In the heterogeneous minor actinides transmutation approach, the nuclei to be transmuted are loaded in dedicated targets often located at the core periphery, so that long-lived heavy nuclides are turned into shorter-lived fission products by fission. | On the influence of the americium isotopic vector on the cooling time of minor actinides bearing blankets in fast reactors EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol. 4 11 2018 Nuclear Sciences T. Kooyman et al. published by EDP Sciences 2018 amp Technologies https epjn 2018007 Available online at https REGULAR ARTICLE On the influence of the americium isotopic vector on the cooling time of minor actinides bearing blankets in fast reactors Timothée Kooyman Laurent Buiron and Gerald Rimpault CEA DEN DER SPRC Bat 230 Cadarache 13108 Saint Paul lez Durance Cedex France Received 30 August 2017 Received in final form 31 January 2018 Accepted 20 March 2018 Abstract. In the heterogeneous minor actinides transmutation approach the nuclei to be transmuted are loaded in dedicated targets often located at the core periphery so that long-lived heavy nuclides are turned into shorter-lived fission products by fission. To compensate for low flux level at the core periphery the minor actinides content in the targets is set relatively high around 20 at. which has a negative impact on the reprocessing of the targets due to their important decay heat level. After a complete analysis of the main contributors to the heat load of the irradiated targets it is shown here that the choice of the reprocessing order of the various feeds of americium from the fuel cycle depends on the actual limit for fuel reprocessing. If reprocessing of hot targets is possible it is more interesting to reprocess first the americium feed with a high 243 Am content in order to limit the total cooling time of the targets while if reprocessing of targets is limited by their decay heat it is more interesting to wait for an increase in the 241Am content before loading the americium in the core. An optimization of the reprocessing order appears to lead to a decrease of the total cooling time by 15 years compared to a situation where all the americium feeds are mixed together when two feeds from SFR are .
