Disposal of radioactive waste by means of nuclear conversion

Abstract

Nowadays radioactive waste (RW) are being buried in geologic rocks. There is an alternative method of waste disposal. It is a transmutation of radioactive isotopes into stable ones by nuclear reactions with the use of accelerators with a particle energy of 50-1000 MeV. We have shown that neutrons from spallation reactions have no advantages in comparison with a hard neutron spectrum reactor technology. We have shown that during reprocessing the Th-U reactor RW, where there is a lack of actinide group, the effectiveness of proton beams and neutrons from the spallation reaction for RW disposal may be at the required level.