma Mass Filter Separates Ions by Mass

• Filter takes advantage of the “mass gap” in Hanford tank waste between radioactive and non-radioactive species.

atomic weight (g/mol)

rela

tive

amou

nt

90%mass

99.9% radionuclides

59 89

Archimedes“Filter Function”

100%

50%

Na-23Al-27Fe-56

Sr-90Cs-137

TRU



Filter Subsystems

RF Antennas(Ionize Waste)

Sub-Micron Powder Injector

Electrodes(Rotate Plasma)

Heavy Collector

Light Collector



The Archimedes Two Filter Plant is Small and has Modest

Infrastructure Needs

Licensing and Permitting Power Grid (average power

need of 38MW, 55MW peak)

“Valve Pit” connections with

Tank FarmProduct Feed and

Receipt Requirements

Basic Infrastructure Requirements (water, steam, sample testing, security, etc)

3.4 acres Land Area(~6% of WTP Site)

Archimedes Filter Plant



HLW Glass*: 272,000 MT 73,000 MT 46,100 MT 34,676 MT (ORP “revised target”)

Hanford ORP Solids Dissolution Targets Result in IHLW Reduction

Archimedes Offers an Alternative for Even Greater Reduction

• Hanford’s baseline targets dissolution of ~90% of the tank HLW oxides to yield an inventory of 9,860 MT solids to be sent to vitrification, producing 34,676 MT of HLW glass and take 22 years to process.2

• Deployment of a 2-Unit Archimedes Filter Plant could process ~50% of the W.W. Solids inventory would yield a total reduction of ~17,000MT HLW glass produced by WTP.

– provides WTP operational flexibility as an alternative pre-treatment path for HLW solids*Notes: (1) HLW glass production assumes ORP’s “relaxed” glass model.

(2) Assumes 6 MTG/day with 70% utilization for HLW Vit and 1.1 MT oxide/day per Archimedes Filter with 70% utilization.

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

Tank Inventory Estimate Water Washing Caustic Washing Oxidative Leaching

HLW Glass Estimates (MT)1

HLW Solids: 84,403 MT 17,553 MT 10,100 MT 9,858 MT

Archimedes Filter Plant

Reduction of ~17,000MT HLW

Glass

~50% of W.W Solids



Integration of Archimedes offers Broad Technical and

Operational Benefits for Hanford and the WTP

• Provides an alternate pretreatment path for HLW solids to HLW vitrification operations

• Reduced burden on the HLW melter performance and utilization requirements due to significant reduction of solids inventory and removal of key elements that limit waste loading in the HLW glass, such as chrome, sulfate and phosphate

• Filter separation process is less vulnerable to waste batch uncertainty and variability

• Could eliminate need for Oxidative Leaching process

• Net reduction of ILAW glass due to reduction of caustic leaching and sodium added

• Reduces residual environmental impact by directing 99Tc and 129I to IHLW rather than ILAW

• Reduces burden on HLW interim storage, transportation and repository requirements



Archimedes Filter Plant Deployment Analysis

Waste Inventory Based on ORP Refined Target Case, RPP-23412

• Deployment of 2-Filter Archimedes Filter Plant (AFP) would:– treat selected batches (~46% of water-washed solids mass) over 14 years– reduces overall IHLW glass production by 50%– reduces estimated WTP processing time by 8 years

Notes[1] Estimated 17,550 MT HLW water washed solids in 590 batches[2] Assumes DOE "relaxed" glass model[3] Assumes 6 MTG/day with 70% utilization for HLW Vit and 1.1 MT oxide/day per Archimedes Filter with 70% utilization.[4] Assumes startup in 2013 plus 2 years commissioning (no production)

WW Solids Treatment Path [1] WTP Only WTP with 2-Filter AFP

Archimedes Filter Plant 0% 46%

WW Solids Pretreatment by WTP 100% 54%

IHLW MT Glass Produced [2] 34,000 17,000

Processing Years [4]

WTP Operations [3] 22 14

Completion [4] 2037 2029

How the Archimedes Filter Works



How the Filter Works

Electrodes

Waste injected as sub-micron

powder

RF Antenna

Elec

tric

fie

ld

Light ions

Heavy ions

Electrodes

Electric field

RF Antenna

Magnet Coils

Magnetic field

Side view of the plasma column



Filter Physics – Ions are Guided by Electric and Magnetic Fields

BE

E

Radial force balance on ions of mass m and charge Ze rotating with speed vθ:

02

=++r

mvBZevZeE θ

θ

Heavy ions are expelled if their mass exceeds the “cutoff mass” mc

02,8 2

0

0

22

>==a

rVE

VaZeB

mc

Axial magnetic field (B) confine light ions (blue)Radial electric field (E) expels heavy ions (red)

B

electric magnetic centrifugal

side view end view



Effects of Collisions Simulated with Monte-Carlo Model

• Design of Archimedes Filter Plant requires a high throughput: 0.26 ion-mol/s.

