Radiotoxicity of transuranics recycling in heterogeneous fuel assemblies for boiling water reactors

In this paper the radiotoxicity of transuranics from recycled spent fuel is analyzed for three types of boiling water reactor heterogeneous fuel assemblies (Standard MOX, MOX-EU and CORAIL). The results show that in the period from few hundred years after fuel discharge, until 100,000 years, the radiotoxicity of the first recycling is smaller than radiotoxicity from the direct cycle. At an isotopic level, the radiotoxicity of the three heterogeneous assemblies is practically the same. Analysis of the production and destruction of the transuranics shows that the MOX-EU assemblies with higher plutonium (Pu) and minor actinides (MA) consumption are those with the lowest enriched uranium content. On the other side, the CORAL-type assembly is a producer of Pu and MA, and the standard MOX assembly is a transuranic consumer.