Chapter 1
Nuclear Transmutation of Long-Lived
Nuclides with Laser Compton Scattering:
Quantitative Analysis by Theoretical
Approach
Shizuka Takai and Kouichi Hagino
Abstract A photo-neutron (γ, n) reaction with laser Compton scattering γ-rays has
been suggested to be effective for the nuclear transmutations of fission products.
The photo-neutron reaction occurs via a giant dipole resonance, which has a large
cross section and whose properties are smooth functions of mass number. The laser
Compton scattering can generate effectively and selectively high-energy photons
with a desired energy range. In this chapter, we investigate quantitatively the
effectiveness of the transmutation with laser Compton scattering based on the
Hauser–Feshbach theory using the TALYS code. We carry out simulations for
high-decay heating nuclide
137 Cs, in which the cross sections for
137
Cs (γ, γ), (γ, n),
and (γ, 2n) reactions, and the total photonuclear reaction cross sections versus
incident photon energy, are calculated. The incident photon energy obtained by
laser Compton scattering is also optimized. It is shown that the transmutation with
medium-energy photon with a flux of more than 10
18 /s effectively reduces the
radioactivity of the target
137 Cs.
Keywords
137 Cs • Giant dipole resonance • Laser Compton scattering • Photoneutron reaction • Radioactive wastes • Transmutation
1.1 Introduction
One of the major problems of the nuclear fuel cycle is the disposal of high-level
radioactive waste that contains long-lived nuclides such as
129 I and high-decay
heating nuclides such as
137 Cs. After the severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi
S. Takai (*)
Nuclear Safety Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun,
Ibaraki 319-1115, Japan
e-mail: takai.shizuka@jaea.go.jp
K. Hagino
Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578, Japan
© The Author(s) 2015
K. Nakajima (ed.), Nuclear Back-end and Transmutation Technology for Waste
Disposal, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-55111-9_1
3
Nuclear Transmutation of Long-Lived
Nuclides with Laser Compton Scattering:
Quantitative Analysis by Theoretical
Approach
Shizuka Takai and Kouichi Hagino
Abstract A photo-neutron (γ, n) reaction with laser Compton scattering γ-rays has
been suggested to be effective for the nuclear transmutations of fission products.
The photo-neutron reaction occurs via a giant dipole resonance, which has a large
cross section and whose properties are smooth functions of mass number. The laser
Compton scattering can generate effectively and selectively high-energy photons
with a desired energy range. In this chapter, we investigate quantitatively the
effectiveness of the transmutation with laser Compton scattering based on the
Hauser–Feshbach theory using the TALYS code. We carry out simulations for
high-decay heating nuclide
137 Cs, in which the cross sections for
137
Cs (γ, γ), (γ, n),
and (γ, 2n) reactions, and the total photonuclear reaction cross sections versus
incident photon energy, are calculated. The incident photon energy obtained by
laser Compton scattering is also optimized. It is shown that the transmutation with
medium-energy photon with a flux of more than 10
18 /s effectively reduces the
radioactivity of the target
137 Cs.
Keywords
137 Cs • Giant dipole resonance • Laser Compton scattering • Photoneutron reaction • Radioactive wastes • Transmutation
1.1 Introduction
One of the major problems of the nuclear fuel cycle is the disposal of high-level
radioactive waste that contains long-lived nuclides such as
129 I and high-decay
heating nuclides such as
137 Cs. After the severe accident at the Fukushima Daiichi
S. Takai (*)
Nuclear Safety Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun,
Ibaraki 319-1115, Japan
e-mail: takai.shizuka@jaea.go.jp
K. Hagino
Department of Physics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578, Japan
© The Author(s) 2015
K. Nakajima (ed.), Nuclear Back-end and Transmutation Technology for Waste
Disposal, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-55111-9_1
3