• Collisions between ions and other plasma particles can degrade separation.

• Monte-Carlo computer simulation tracks ion trajectories in Filter E and B fields, including collisions with background plasma and neutrals.

• Good separation at high density with reasonable electric and magnetic fields

Side View End View

Heavy Elements

LightElements

Each curve shows the trajectory of an ion in the plasma

LightElements

Na yellowAl blueFe green

Cr cyanSr Cs Pu red



Archimedes Filter Process

plasma formation

rotation / separation

collection / removal

feed preparation

LAW

IHLW

injection



Photo of DEMO − the Archimedes DEMOnstration Unit

Magnetic Field Coils

Vacuum pumps

Vacuum Vessel

Electrodes

RF Transmission Lines



MicrowaveInterferometer

Bolometer

Plunge Probew/4 Point Tip

LIBS-L

Light CouponSystem

(Both Sides)

GattlingGun

(Heavy Coupons)

Boroscope

Optical Arrays

Heavy Collector

LightCollector

IR InspectionPeriscope

Light Coupon and Handler

LIBS-H

Demo Diagnostics

So How Is It Working So Far?



Filter Demonstration

Overview

• Six steps will separate waste into LAW and HLW streams:

– Feed preparation: receive water-washed slurry from waste tanks; calcine and convert to powder for injection into Filter

– Injection: deliver waste to Filter in a form that plasma can digest

– Plasma formation: convert injected waste to plasma ions

– Rotation/Separation: rotate waste plasma to separate heavy ions from light ions

– Collection: Accumulate distinct light and heavy waste deposits at collectors

– Removal: Clean collectors to remove heavy and light waste deposits

• This talk will give results for each step to date, and describe the objectives to demonstrate each step on Hanford surrogates



aqueousslurry

Feed Preparation Process Will Convert Water Slurry to

Calcined Powder

feed receiptinitial sizing / milling

spray drying to < 50 μm powder

sizingparticle / gas separation

ICPcalcination, submicron powder production Filter

Feed

pre

para

tion

LAW

HLW



Calcination and Conversion of Surrogate to Dry Powder has

been Demonstrated

Spray Dryer System to be tested with Niro Inc. Plasma Calcination System tested with CEA

• Niro Inc. has successfully completed feasibility testing with Hanford surrogate elements, and is ready to perform a pilot study on the full surrogate

• Plasma calcination from slurry to dry powder has been demonstrated with Hanford Envelope D surrogate at CEA’s Marcoule facility in France.



Generation of Sub-Micron Powders from Hanford Surrogate

has been Demonstrated On-Site

• Conversion of waste surrogate (representative of AZ-101) from spray-dried dimensions to sub-micron scale has been demonstrated on-site

• Optimization of vapor condensation conditions will allow control of conversion efficiency and powder size

• Calcination efficiency of this process needs to be characterized

ICP input:

waste surrogate powder with typical dimension ~ 20 μm

ICP output:

surrogate powder with typical dimension < 1 μm



Direct Powder Injection System is Installed at the Demo Filter

• A fluidized bed delivery system is currently installed on the Demo Filter. 0.05 μm powders have been radially injected into the Filter with low driving gas flow rates

• Injection rates up to 2 g/s have been reached (target is 5 g/s)

• Modeling of particle trajectories in the Filter plasma predicts full evaporation of 0.20 μm alumina particles

Injection Nozzle

Powder Plume

Powder Injection in Plasma

Evaporation Model

Powder Injection Nozzle



Waste Throughput is Maximized by Control of Plasma Shape

• The RF power deposition profile is controlled by phasing of currents in each antenna strap

• Flat density profiles will maximize waste throughput and ionization efficiency

0.0E+00

5.0E+18

1.0E+19

1.5E+19

0 10 20 30 40

Filter Radius (cm)

