A conceptual design study for some alternatives as well as the advanced aqueous reprocessing system has been progressed as a feasibility study on commercialized fast reactor cycle systems. Among these alternatives, the Supercritical fluid Direct Extraction (Super-DIREX) process is expected to minimize the reprocessing cost because the heavy metals (U, Pu, Np, Am and Cm) are directly extracted from the spent fuel powder in a column covering the dissolution, clarification and extraction process of the advanced aqueous process. The conceptual design for the reprocessing plant using Super-DIREX process was conducted considering the flowsheet, mass balance, specification and number of the components and layout of the components. From the result of the evaluation for the reprocessing cost of the plant with the capacity of 50tHM/y, it is found out that about 30% of the reprocessing cost is reduced compared with the advanced aqueous process (the NEXT process). In addition, using the Super-DIREX process, about 30% of wastes generated from the plant are reduced.
A Numerical Design and Feasibility Study of Self-Wastage Experiment Using Simulant Material in a Sodium Fast Reactor
