ADS History in the USA

Nearly all risks to future generations arising from long-term disposal of used nuclear fuel are attributable to the transuranic elements and long-lived fission products, about 2% of its content. The transuranic elements of concern are plutonium, neptunium, americium, and curium. Long-lived (>100,000-year half-life) isotopes of iodine and technetium are also created by nuclear fission of uranium. We can reduce the problem transuranics through accelerator-based transmutation. Accelerator Driven Systems (ADS) have been proposed for over two decades as one technique to transmute used nuclear fuel. This paper covers the history and some new possible applications of accelerator driven systems.