Elec

tron

Den

sity

(m

-3)

Plas

ma

cent

er



Conversion of Submicron Surrogate Powder into Plasma

has been Demonstrated

• A complex waste surrogate (75% Al2O3, 15% Fe3O4, 6% ZrCaO3, 4% BiO2) has been injected

• Emitted light measurements from the plasma indicate successful evaporation and conversion to plasma ions

• Current work is focused on maximizing ionization efficiency and throughput through injection control

– The injection region is controlled by injection nozzle shape and location

Ion

Ligh

t In

tens

ity

Alumina powder injection starts

RF power ramps up



Separation Demonstration Geometry

• Separation experiments were performed with edge injection of AZ-101 surrogate by laser evaporation

– Major constituents in AZ-101 target: Si, Al, Fe, Zr, Bi

• Spectroscopic measurements (red lines) and surface coupon measurements (red arrows) are used to study injected surrogates

Heavy Collector

Light Collector

SurrogateVapor



Plasma Profiles are Ideal for Separation

• Source control in sodium plasma maintains filled profiles in rotating plasma

• A parabolic electric potential applied to the light collectors causes the plasma to rotate

• Probe measurements in the plasma show that the applied potential penetrates along the magnetic field

0.E+00

2.E+18

4.E+18

6.E+18

8.E+18

0 10 20 30 40Radius (cm)

Elec

tron

Den

sity

(m-3

)

0

20

40

60

80

0 10 20 30 40Radius (cm)

Elec

tric

Pot

entia

l (V)

Measured by ProbeApplied at ElectrodesPl

asm

a ce

nter

Plas

ma

cent

er



Doppler Measurements Confirm Rigid Body Rotation at

E x B Velocity

• Doppler spectroscopy measures plasma rotation speed in the Heavy Collector region for Bi and Fe from injected Hanford AZ-101 Surrogate

• Rotation scales with applied electric field

Plas

ma

cent

er



Applying Cutoff Electric Field Sends Heavy Elements to the

Heavy Collector

Material Accumulated at Light Collector

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Si Ca Fe BiElement

Tota

l Mas

s (g

)

Without CutoffWith Cutoff

Material Accumulated at Heavy Collector

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

Si Ca Fe BiElement

Tota

l Mas

s (g

)

Without CutoffWith Cutoff

• Battelle AZ-101 tank waste surrogate injected into sodium background plasma by laser evaporation

• 100 V bias at 900 Gauss (cutoff mass = 134 AMU) used to separate bismuth (208 AMU) from lighter elements



Surface Measurements at Light and Heavy Collectors Show

Cutoff of Bismuth at Expected Voltage

No cut-off 99% of collected sodium is on the light collector

Below cut-off 99% Bismuth -> light collector

Above cut-off 85% Bismuth -> heavy collector 15% Bismuth -> light collector

Bi Vc=63.6V

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

-20 0 20 40 60 80Electrode Voltage [V]

Bism

uth

Frac

tion

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

-20 0 20 40 60 80Electrode Voltage [V]

Sodi

um F

ract

ion

Light Collector Light Collector

Heavy Collector Heavy Collector



Filter Function Matches Numerical Simulation for Edge

Injection

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

0 50 100 150 200 250

Atomic Mass (AMU)

Ligh

t Co

llect

or F

ract

ion,

%

Coupons: ICP-AES Coupons: XRF

Simulation: Monte Carlo

Bi

Fe

Zr

Si

• ICP and XRF diagnostics give similar results

• Edge injection of vapor leads to scrape-off effect

• Monte Carlo simulations using measured plasma parameters are inquantitative agreement with the data

Cutoff mass 150 AMU



0

20

40

60

80

100

0 50 100 150 200 250Atomic Mass, AMU

Ligh

t Co

llect

or F

ract

ion,

%

Full Throughput Demonstration Filter Simulation Shows Good

Cutoff of Heavy Elements

BiDF=400

Cs DF=900

SrDF=30

• Monte Carlo simulation at full Filter density, magnetic field, and electric field show high decontamination factors for heavy elements

• Injection for this simulation is at radii less than 20 cm

Fe

Cr

AlNa

Cutoff = 84 AMU



Higher Density and Magnetic Field of AFP Improves Filter

Function

• The AFP Filter will operate at slightly higher density and magnetic field, and has a different collector geometry

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 50 100 150 200 250 300Atomic Mass, AMU

Ligh

t Co

llect

or F

ract

ion,

%

Bi DF>1000

Cs DF>1000

Sr DF= 50

Fe

Tc DF>100

AlNa

Cutoff = 80 AMU

Cr

Ca

Pu DF>1000



Hanford Test Program

High Throughput Separation Optimization

• The tests will confirm that the Filter can:

– Separate Hanford waste at high throughput rates and achieve separation decontamination factors matching those specified below

Radionuclides

Percent of HLW Batches

Percent of WTP Contract Allowance for On-site Disp.

