Chapter 8
Design of J-PARC Transmutation
Experimental Facility
Toshinobu Sasa
Abstract After the Fukushima accident caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, nuclear transmutation acquired much interest as an effective option of
nuclear waste management. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) proposes
the transmutation of minor actinides by an accelerator-driven system (ADS) using
lead–bismuth eutectic alloy (Pb-Bi) as a spallation target and a coolant of the
subcritical core. The current ADS design has 800 MWth of rated power, which is
driven by a 20 MW proton LINAC, to transmute minor actinides generated from
10 units of standard light water reactors.
To obtain the data required for ADS design, including the European MYRRHA
project, JAEA plans to build a Transmutation Experimental Facility (TEF) within
the framework of the J-PARC project. TEF consists of two buildings: one is an ADS
target test facility (TEF-T), in which will be installed a high-power Pb-Bi spallation
target, and the other is the Transmutation Physics Experimental Facility (TEF-P),
which will set up a fast critical/subcritical assembly driven by a low-power proton
beam. TEF will be located at the end of the 400 MeV LINAC of J-PARC and accept
a 250-kW proton beam with repetition rate of 25 Hz. As major research and
development items of TEF-T, irradiation tests for structural materials and engineering tests for Pb-Bi applications to determine the effective lifetime of the proton
beam window will be performed. The reference design parameter, that considers
operating conditions of the ADS transmutor, was determined by thermal-hydraulic
analyses and structural analyses. When the target operates with full-power beam, a
fast neutron spectrum field is formed around the target, and it is possible to apply
multipurpose usage. Various research plans have been proposed, and layout of the
experimental hall surrounding the target is under way. Basic physics application
such as measurements of nuclear reaction data is considered as one of the major
purposes.
Keywords Accelerator-driven system • J-PARC • Transmutation • Transmutation
Experimental Facility
T. Sasa (*)
Transmutation Section, J-PARC Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4, Shirakata-Shirane,
Tokai-mura, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
e-mail: sasa.toshinobu@jaea.go.jp
© The Author(s) 2015
K. Nakajima (ed.), Nuclear Back-end and Transmutation Technology for Waste
Disposal, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-55111-9_8
73
Design of J-PARC Transmutation
Experimental Facility
Toshinobu Sasa
Abstract After the Fukushima accident caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, nuclear transmutation acquired much interest as an effective option of
nuclear waste management. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) proposes
the transmutation of minor actinides by an accelerator-driven system (ADS) using
lead–bismuth eutectic alloy (Pb-Bi) as a spallation target and a coolant of the
subcritical core. The current ADS design has 800 MWth of rated power, which is
driven by a 20 MW proton LINAC, to transmute minor actinides generated from
10 units of standard light water reactors.
To obtain the data required for ADS design, including the European MYRRHA
project, JAEA plans to build a Transmutation Experimental Facility (TEF) within
the framework of the J-PARC project. TEF consists of two buildings: one is an ADS
target test facility (TEF-T), in which will be installed a high-power Pb-Bi spallation
target, and the other is the Transmutation Physics Experimental Facility (TEF-P),
which will set up a fast critical/subcritical assembly driven by a low-power proton
beam. TEF will be located at the end of the 400 MeV LINAC of J-PARC and accept
a 250-kW proton beam with repetition rate of 25 Hz. As major research and
development items of TEF-T, irradiation tests for structural materials and engineering tests for Pb-Bi applications to determine the effective lifetime of the proton
beam window will be performed. The reference design parameter, that considers
operating conditions of the ADS transmutor, was determined by thermal-hydraulic
analyses and structural analyses. When the target operates with full-power beam, a
fast neutron spectrum field is formed around the target, and it is possible to apply
multipurpose usage. Various research plans have been proposed, and layout of the
experimental hall surrounding the target is under way. Basic physics application
such as measurements of nuclear reaction data is considered as one of the major
purposes.
Keywords Accelerator-driven system • J-PARC • Transmutation • Transmutation
Experimental Facility
T. Sasa (*)
Transmutation Section, J-PARC Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, 2-4, Shirakata-Shirane,
Tokai-mura, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan
e-mail: sasa.toshinobu@jaea.go.jp
© The Author(s) 2015
K. Nakajima (ed.), Nuclear Back-end and Transmutation Technology for Waste
Disposal, DOI 10.1007/978-4-431-55111-9_8
73