CANDU Spent Fuel Purification

Abstract

The Canadian Government’s Nuclear Fuel Waste Act section 20 encourages the development of new methods as an alternative to the current approach, i.e. deep geological repository (DGR), for dealing with CANDU spent fuel. The motivation for pursuing new methods stems from recognizing the potential for burning and elimination of the long lived actinides and uranium-238 isotope, and harvesting of fission products in the form of precious metals. In doing so, the nuclear fuel cycle is effectively closed, and therefore greatly reduce, if not eliminate the need for costly DGRs. This paper describes the outcomes of a series of Chemical Plant Design Capstone projects completed by students and faculty at the University of Toronto during recent years. While the focus is on CANDU spent fuel, i.e. a natural uranium mix of U-238 and U-235, the larger implications and benefits for re-burning of spent fuel from light water reactors are also discussed.