Recovery of Valuable Isotopes and Materials from Spent Nuclear Fuel: Techno-Economic Assessment of Medical, Industrial, and Energy Applications - Tapa blanda

Recovery of Valuable Isotopes and Materials from Spent Nuclear Fuel : Techno-Economic Assessment of Medical, Industrial, and Energy Applications

Taschenbuch. Condición: Neu. Neuware - The United States has accumulated over 90,000 metric tons of initial heavy metal (MTHM) of commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF), managed exclusively as high-level radioactive waste awaiting geological disposal. Yet this inventory contains strategically valuable materials, including medical radioisotopes such as molybdenum-99 and cesium-137, platinum group metals (PGMs) including ruthenium, rhodium, and palladium, rare earth elements (REEs), and americium-241 suitable for radioisotope power systems in deep-space exploration. This dissertation evaluated the technical feasibility and economic viability of multi-product isotope and material recovery from commercial SNF through an integrated techno-economic assessment. The research employed a four-phase pragmatist mixed-methods design: (1) ORIGEN/SCALE-based isotope inventory characterization benchmarked against SFCOMPO 2.0 experimental data, (2) discounted cash flow and 100,000-iteration Monte Carlo techno-economic modeling of an 800 MTHM/year recovery facility, (3) comparative lifecycle assessment conducted under ISO 14040/14044 standards, and (4) Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) supply chain concentration analysis. Results demonstrated that the U.S. SNF stockpile contains approximately 391 tonnes of PGMs, 1,322 tonnes of REEs, and 54.6 tonnes of americium-241. The techno-economic model yielded a net present value of -$18.2 billion with a 0% probability of positive NPV under current market conditions. However, SNF-derived PGM recovery achieves a 98.1% reduction in global warming potential and 99.7% lower primary energy demand compared to conventional mining. Removal of key heat-generating isotopes reduces repository decay heat by 77%, enabling a 4.3-fold increase in geological repository capacity. All target materials exhibited HHI values exceeding 2,500, confirming highly concentrated global supply chains vulnerable to geopolitical disruption. These findings reveal a central paradox: pure market economics do not support commercialization, yet integration of environmental externalities, repository cost offsets, and strategic supply chain value substantially reframes the viability assessment. This dissertation concludes that SNF constitutes a strategic national resource warranting sustained research and development investment and targeted policy mechanisms to bridge the gap between market failure and strategic necessity. Nº de ref. del artículo: 9798181357372

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