TRANSMUTATION OF TOXIC ISOTOPES
By Jan Wallenius
TRANSMUTATION OF TOXIC ISOTOPES
Jan Wallenius (Royal Inst. Technol., Dept. Nucl. & Reactor Phys., Sweden), "Transmutation of 137Cs and 129I Using a Muon-Catalyzed Fusion Neutron Source," Fusion Technol., vol 33, no 4, July 1998, pp 456-461, 14 refs, 4 figs, 1 table.
AUTHOR'S ABSTRACT
Transmutation of the radio-toxic isotopes 137-Cs and 129-I using a muon-catalyzed fusion (microCF) neutron source is considered. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations show that each fusion neutron may transmute up to 1.7 radio-toxic nuclei, depending on geometry and choice of material. Further, it is found that chemically confining cesium atoms in the compound Cs2-O leads to higher transmutation efficiency for a given volume as compared with pure cesium. Assuming that a minimal requirement for applying transmutations to 137-Cs is that the inventory half-life with respect to undergoing transmutation is less than twice the natural half-life T(1/2) = 30 yr, the highest transmutation rate in a system consisting of a microCF source with a maximum achievable intensity of 5 x 10**18 n/s is ~ 5 kg/yr, at an inventory of 300 kg. For larger inventories, the half-life becomes longer. Hence, it seems difficult to achieve a positive energy balance in the process, in contradiction with results of a previous study.
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Sep. 8, 1998.