DOE Spent Nuclear Fuel - Nuclear Criticality Safety Challenges and Safeguards Initiatives
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
The field of nuclear criticality safety is confronted with growing technical challenges and the need for forward-thinking initiatives to address and resolve issues surrounding economic, safe and secure packaging, transport, interim storage, and long-term disposal of spent nuclear fuel. These challenges are reflected in multiparameter problems involving optimization of packaging designs for maximizing the density of material per package while ensuring subcriticality and safety under variable normal and hypothetical transport and storage conditions and for minimizing costs. Historic and recently revealed uncertainties in basic data used for performing nuclear subcriticality evaluations and safety analyses highlight the need to be vigilant in assessing the validity and range of applicability of calculational evaluations that represent extrapolations from "benchmark" data. Examples of these uncertainties are provided. Additionally, uncertainties resulting from the safeguarding of various forms of fissionable materials in transit and storage are discussed.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 106579
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-941207-38; ON: DE95016364; TRN: 95:021917
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ANS Topical Meeting on DOE Spent Nuclear Fuel: Challenges and Initiatives, Salt Lake City, UT (United States), 14-16 Dec 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
SPENT FUELS
CRITICALITY
FISSIONABLE MATERIALS
TRANSPORT
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
SAFETY ANALYSIS
DATA COVARIANCES
NEUTRON REFLECTORS
NEUTRON TRANSPORT
CALCULATION METHODS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP)
Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE)
Fuel Drain Tank (FDT)
Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF)
Cross-Section Library
Water Sphere Neutron Leakage Measurements
Neutron Causing Fission
Neutron Energy Group