REFINE: A coordinated materials programme for the sustainable REduction of spent Fuel vital In a closed loop Nuclear Energy cycle

核裂变目前在国际上被公认为一种关键的低碳能源，对对抗全球变暖至关重要，这激发了人们的兴趣和近期的投资。例如，RCUK的能源计划将核裂变确定为英国未来“三位一体”燃料选择的重要组成部分，与可再生能源和清洁煤并列。然而，核能是有争议的，有衷心的意见支持和反对，并有一个真正的要求，使其更清洁，更环保。需要大规模的国际工作计划，通过第三+和第四代反应堆系统提供短期和长期所需规模的安全、可靠、经济和可持续的核能。全世界迫切需要的是发展适用于这些新反应堆（以及处理旧反应堆遗留下来的废燃料）的特定乏燃料后处理技术。REFINE项目将在5所合作大学和英国国家核实验室NNL中组建一个多学科团队来解决这个燃料后处理问题。该财团将开展一项材料研究计划，通过直接氧化还原和熔融盐系统的选择性电溶解和电镀来开发材料的电合成，从而提供燃料后处理。开发、优化和控制这些过程将为如何最好地再处理核燃料提供方法和基本理解。此外，还开发了新的熔盐系统技术、新的传感和分析技术，并建立了熔盐过程发生的动力学和机制。这将促进快速的工艺开发和优化，以及相关领域的应用程序的生成。该方案的一个关键产出将是培训和发展多学科的英国研究人员，这些研究人员需要使清洁核能成为可能，并产生互补的科学和技术突破。

Nuclear fission is currently internationally recognised as a key low carbon energy source, vital in the fight against global warming, which has stimulated much interest and recent investment. For example, RCUK's energy programme has identified nuclear fission as an essential part of the "trinity" of future fuel options for the UK, alongside renewables and clean coal. However, nuclear energy is controversial, with heartfelt opinion both for and against, and there is a real requirement to make it cleaner and greener. Large international programmes of work are needed to deliver safe, reliable, economic and sustainable nuclear energy on the scale required in both the short and long term, through Gen III+ & Gen IV reactor systems. A pressing worldwide need is the development of specific spent fuel reprocessing technology suitable for these new reactors (as well as for dealing with legacy waste fuel from old reactors). The REFINE programme will assemble a multidisciplinary team across five partner universities and NNL, the UK's national nuclear laboratory to address this fuel reprocessing issue. The consortium will carry out a materials research programme to deliver fuel reprocessing by developing materials electrosynthesis through direct oxide reduction and selective electrodissolution and electroplating from molten salt systems. Developing, optimising and controlling these processes will provide methods for, and a fundamental understanding of, how best to reprocess nuclear fuel. This is in addition to the development of techniques for new molten salt systems, new sensing and analysis technologies and the establishment of the kinetics and mechanisms by which molten salt processes occur. This will facilitate rapid process development and optimization, as well as the generation of applications in related areas.A key output of the programme will be the training and development of the multidisciplinary UK researchers required to make possible clean nuclear energy and generate complementary scientific and technological breakthroughs.