The Geneva-based nuclear energy start-up Transmutex has developed a technology that could massively reduce nuclear waste. Nagra considers the calculations plausible, but is sticking to the final storage facility.
The community hall in the multi-purpose building in Stadel ZH is well filled. The organizers are “overwhelmed” by the fact that so many people have come. Here, where the village’s dramatic society usually performs comedies and crime dramas, there is a small lectern in front of the huge red velvet curtain. The program includes a lecture by Franz Strohmer, the head of fuel and reprocessing at the Geneva-based nuclear energy start-up Transmutex.
It is no wonder that Strohmer fills the hall. The final storage facility for radioactive waste is to be built three kilometers away. In his presentation, Franz Strohmer will explain what his company would do with the radioactive waste: It would not bury it forever. Instead, it would be recycled and burned in a completely new type of reactor that the company is currently developing.
Meltdown impossible
Transmutex was founded in 2019 and is privately financed. The company employs 38 people from 16 nations. The concept for the revolutionary nuclear reactor was conceived years ago by a team led by Carlo Rubbia. The Nobel Prize winner in physics was formerly Director General of CERN, the world-famous European Organization for Nuclear Research.
Rubbia designed a reactor that would never experience a nuclear meltdown like in Chernobyl or Fukushima. And that would produce practically no highly radioactive waste. On the contrary: it uses existing waste as fuel – and thus massively reduces the amount of waste. This process is called “transmutation”.
Transmutex has now calculated how much its technology could reduce nuclear waste in Switzerland. The result for particularly dangerous, highly radioactive waste: by over 80 percent. In addition, transmutation could shorten the time needed for the radiation to decay by a factor of 1,000. After 500 years, the remaining waste would be harmless. “That is a time period that people can imagine,” Strohmer said to the audience.
Calculation plausible according to Nagra
These values were calculated based on figures from Nagra, the organization responsible for the disposal of radioactive waste. It is not unusual for Nagra to be involved with Transmutex. “We are looking at all technologies that could have an impact on final disposal,” says Tim Vietor, head of the Safety, Geology and Radioactive Materials Division at Nagra. This covers a wide spectrum, from the use of robotics for the storage of radioactive waste to completely new reactor concepts.
Vietor says the calculations on the amount of waste and the time needed for decay are plausible. “If transmutation could be used, we would have less high-level waste,” he confirms. “On the other hand, more low- and medium-level waste would be produced.”
The concept therefore does not change Nagra’s plans. “Switzerland needs a deep repository one way or another,” says Vietor. Transmutex also admits this. According to Vietor, Nagra has a clear mandate: to build a deep repository for radioactive waste in Switzerland. Concepts such as that of the young Geneva company “do not relieve us of this responsibility.” There is no reason to sit back and wait and leave the solution to the final storage issue to the next generation.
Six small reactors
According to Transmutex expert Strohmer, in order to process the nuclear waste, a facility would be needed in which the 12,500 spent fuel elements could be recycled and prepared for further use. In addition, six Transmutex small reactors would have to be built to process the processed waste. After 50 years, they would have processed the entire stock of spent fuel elements.
The six reactors would have an output roughly equivalent to that of the Leibstadt nuclear power plant. According to the startup’s calculations, a prototype of the reactor would cost around 1.5 billion euros, while in series production the amount would be reduced to around 700 million euros. The facility for separating the waste would be similarly expensive.
Switzerland would therefore have to reckon with 6 billion euros to implement the concept. The plants would not only be financed through electricity production. According to Transmutex expert Strohmer, they could produce fission products that can be sold – such as caesium-137, which is already used to irradiate tumors.
In Switzerland, however, two changes to the law would be necessary because the construction of new nuclear power plants and the processing of waste are not permitted. However, at least the ban on building new nuclear power plants could be lifted: a corresponding popular initiative was submitted in February.
Approval sought in the USA
Transmutex is not just focusing on Switzerland. The company wants to receive approval from the US nuclear authority by 2035. On this basis, it will then seek approval in other countries. According to Strohmer, various countries are interested in the technology and there are also offers of financing. However, Transmutex wants to remain a private company. The next round of financing, with which the startup wants to raise around 200 million francs, should be completed by winter.
Originally, cooperation with Russia was also planned. The country’s nuclear industry was supposed to supply important parts for the plants. These plans have since been abandoned, as an employee of the young company confirmed. “After the Russian attack, it was clear that further cooperation was not possible,” he says.
Nagra expert Vietor says the startup’s plans are challenging to implement. For example, the company cannot rely on an already established process for the planned waste processing. In addition, locations for the various necessary facilities must be found.
Waste can be recovered
In November, Nagra will submit a general licence application for the repository at Stadel to the federal government. It currently expects that low- and medium-level radioactive waste will probably be stored in the deep geological repository from around 2050 and high-level radioactive waste from around 2060. According to Vietor, Transmutex therefore still has time to prove that its concept works and can be implemented.
In addition, the waste can be retrieved for a long time after storage because the storage facility is not completely sealed immediately. The waste containers are also stored in such a way that they can be picked up and brought to the surface again if necessary, explains Vietor.
After the presentation by Transmutex man Strohmer, questions are rained down from the audience in the community hall. One villager says that he does not want a reprocessing plant in his village in addition to the final storage facility. But at the end there is thunderous applause, which the Drama Society would probably be happy with. There is just one discordant note: the Nagra representatives present that evening do not want to be photographed with Transmutex.