Projects
ACSEPT
project name: Actinide reCycling by SEParation and Transmutation
initiating country: The European Union
Framework Programme: FP7 programme area: Euratom contract type: CP – Collaborative Project
contract/proposal/call number: 211267
status: active
start date: March 2008 duration: 48 months projected finish date: March 2012
Project Budget
total budget: € 23,788,960
Participants
Note that the follow people may not represent the full extent of the consortium. FEAST has tried to identify the Australian participants, and their collaborators (or coordinator), within the project. Also note that Australian participation may not necessarily be on a formal level. Further details about the partners in this project can be found at the website listed below.
| name | organisation | state or country |
|---|---|---|
| Mr Michael La Robina | ANSTO | NSW, Australia |
| Mr Pierre Bonillo | CEA | France |
| Dr Gregory Lumpkin | ANSTO | ACT, Australia |
Further information
WWW: www.acsept.org
summary:
Actinide recycling by separation and transmutation is considered worldwide and particularly in several European countries as one of the most promising strategies to reduce the inventory of radioactive waste, thus contributing to make nuclear energy sustainable. Consistently with potentially viable recycling strategies, the Collaborative Project ACSEPT will provide a structured R&D framework to develop chemical separation processes compatible with fuel fabrication techniques, with a view to their future demonstration at the pilot level.
Considering technically mature aqueous separation processes, ACSEPT will optimise and select the most promising ones dedicated to actinide partitioning and those featuring a group separation. These developments will be appropriately balanced with an exploratory research focused on the design of new molecules. In parallel, promising group actinide separation pyro-processes will be developed beyond the current state-of-the-art, as an alternative option, for a longer term.
ACSEPT will also pave the way towards more integration between Partitioning and Transmutation by carrying dissolution as well as actinide conversion studies. All experimental results will be integrated by carrying out engineering and systems studies on aqueous and dry (pyro) processes to prepare for future demonstration at a pilot level. A training and education programme will also be implemented to share the knowledge among partitioning community and present and future generations of researchers.
The challenging objectives of ACSEPT will be addressed by a multi-disciplinary consortium composed of European universities, nuclear research bodies and major industrial players. This consortium will generate fundamental improvements for a future design of an Advanced Processing Pilot Unit. ACSEPT will thus be an essential contribution to the demonstration, in the long term, of the potential benefits of actinide recycling to minimise the burden on the geological repositories.
