CDT - Central Design Team (CDT) for a fast-spectrum transmutation experimental facility

Objective

Besides the European Global Energy Policy, the European Council adopted an action plan that covers nuclear technologies and supports research in order to "further improve nuclear safety and the management of radioactive waste". To obtain a more efficient and sustainable management of radioactive waste and hence reduce the burden on geological storage, one can apply partitioning and transmutation independently of future commitment or not to nuclear energy.

Within European Union many R&D organisations and industries are conducting since a decade strong R&D in the Partitioning &Transmutation (P&T) field with substantial support from the European Commission. Fostering the European efforts towards a major facility realisation would be very beneficial. This will speed up the development and put Europe at lead in this field. The design of a fast spectrum transmutation experimental facility (FASTEF), able to demonstrate efficient transmutation and associated technology through a system working in subcritical mode (ADS) and/or critical mode, is thus the next step after FP6 IP-EUROTRANS. In the vision report of the "Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technological Platform", the need was clearly expressed for a fast-spectrum experimental system to support the development and demonstration of an alternative technology to sodium.

Therefore, FASTEF is proposed to be designed to an advanced level for decision to embark for its construction at the horizon of 2012 with the following objectives: to demonstrate the ADS technology and the efficient transmutation of high level waste; to operate as a flexible irradiation facility; to contribute to the demonstration of the Lead Fast Reactor technology without jeopardising the above objectives.

Total cost: EUR 4 029 789
EU contribution: EUR 2 000 000
Coordinated in: Belgium
Subprogramme: Fission-2008-1.2.1 - Establishment of a Central Design Team (CDT) for a fast-spectrum transmutation device
Call for proposal: FP7-Fission-2008
Funding scheme: CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research project

Coordinator: STUDIECENTRUM VOOR KERNENERGIE Belgium

Participants

• ANSALDO NUCLEARE SPA Italy
• DEL FUNGO GIERA ENERGIA SPA*DFGE Italy
• ENTE PER LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE, L'ENERGIA E L'AMBIENTE Italy
• EMPRESARIOS AGRUPADOS INTERNACIONA L SA Spain
• AREVA NP SAS France
• CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE (CNRS) France
• CENTRO DE INVESTIGACIONES ENERGETICAS, MEDIOAMBIENTALES Y TECNOLOGICAS-CIEMAT Spain
• SENER INGENIERIA Y SISTEMAS S.A. Spain
• ADAPTIVE PREDICTIVE EXPERT CONTROL ADEX SL Spain
• OXFORD TECHNOLOGIES LTD United Kingdom
• FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM DRESDEN-ROSSENDORF EV Germany
• INSTITUTO TECNOLOGICO E NUCLEARPortugal
• NUCLEAR RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY GROUP Netherlands
• UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID Spain
• UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE VALENCIA Spain
• CENTRO DI RICERCA, SVILUPPO E STUDI SUPERIORI IN SARDEGNA Italy
• JAPAN ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY Japan
• NUCLEAR TRANSMUTATION ENERGY RESEARCH CENTER OF KOREA ASSOCIATION South Korea
• Karlsruher Institut fuer Technologie Germany