Superconducting Proton Linac for Waste Transmutation

In Europe, and specially in France, great concern is given for solving the issue of high level radioactive waste generated by nuclear power plants. A promising option is the use of a proton accelerator driving a subcritical assembly containing the undesired elements. In France, an R&D program has started to study the different parts of this hybrid reactor concentrating on some basic technological points. This four-year R&D phase should lead to a European proposal for building a “demonstrator” having a relatively low thermal power (one hundred MW). This paper describes the main parameters required for the accelerator driver, highlighting the use of niobium superconducting cavities in the high-energy section, reducing the overall length to less than 300 m. A first estimation of the total investment cost of the accelerator is also given.