A Multi-function Cask for At-Reactor Storage of Short-Cooled Spent Fuel, Transport, and Disposal
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6165 (United States)
The spent nuclear fuel (SNF) system in the United States was designed with the assumptions that SNF would be stored for several years in an at-reactor pool and then transported to reprocessing plants for recovery of fissile materials, that security would not be a major issue, and that the SNF burnups would be low. The system has evolved into a once-through fuel cycle with high-burnup SNF, long-term storage at the reactor sites, and major requirements for safeguards and security. An alternative system is proposed to better meet these current requirements. The SNF is placed in multi-function casks with the casks used for at-reactor storage, transport, and repository disposal. The cask is the handling package, provides radiation shielding, and protects the SNF against accidents and assault. SNF assemblies are handled only once to minimize accident risks, maximize security and safeguards by minimizing access to SNF, and reduce costs. To maximize physical protection, the cask body is constructed of a cermet (oxide particles embedded in steel, the same class of materials used in tank armor) and contains no cooling channels or other penetrations that allow access to the SNF. To minimize pool storage of SNF, the cask is designed to accept short-cooled SNF. To maximize the capability of the cask to reject decay heat and to limit SNF temperatures from short-cooled SNF, the cask uses (1) natural circulation of inert gas mixtures inside the cask to transfer heat from the SNF to the cask body and (2) an overpack with external natural-circulation, liquid-cooled fins to transfer heat from the cask body to the atmosphere. This approach utilizes the entire cask body area for heat transfer to maximize heat removal rates-without any penetrations through the cask body that would reduce the physical protection capabilities of the cask body. After the SNF has cooled, the cooling overpack is removed. At the repository, the cask is placed in a corrosion-resistant overpack before disposal. This cask design approach can also be used for storage only and dual-purpose (storage and transport) SNF casks. (author)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 21160750
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ICAPP'04: 2004 international congress on advances in nuclear power plants, Pittsburgh, PA (United States), 13-17 Jun 2004; Other Information: Country of input: France; 5 refs; Related Information: In: Proceedings of the 2004 international congress on advances in nuclear power plants - ICAPP'04, 2338 pages.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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