Preliminary analysis of waste recycling scenarios for future fusion power plants

As in the case of fission power plants, fusion power plants will have a need to transport radioactive material from the plant site, to the ultimate disposal facility. The objective of this study was to identify and assess means for minimizing the off-site transport of radioactive materials, and ultimately the waste quantity to be disposed of. The results indicate that there are practical options for achieving the objective, such as, on-site refurbishing of in-vessel components (IVCs). Refurbishing can also reduce the overall cost associated with the regular replacement of IVCs (about nine times in the reactor lifetime). On-site IVC refurbishing, however, requires that fusion power plants be constructed as multi-unit plants, preferably four or more units per site. The weakest element of the present study is the quantification of the unit cost for reprocessing neutron multiplier and breeder materials. To reduce the study uncertainties, better unit costs need to be developed for future studies.