Abstract:
It is shown that the current problems related to the nuclear power cycle can be resolved if the conventional fission process is complemented with the ‘photoneutron reprocessing’ of fissile nuclei directly in spent uranium by using the energy of relativistic storage-ring electrons and transforming it to synchrotron/undulator gamma radiation, and by utilizing the fission products as neutron sources while at the same time transmuting them into stable isotopes. A suitable method of ‘gamma–neutron transmutation’ is described, and the values of its parameters that make the corresponding ‘electrophotonuclear’ power cycle closed and waste-free are determined.
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