Study of Deep Subcritical Electronuclear Systems and Feasibility of Their Application for Energy Production and Radioactive Waste Trnsmutation

Abstract

Physical substantiation for investigation of new schemes of electronuclear power production and transmutation of long-lived radioactive wastes based on nuclear relativistic technologies is presented. "E&T RAW" ("Energy and Transmutation of Radioactive Wastes") is aimed at the complex study of the interaction of relativistic beams of the Nuclotron-M with energies up to 10 GeV in quasi-inˇnite targets. Feasibility of application of natural/depleted uranium or thorium without the use of uranium-235, as well as utilization of spent fuel elements of atomic power plants is demonstrated based on analysis of results of known experiments, numerical, and theoretical works. The "E&T RAW" project will provide fundamentally new data and numerical methods necessary for the design of demonstration experimental-industrial setups based on the proposed scheme.