U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Scientific and Technical Information
A NOVEL APPROACH TO SPENT FUEL POOL DECOMMISSIONING
Abstract
The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been at the forefront of developing methods to reduce the cost and schedule of deactivating spent fuel pools (SFP). Several pools have been deactivated at the INL using an underwater approach with divers. These projects provided a basis for the INL cooperation with the Dresden Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 SFP (Exelon Generation Company) deactivation. It represents the first time that a commercial nuclear power plant (NPP) SFP was decommissioned using this underwater coating process. This approach has advantages in many aspects, particularly in reducing airborne contamination and allowing safer, more cost effective deactivation. The INL pioneered underwater coating process was used to decommission three SFPs with a total combined pool volume of over 900,000 gallons. INL provided engineering support and shared project plans to successfully initiate the Dresden project. This report outlines the steps taken by INL and Exelon to decommission SFPs using the underwater coating process. The rationale used to select the underwater coating process and the advantages and disadvantages are described. Special circumstances are also discussed, such as the use of a remotely-operated underwater vehicle to visually and radiologically map the pool areas that were not readily accessible. A larger project,more »
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- DOE - EM
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1027944
- Report Number(s):
- INL/EXT-11-21781
TRN: US1105911
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-05ID14517
- Resource Type:
- Technical Report
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; 21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS; 38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY; COATINGS; CONTAMINATION; DEACTIVATION; DECOMMISSIONING; EVALUATION; GROUTING; INEEL; NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS; SCHEDULES; SPENT FUELS; SUBMARINES; spent fuel pool
Citation Formats
Demmer, R. L. A NOVEL APPROACH TO SPENT FUEL POOL DECOMMISSIONING. United States: N. p., 2011.
Web. doi:10.2172/1027944.
Demmer, R. L. A NOVEL APPROACH TO SPENT FUEL POOL DECOMMISSIONING. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1027944
Demmer, R. L. 2011.
"A NOVEL APPROACH TO SPENT FUEL POOL DECOMMISSIONING". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1027944. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1027944.
@article{osti_1027944,
title = {A NOVEL APPROACH TO SPENT FUEL POOL DECOMMISSIONING},
author = {Demmer, R. L.},
abstractNote = {The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been at the forefront of developing methods to reduce the cost and schedule of deactivating spent fuel pools (SFP). Several pools have been deactivated at the INL using an underwater approach with divers. These projects provided a basis for the INL cooperation with the Dresden Nuclear Power Station Unit 1 SFP (Exelon Generation Company) deactivation. It represents the first time that a commercial nuclear power plant (NPP) SFP was decommissioned using this underwater coating process. This approach has advantages in many aspects, particularly in reducing airborne contamination and allowing safer, more cost effective deactivation. The INL pioneered underwater coating process was used to decommission three SFPs with a total combined pool volume of over 900,000 gallons. INL provided engineering support and shared project plans to successfully initiate the Dresden project. This report outlines the steps taken by INL and Exelon to decommission SFPs using the underwater coating process. The rationale used to select the underwater coating process and the advantages and disadvantages are described. Special circumstances are also discussed, such as the use of a remotely-operated underwater vehicle to visually and radiologically map the pool areas that were not readily accessible. A larger project, the INTEC-603 SFP in-situ (grouting) deactivation, is reviewed. Several specific areas where special equipment was employed are discussed and a Lessons Learned evaluation is included.},
doi = {10.2172/1027944},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1027944},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011},
month = {Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011}
}