The ADAPT concept—an accelerator driven system for the rapid and efficient disposal of plutonium

A new concept; termed ADAPT; for the rapid and virtually complete burning of plutonium is described. ADAPT employs a high current CW linear accelerator (linac) to generate neutrons in a lead/D2O target. The neutrons are then absorbed in a surrounding subcritical (Keff∼0.95) blanket assembly, that holds small (∼0.5 cm diameter) graphite beads containing the plutonium to be burned. The graphite beads are coated and sealed to contain all fission products, including the noble gases. After destruction of virtually all (≥90%) of the original plutonium loading, the fuel beads are discharged and sent to a geologic repository for ultimate disposal.