Role of pyro-chemical processes in advanced fuel cycles

Partitioning and Transmutation (P&T) of Minor Actinides (MAs) and Long-Lived Fission Products (LLFP) arising out of the back-end of the fuel cycle would be one of the key-steps in any future sustainable nuclear fuel cycle. Pyro-chemical separation methods would form a critical stage of P&T by recovering long-lived elements and thus reducing the environmental impact by the back-end of the fuel-cycle. This paper attempts to overview global developments of pyro-chemical process that are envisaged in advanced nuclear fuel cycles. Research and development needs for molten-salt electro-refining as well as molten salt extraction process that are foreseen as partitioning methods for spent nuclear fuels such as oxide, metal and nitride fuels from thermal or fast reactors; high level liquid waste from back-end fuel cycle as well as targets from sub-critical Accelerator Driven Sub-critical reactors would be addressed. The role of high temperature thermodynamic data of minor actinides in defining efficiency of recovery or separation of minor actinides from other fission products such as lanthanides will also be illustrated. In addition, the necessity for determination of accurate high temperature thermodynamic data of minor actinides would be discussed. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.