Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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The exfoliation of irradiated nuclear graphite by treatment with organic solvent: A proposal for its recycling

  • Capone, Mauro (ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic, Development Nuclear Material Characterization Laboratory, Nuclear Waste Management) ;
  • Cherubini, Nadia (ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic, Development Nuclear Material Characterization Laboratory, Nuclear Waste Management) ;
  • Cozzella, Maria Letizia (ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic, Development Nuclear Material Characterization Laboratory, Nuclear Waste Management) ;
  • Dodaro, Alessandro (ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic, Development Nuclear Material Characterization Laboratory, Nuclear Waste Management) ;
  • Guarcini, Tiziana (ENEA Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic, Development Nuclear Material Characterization Laboratory, Nuclear Waste Management)
  • Received : 2018.10.12
  • Accepted : 2019.01.04
  • Published : 2019.05.25
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Abstract

For the past 50 years, graphite has been widely used as a moderator, reflector and fuel matrix in different kinds of gas-cooled reactors. Resulting in approximately 250,000 metric tons of irradiated graphite waste. One of the most significant long-lived radioisotope from graphite reactors is carbon-14 ($^{14}C$) with a half-life of 5730 years, this makes it a huge concern for deep geologic disposal of nuclear graphite (NG). Considering the lifecycle of NG a number of waste management options have been developed, mainly focused on the achievement the radiological requirements for disposal. The existing approaches for recycling depend on the cost to be economically viable. In this new study, an affordable process to remove $^{14}C$ has been proposed using samples taken from the Nuclear Power Plant in Latina (Italy) which have been used to investigate the capability of organic and inorganic solvents in removing $^{14}C$ from exfoliated nuclear graphite, with the aim to design a practicable approach to obtain graphite for recycling or/and safety disposed as L& LLW.

Keywords

References

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