Status of Partitioning and Transmutation in India: Research, Development and Technology

A programme is in place to recover the minor actinides from the high active waste solutions of the reprocessing operations and burn them in the fast reactors as well as Accelerator Driven Subcritical Reactor Systems(ADS). Recovery flowsheets based on indigenously synthesised Octyl Phenyl N,N’diisobutyl carbamoyl methyl phosphine oxide (OΦCMPO), malonamides and diglycol amides are being developed. A facility for production of test fuel pins incorporating minor actinides is being set up at IGCAR. A computational benchmark on effective incineration of minor actinides has been setup for analysis in IGCAR, as a part of work related to IAEA coordinated research programme. A 40 MWth fast breeder test reactor with unique (U,Pu)C fuel has been operating and the construction of a 500 MWe prototybe breeder reactor has begun. Actions have been initiated for the development of ADS including high power LINACs and cyclotrons. This paper reports the salient features of the efforts being undertaken to achieve these targets.