MinimumRequiredAFP DF

AFP Target DF

Hanford Test Program Target DF

TRU 95%Class C

Requirement 76 >>100 >>100

Sr-90 100% 20% 50 ~100 ~30 - 60

Cs-137 100% 4% 60 >>100 >>100



Light Ion Collection

Conical Electrode/light Collector Design

• Water-cooled copper rings can

withstand full throughput heat loads

• Collector surface intercepts all ion orbits

• Insulating stand-offs and feed-throughs are protected from the plasma heat

• Collection rate

~ 5 mm per hour at full demo throughput

• Access ports available for coupon surface sampling of collected deposits



Heavy Ion Collector

Paddlewheel Design

• Collector surface intercepts heavy ion orbits

• Tilted paddles minimize plasma refuelling by sputtered heavy particles

• Open geometry allows neutral gas pumping

• Collection rates– less than 0.15 mm/hr at full Demo

throughput – Up to 1.5 mm/hr on the plasma

edge due to radial electric currents – Extended operation without

cleaning is possible

• Cooling allows steady state operation at full throughput

heavy ion orbit



Demo Status

Summary

• Filter separation physics demonstrated

– Plasma rotates at required velocity for separation– Expected decontamination factors are measured for heavy elements– Separation scales with electrode voltage and magnetic field

• Basic technology solutions demonstrated

– Surrogate preparation: calcination and conversion to powder– Injection: delivery of surrogate into the plasma– RF heating: conversion of injected surrogate into plasma– Electrodes: plasma rotation and separation– Collectors: collection and recovery of separated surrogate



DEMO Parameters are Near Target for Full Throughput

Separation Tests

Parameter Engineering Maximum Value Achieved

Hanford Test Program Goal

Plasma Radius (m) 0.4 0.4

Plasma Length (m) 3.9 3.9

Magnetic Field (Gauss) 1600 1500

RF Frequency (MHz) 4 4

RF Power (MW) 3 3

Plasma Density (1e19 m-3) 2.0 2.0

Throughput (ion-mol/s) 0.04 0.1

Electrode Voltage (Volts) 300 500

Ion Temperature (eV) 7 13

Discharge Duration (s) 600 Steady State

Plasma Based Separations: 21st Century Technology Solution for Nuclear Waste and a Proliferation Resistant Commercial Fuel Cycle



• Currently the National Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982, as amended, limits Yucca Mt. to 70,000 MT of spent nuclear fuel

– 7,000 MT is reserved for DOE defense waste

– Remaining 63,000 MT is adequate for spent fuel from existing fleet of reactors if all plants are shut down by 2010

– 120,000 MT is required if all operating reactors are granted 20 yr extensions

– Geologic exploration indicates Yucca Mt could expand to 119,000 MT with NWPA amendment

• The DOE must report to Congress on the need for a second repository in 2010

• Future repository strategy is likely to incorporate ‘actinide burning’ in advanced reactors to reduce storage capacity demands

Background



Expected U.S. Repository Needs in 2100 (AFCI Source)



Reprocessing Technologies for Spent Nuclear Fuel

• Reprocessing to recycle Pu in MOX reactor fuel (PUREX)– Similar to French La Hague Plant in technology, capacity & cost

700 acre, 6000 employees, 1700 MT/year capacityFP & actinide waste immobilized in borosilicate glassAfter MOX recycle, Pu is separated and stored for future reactors

• Reprocessing to extract uranium (UREX) and chemically separate FP from actinides (UREX+)– Requires U extraction and FP separation, but no Pu extraction

Uranium recycle or disposal as low-level waste (LLW)Cs & Sr stored in surface repository for ~300 years, then disposal as LLWActinides immobilized in glass with disposal in Yucca Mt or stored for future use as nuclear fuel

• Hybrid reprocessing with UREX and Archimedes Filter– UREX uranium extraction followed by Filter separation of FP & actinides

