Proliferation Resistance study of a novel Group Actinide Separations Technique

The proliferation resistance values of a standard Plutonium Uranium Extraction (PUREX) reprocessing technique and a novel Group ActiNide EXtraction (GANEX)-type technique have been assessed and compared. The proposed GANEX-type process utilizes co-crystallization of hexavalent actinide ions with uranium(VI) ions from nitric acid, which avoids the unwanted effects of organic reductants used in the PUREX process. This GANEX-type process allows recovery of not only the uranium and plutonium, but also the neptunium and americium. This solves both the energy potential recovery problem as well as the heat load and long-term hazard problem associated with geologic storage, while avoiding the possibility of producing a Pu only stream. The computer code, PRAETOR (Proliferation Resistance Analysis and Evaluation Tool for Observed Risk) has been used to aid in comparing the proliferation resistance (PR) of nuclear facilities and materials. PRAETOR employs Multi-Attribute Utility Analysis (MAUA) methodology, to combine sixty-eight attributes which capture the PR characteristics of the special nuclear material (SNM) and the nuclear installation being analyzed. The sixty-eight attribute inputs are folded into four proliferation stages: Diversion, Transportation, Transformation, and Weaponization. These four stages are then combined to yield an Overall PR value. The PR values range between 0 and 1 with high values indicating higher PR. The PRAETOR code will be used to quantify the difference in proliferation resistance between PUREX process and this GANEXtype process.