Helmut W. Baer Lecture: Transmutation Technology for Long-Lived Nuclear Wastes

Spent nuclear fuel contains long-lived radioactive materials which should be isolated from the biosphere for more than a hundred thousand years. The transmutation technology is to change long-lived nuclides to short-lived or stable ones so that the burden of nuclear waste management can be largely reduced. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) is conducting research and development on Partitioning and Transmutation technology, aiming at reduction of burden for high-level radioactive wastes. To transmute minor actinides such as neptunium and americium effectively, irradiation of them by fast neutrons is considered as a promising way, because fission reactions can directly transmute them. For this purpose, JAEA is developing an Accelerator-Driven System (ADS), which is a hybrid nuclear system coupling a subcritical reactor with a spallation neutron source driven by a high-power proton accelerator.

Please join us to meet Dr. Oigawa at a reception prior to his lecture at 3:30 PM in 337 West Hall.