U extraction (UREX) is the same, but FP & Pu/actinide separation by physical processAchieves same objectives as chemical reprocessing plant with much less by-product radioactive wasteOffers cost and schedule advantages



Comparison of UREX, UREX+ and UREX-AFP Process Streams

Storage

CuttingDissolution

Clarification

Spent Fuel

UREXU Tc

insoluble streamif not treated

CCD-PEG Cs, Sr

AFP Fissionproducts

Actinides

NPEX Pu, Np, U

TRUEX Am, Cm,Rare Earths

CYANEX 301Am, Cm

Fission products

Xe, I, Kr

45GWd/MT, 10y cooling

UREX+

100 wt%

0.6 wt%

0.07 wt%72.02 wt%

22.74 wt%

3.25 wt%

1.32 wt%

0.32 wt%

.96 wt%

0.07 wt%

1.35 wt%

UREX-AFP

Insoluble stream

Fission Products 1.58 wt%

Actinides 0.29 wt%

Cladding (Zircaloy, Steel)



Archimedes Filter Function Spent for Commercial Fuel

Group Separation

100

0

Br 81

Se 82

Rb 87Y 89Sr 9

0Zr 9

6Mo 9

8Ru 104Rh 103Pd 1

08Ag 1

09Cd 116Sb 1

23Sn 1

26Tr 1

30Cs 1

37Ba 1

38La

139

Ce 142Pr 1

41Nd 150Pm 14

7Sm 15

4Eu 1

54Gd 1

58

Np 237Pu 2

42Am 24

3Cm 24

5

isotopes

%

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

kg/ s

pent

fuel

ton

% of isotope separated by heavy collector



UREX-AFP Mission and High Level Requirements

• Mission:

– The hybrid UREX pretreatment and Archimedes Filter Plant mass separation process will enable expansion of Yucca Mt capacity to ~250,000 MT of spent nuclear fuel.

• Requirements:

– Process 2000 MT of spent nuclear fuel per year

– Separation of FP from Pu/actinides sufficient to achieve desired repository capacity

– Provide least environmental impact of all alternative technologies

– Plant startup consistent with first shipments to Yucca Mt

– Provide option to extract Pu if desired



UREX-AFP Simplified Flow Sheet (45GWd/MT, 10y Cooling)

Extraction

UraniumRe-extraction

UraniumStripping

Uranium936 kg

Tc1 kg

RaffinateStream35 kg

Feed1300 kg

Cladding294 kg

CuttingDissolution

InsolubleStream24 kg

Pre-treatment

ARCHIMEDESFilter

FissionProducts(42– x)

kg

Actinides

17 kg

GasTreatment

Gas 8.5 kg

Gas x kg

UREX

AFPSurface Repository

Storage or recycle



Summary of Process Stream Contents

NB : 8.51 kg of gas and 294 kg or metal cladding are removed after rod cutting and dissolution

ElementsSpent fuel

input(45GWd/MT,10 y cooling)

Removed by UREX

Raffinate stream

Insoluble stream

Processed by ARCHIMEDES

filter

U (kg/MT)940.75 936.05 0.94 3.76 4.70

Pu (kg/MT)11.00 0.00 10.89 0.04 10.93

Minor Actinides (kg/Mt)

1.56 0.00 1.55 0.01 1.55

Fission Produc ts minus Tc

45.34 0.00 21.75 14.61 36.36

Metal cladding (kg/MT)

300.00 0.00 0.00 6.00 6.00

Tc (kg/MT)1.03 0.98 0.05 0.00 0.05

Total (kg/MT)1299.68 937.03 35.18 24.42 59.60

% 100.00 72.10 2.71 1.88 4.59



Implementation Comparison of Alternative Technologies

• Reprocessing with MOX fuel recycle– High cost and schedule– LWR plants may opt to not use MOX fuel– Does not expand repository capacity

• Reprocessing with UREX+ radio-chemical plant– Highest cost and schedule– Environmental impact greater than UREX-AFP– Significantly expands repository capacity

• Reprocessing with hybrid UREX and AFP plant– Lowest cost and shortest schedule– Same repository benefits as UREX+ radio-chemical plant– Least environmental impact



BACKUP SLIDES

Plasma Torch Development Activities at Archimedes

Documents

Transcript of Plasma Torch Development Activities at Archimedes