Partitioning and Transmutation Technology in Japan and its Benefit on High-level Waste Management

In Japan, the partitioning and transmutation (P and T) technology is being studied and developed aiming at the reduction of the burden caused by the high-level radioactive waste (HLW) management. To assess the benefit of the P and T technology in the future nuclear fuel cycles, the repository area necessitated to dispose of the HLW was discussed quantitatively for the spent fuels from UO{sub 2}-LWR, MOX-LWR and MOX-FBR. Four options of the separation process were assumed in the analysis: (1) Conventional PUREX reprocessing, (2) Minor actinide (MA) recycling without partitioning fission product (FP), (3) Partitioning of FP without MA recovery, and (4) Full P and T for both MA and FP. The areas required to emplace waste forms per unit electricity production (m{sup 2}/TWeh) were then compared. The results showed that MA recycling significantly reduced the emplacement area for MOX spent fuels from both LWR and FBR. The full P and T scheme can give further reduction of the emplacement area (i.e. the enhancement of the capacity of a repository site) independently on the fuel type, the reactor type and the cooling period. (authors)