Dry-vault storage of spent fuel at the CASCAD facility
A new modular dry storage vault concept using vertical metallic wells cooled by natural convection has been developed by the Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique and Societe Generale pour les Techniques Nouvelles to accommodate special fuels for high-level wastes. Basic specifications and design criteria have been followed to guarantee a double containment system and cooling to maintain the fuel below an acceptable temperature. The double containment is provided by two static barriers: At the reactor, fuels are placed in containers playing the role of the first barrier; the storage wells constitute the second barrier. Spent fuel placed in wells is cooled by natural convection: a boundary layer is created along the outer side of the well. The heated air rises along the well leading to a thermosiphon flow that extracts the heat released. For heat transfer, studies, computations, and experimental tests have been carried out to calculate and determine the temperature of the containers and the fuel rod temperatures in various situations. The CASCAD vault storage can be applied to light water reactor (LWR) fuels without any difficulties if two requirements are satisfied: (1) Spend fuels have to be inserted in tight canisters. (2) Spent fuels have to be received only after a minimum decay time of 5 yr.
- OSTI ID:
- 6769894
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-891103-; CODEN: TANSA; TRN: 90-023391
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA), Vol. 60; Conference: Winter meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) and nuclear power and technology exhibit, San Francisco, CA (USA), 26-30 Nov 1989; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
PWR TYPE REACTORS
COOLING
DRY STORAGE
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MODULAR STRUCTURES
NATURAL CONVECTION
CONVECTION
ENERGY TRANSFER
HEAT TRANSFER
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTORS
STORAGE
WASTES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
210100* - Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
210200 - Power Reactors
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Light-Water Moderated
Nonboiling Water Cooled
050900 - Nuclear Fuels- Transport
Handling
& Storage