Session M06: Accelerate Solving Energy Crisis: From Fission to Fusion

The perspectives of MYRRHA in contributing to solve the energy crisis

The interest for nuclear energy as part of the energy mix to achieve the energy transition towards CO 2 neutral society by 2050 is regularly mentioned in the IPCC, IAEA and IEA reports. As nuclear energy has nearly no greenhouse gas emissions it can contribute to climate change mitigation objectives. Average lifecycle GHG emissions for electricity production from nuclear energy (6-10 g CO 2 eq]/kWh) are comparable to the values of hydropower and windmills. It's about 20 times less than natural gas and 30 to 40 times less than coal. Therefore, nuclear can be a complementary effective way to renewables to tackle climate change. End 2022, 443 nuclear reactors are in operation in 32 countries and 52 are under construction. Nuclear electricity represents 10% worldwide and more than 25% for EU. Relying on nuclear remains controversial in many countries because of its hazardous nature and sustainability. Especially as regards the back end of the fuel cycle and the management of the spent fuel. Studies have highlighted the advantages of spent fuel reprocessing and recycling strategies versus a once trough fuel cycle scenario. Open cycle require more natural uranium, have a stronger environmental footprint and generate bigger high-level waste (HLW) volumes. There is today a broad scientific and technical consensus that disposal of HLW in deep geologic formations can be considered as an appropriate safe means of isolating it from the biosphere for very long times. Closing the fuel cycle improves drastically the performance of nuclear energy in terms of better use of resources, reducing the burden of the nuclear waste and combining this with the SMR's and ADS We will cover in this talk how the demonstration of closing the fuel cycle can be prepared for industrialization by 2050.   

Gamma-Factory-driven energy source — exploratory studies

How to mitigate the impact of the surge in electricity cost, its volatility, and limited supply in the present and future high-energy accelerator-based research? The possible solution,  advocated and discussed in this talk,  is to produce, in situ, rather than to purchase,  the requisite plug power. The idea is to use a subcritical nuclear reactor,  driven by the specially designed ``Gamma Factory” photon beam. Gamma Factory is a new project, which could use the existing CERN accelerator infrastructure. If realized, it could provide a leap —  in the intensity of the MeV range photon beam — by more than 7 orders of magnitude, with respect to all the present sources of gamma rays. The accelerator and the laser system requirements will be presented to deliver the requisite,  MW-class photon beam. The  merits of the photon-beam scheme of the accelerator-driven system (ADS)  with respect

to those of the proton-beam-driven scheme will be discussed.   

Accelerate Solving Energy crisis: from Fission to Fusion

Fusion involves combining light elements to create slightly heavier ones, which generates copious amounts of energy. Fusion energy is responsible for powering the universe, and if harnessed on Earth, it could serve as an unlimited energy source for civilization. This would offer numerous advantages, including zero carbon emissions, a freely available and never-ending supply of fuel, the ability to generate energy anywhere, an absence of fuel cycle meltdowns or long-lived nuclear waste, and no proliferation of fissile materials. Essentially, fusion energy could be a valuable tool in combating climate change. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that there are obstacles to overcome. In this talk, I will provide a brief overview of the multiple fusion concepts, associated performance, as well as the key challenges that cuts across most fusion concepts. I will also discuss the role of the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) in accelerating fusion energy on the grid. Specifically, I will overview the ARPAE projects relating to fusion energy.   

Status and Outlook of ADS in US

This paper attempts to give a brief overview of activities (past, present and possible future) devoted to the development of the accelerator driven systems (ADS) and their applications in the US.

The ADS related activities peaked in the US in 90’s as a possible solution for handling the Used Nuclear Fuel (UNF) and/or nuclear waste. At similar times, in Europe, Carlo Rubio and a group from CERN proposed a cyclotron-based system using a Thorium fuel cycle as an alternative to the standard critical fission reactors. They argued that a Thorium cycle reduced the concern about long-lived higher actinides and there is an abundant amount of Thorium worldwide. Under the Accelerator Transmutation of Waste (ATW) project in the US, significant efforts focused on the development of ADS concepts for transmutation of nuclear waste. Similar efforts were conducted in other “nuclear” countries. These efforts, however, were abandoned in the US in the early 2000’s. An IAEA report and a roadmap developed in the US provide excellent summary of the outcomes of these activities.

Among noteworthy activities in the US, the author recognizes the ANL’s Neutron Source Facility project, and activities at Virginia Tech and two private companies (ADNA and Muon). This paper will focus on the collaborative work conducted between VT and ADNA that resulted in the GEM*STAR (Green Energy Multiplier Subcritical Thermal-spectrum Accelerator-driven Recycling reactors) system design, and the ANL’s design of an electron accelerator Driven Subcritical

facility that their concept design for disposing of nuclear waste.

The paper presents an analysis performed on the GEM*STAR design and elaborates on the potential for the development of alternative systems, e.g., ADMIRE (Accelerator Driven

Microreactor) that uses molten salt Thorium fuel cycle and generates process heat. The author believes that an ADS system, e.g., ADMIRE, can effectively close the nuclear fuel cycle by burning the UNF to generate energy. The recent studies in the US and ongoing MYRRHA project in Belgium should provide the necessary justification for establishing a new public-private funded initiative on the development and deployment of ADS systems in the US.