Management of waste from the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor and from future fusion power plants

An important inherent advantage of fusion would be the total absence of high-level radioactive spent fuel as produced in fission reactors. Fusion will, however, produce activated material containing both activation products and tritium. Part of the material may also contain chemically toxic substances. This paper describes methods that could be used to manage these materials and also methods to reduce or entirely eliminate the waste quantities. The results are based on studies for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) and also for future fusion power station designs currently under investigation within the European programme on the Safety and Environmental Assessment of fusion power, Long-term (SEAL).