DUPIC: Direct Use of PWR Waste in CANDU Reactors - Q&A

[oldsloguy]

Just curious, has anyone heard anything lately regarding DUPIC, the direct use of PWR waste in CANDU reactors? What is going on?

Also a couple of questions relating to the process:

Since the name DUPIC specifically refers to PWR waste, does that imply that there is some issue with BWR waste that would render it not desirable for use in CANDU’s?

The Canadians were also talking about an abbreviated dry re-processing method. In that process they would simply crush the waste fuel pellets to release gaseous fission products and then re-sinter them into CANDU pellets. I’m assuming that the reason for this is to allow for greater burn-up of the fuel. Is that correct?

How far could a CANDU burn down the fissile content of these LWR wastes?

 

[Hologram0110]

I don't know much about it and I'm curious if anyone has any links about it. It might have been put on hold because of cost (pure speculation on my part) because CANDU fuel is pretty cheap, the reprocessing and contamination wouldn't be worth it (again, speculation).

Physically BWR/PWR fuel assemblies are very different from CANDU fuel bundles. This would allow them to reshape the fuel so it would be compatible, the release of gaseous fission products might just be a side effect.

 

[oldsloguy]

I don't know much about it and I'm curious if anyone has any links about it. It might have been put on hold because of cost (pure speculation on my part) because CANDU fuel is pretty cheap, the reprocessing and contamination wouldn't be worth it (again, speculation).

Physically BWR/PWR fuel assemblies are very different from CANDU fuel bundles. This would allow them to reshape the fuel so it would be compatible, the release of gaseous fission products might just be a side effect.

Thanks for the reply. I’m surprised that there has not been more interest in this thread. It would be really interesting to hear from some of the guys who are currently working in the nuclear power business. DUPIC has some significant side benefits according to AECL:

http://www.ccnr.org/advanced_fuel_cycles.html
the DUPIC cycle would improve uranium utilization by about 25 percent, compared to an open cycle in which CANDU was fuelled with natural uranium. In this scenario, the total quantity of spent fuel produced by both CANDU and PWR will be reduced by a factor of three.

Here are a couple of other links:
http://www.nuclearfaq.ca/brat_fuel.htm
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf69.html

 

[Hologram0110]

It turns out that DUPIC is alive and well:

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-Chinese_reactor_trials_Candu_fuel_reuse-2403101.html

FTA:

... fuel bundles containing recovered uranium from used fuel had been inserted into Qinshan Phase III unit 1. Over the next six months, another 24 of the 'natural uranium equivalent' (NUE) bundles will be used in two of the reactor's fuel channels...

I'm a little surprised that they are down blending the uranium, however I suspect that it is to reduce the size of a local power peak when you add fresh fuel to the reactor.

 

[oldsloguy]

It turns out that DUPIC is alive and well:

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-Chinese_reactor_trials_Candu_fuel_reuse-2403101.html

FTA:


I'm a little surprised that they are down blending the uranium, however I suspect that it is to reduce the size of a local power peak when you add fresh fuel to the reactor.

Interesting article. Thanks for posting it Hologram0110.

I also was a little surprised they down blended. My frugal nature makes me cringe a little when I think of down blending. Your argument seems reasonable and I was hoping that others would jump-in with thoughts on what the issues might be.

I wonder what fissile mix and total fissile content they finally ended-up with. Another curiosity is how the blending was done and what fission products may have been removed during the blending process.

This topic seem to be treated as if it were related to space aliens in Roswell NM. Given the potential to significantly reduce the SNF waste volume and generate additional power from currently stored SNF, I would think there would be more interest. Any speculation on why there are so few posts?