Recycling and clearance of fusion activated waste

The irradiation conditions of ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) are taken as reference to analyze recycling (re-use of the waste material after suppression of noxious radionuclides) and clearance (declassification to non-active waste). Recycling is assessed, assuming limits for the surface dose rates of the waste. If alternative materials (reduced activation ferritic steel or Vsingle bondTi alloys) are used, the in-vessel components can be almost completely recycled. A vacuum vessel made of INCONEL and reduced activation steel can also be recycled. Clearance is assessed for the out-of-vessel components, using weighted averages of the clearance levels for single radionuclides proposed by recent IAEA studies. All the components of the outboard zones can be declassified to non-active waste after decay times from a few years to 50 y. The higher irradiation conditions of the inboard zone require the recycling of the coils and the use of reduced activation steel to allow declassification of the coil casings.