A scheme for the industrial production of plutonium-238 using power nuclear reactors has been proposed at the Institute of Industrial Nuclear Technologies of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI.
According to Professor Eduard Glagovsky, Director of the Institute of Industrial Nuclear Technologies (IINT), Plutonium-238 plays the role of the main energy source for spacecraft involved in the study of the planets of the Solar system. This is, in particular, due to the Plutonium half-life, which is comparable to the duration of operation of spacecraft exploring deep space, which can last for decades. Plutonium-238 is also a valuable source of energy for the Russian Lunar Program.
At the same time, the amount of this isotope of plutonium that is currently available in Russia and in the world is clearly insufficient. Therefore, MEPhI scientists have considered the technological scheme of industrial production of plutonium using power reactors, as well as autonomous power sources that allow economical consumption of this isotope.
According to Igor Konovalov, Deputy Director of the IINT MEPhI, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, the essence of the considered scheme is that isotopes of americium or neptunium, which are currently considered as radioactive waste, will be extracted from spent uranium fuel of nuclear power plants as an intermediate stage, and used for the production of the Plutonium-238 isotope.
On October 24, the proposed scheme was discussed at MEPhI at a seminar with representatives of the Nuclear Materials Department of the Rosatom State Corporation, Science and Innovation Private Institution, Mayak Production Association, RFNC-VNIIEF, Mining and Chemical Combine, JSC BREAKTHROUGH, JSC NIKIET, V.G. Khlopin Radium Institute, TENEX, Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, JSC «SSC RIAR», OKB GIDROPRESS, JSC TVEL, JSC Lavochkin Association and Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia".
As a result of the seminar, participants adopted a resolution that the use of the Pu-238 isotope for autonomous energy sources is a promising option for the domestic Lunar program and space exploration.
As the first stage, it is proposed to consider the issue of obtaining the Pu-238 isotope by irradiation of the already accumulated Np in research and isotope reactors at the Mayak Production Association using the mastered technology of radiochemical processing. In the future, increasing demand for the Pu-238 isotope may force to consider options for its production in high-power fast neutron power reactors, the world leader in the development and construction of which is Russia. It is proposed to use a variant based on semiconductor thermophotovoltaic materials with a thermal radiation conversion efficiency of at least 15% as small-sized autonomous power sources (up to 100 W) based on Pu-238. It is more than twice higher than for the best domestic and foreign isotope power sources. On the basis of the MEPhI branch – the Ozersk Technological Institute – MEPhI together with the Mayak Production Association and RFNC-VNIIEF are creating a structure to demonstrate the technical characteristics of this method to convert Pu-238 nuclear decay energy.
