Plasma Utilization and Immobilization of Waste Reprocessing for Spent Nuclear Fuel

The safe treatment and reliable immobilization of waste generated during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel remain critical challenges for nuclear power. This study evaluates the feasibility of a plasma-based route that converts liquid reprocessing residues into chemically stable metal-oxide powders and then immobilizes these products into durable matrices suitable for long-term storage. The approach combines thermodynamic modeling with laboratory-scale experiments. Modeling was used to determine adiabatic combustion temperatures and equilibrium phase compositions for water–salt–organic feeds under plasma exposure. Experiments with a high-frequency plasma generator confirmed that, under optimized conditions near 1200°C, organic constituents are completely oxidized, and finely dispersed oxides are formed. The resulting powders include simple and complex oxides of iron, molybdenum, zirconium, neodymium, cerium, strontium, and yttrium; the phase balance depends on the plasma-cooling regime. Post-processing by gravitational and magnetic separation improves powder recovery and purity. For final conditioning, the oxides were incorporated into chloride-based melts, yielding dense, chemically and thermally stable solid forms after solidification. These results demonstrate that plasma treatment can integrate waste destruction, oxidation, and immobilization within a single technological workflow, reducing external heat demand and enabling robust products for storage or further use. The findings provide an engineering basis for scaling plasma systems for radioactive-waste management with an emphasis on safety, efficiency, and sustainability.