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Title: Strategy for Fuel Rod Receipt, Characterization, Sample Allocation for the Demonstration Sister Rods

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), Office of Fuel Cycle Technology, has established the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) to conduct the research and development activities related to storage, transportation, and disposal of used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The mission of the UFDC is to identify alternatives and conduct scientific research and technology development to enable storage, transportation and disposal of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and wastes generated by existing and future nuclear fuel cycles. The UFDC Storage and Transportation staffs are responsible for addressing issues regarding the extended or long-term storage of UNF and its subsequent transportation. The near-term objectives of the Storage and Transportation task are to use a science-based approach to develop the technical bases to support the continued safe and secure storage of UNF for extended periods, subsequent retrieval, and transportation. While low burnup fuel [that characterized as having a burnup of less than 45 gigawatt days per metric tonne uranium (GWD/MTU)] has been stored for nearly three decades, the storage of high burnup used fuels is more recent. The DOE has funded a demonstration project to confirm the behavior of used high burnup fuel under prototypic conditions. The Electricmore » Power Research Institute (EPRI) is leading a project team to develop and implement the Test Plan to collect this data from a UNF dry storage system containing high burnup fuel. The Draft Test Plan for the demonstration outlines the data to be collected; the high burnup fuel to be included; the technical data gaps the data will address; and the storage system design, procedures, and licensing necessary to implement the Test Plan. To provide data that is most relevant to high burnup fuel in dry storage, the design of the test storage system must closely mimic real conditions high burnup SNF experiences during all stages of dry storage: loading, cask drying, inert gas backfilling, and transfer to an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) for multi-year storage. To document the initial condition of the used fuel prior to emplacement in a storage system, “sister ” fuel rods will be harvested and sent to a national laboratory for characterization and archival purposes. This report supports the demonstration by describing how sister rods will be shipped and received at a national laboratory, and recommending basic nondestructive and destructive analyses to assure the fuel rods are adequately characterized for UFDC work. For this report, a hub-and-spoke model is proposed, with one location serving as the hub for fuel rod receipt and characterization. In this model, fuel and/or clad would be sent to other locations when capabilities at the hub were inadequate or nonexistent. This model has been proposed to reduce DOE-NE’s obligation for waste cleanup and decontamination of equipment.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
  2. Portage, Inc., Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
  3. NAC International, Inc., Norcross, GA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)
OSTI Identifier:
1236840
Report Number(s):
INL/EXT-14-31700
TRN: US1600290
DOE Contract Number:  
AC07-05ID14517
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; SPENT FUELS; SPENT FUEL STORAGE; DRY STORAGE; FUEL RODS; BURNUP; CASKS; LOADING; BACKFILLING; DRYING; TRANSPORT; RECOMMENDATIONS; CHEMICAL ANALYSIS; high burnup fuel; post irradiation examination; spent fuel; used fuel; used fuel characterization

Citation Formats

Marschman, Steven C., Warmann, Stephan A., and Rusch, Chris. Strategy for Fuel Rod Receipt, Characterization, Sample Allocation for the Demonstration Sister Rods. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.2172/1236840.
Marschman, Steven C., Warmann, Stephan A., & Rusch, Chris. Strategy for Fuel Rod Receipt, Characterization, Sample Allocation for the Demonstration Sister Rods. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1236840
Marschman, Steven C., Warmann, Stephan A., and Rusch, Chris. 2014. "Strategy for Fuel Rod Receipt, Characterization, Sample Allocation for the Demonstration Sister Rods". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1236840. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1236840.
@article{osti_1236840,
title = {Strategy for Fuel Rod Receipt, Characterization, Sample Allocation for the Demonstration Sister Rods},
author = {Marschman, Steven C. and Warmann, Stephan A. and Rusch, Chris},
abstractNote = {The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE), Office of Fuel Cycle Technology, has established the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC) to conduct the research and development activities related to storage, transportation, and disposal of used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. The mission of the UFDC is to identify alternatives and conduct scientific research and technology development to enable storage, transportation and disposal of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and wastes generated by existing and future nuclear fuel cycles. The UFDC Storage and Transportation staffs are responsible for addressing issues regarding the extended or long-term storage of UNF and its subsequent transportation. The near-term objectives of the Storage and Transportation task are to use a science-based approach to develop the technical bases to support the continued safe and secure storage of UNF for extended periods, subsequent retrieval, and transportation. While low burnup fuel [that characterized as having a burnup of less than 45 gigawatt days per metric tonne uranium (GWD/MTU)] has been stored for nearly three decades, the storage of high burnup used fuels is more recent. The DOE has funded a demonstration project to confirm the behavior of used high burnup fuel under prototypic conditions. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is leading a project team to develop and implement the Test Plan to collect this data from a UNF dry storage system containing high burnup fuel. The Draft Test Plan for the demonstration outlines the data to be collected; the high burnup fuel to be included; the technical data gaps the data will address; and the storage system design, procedures, and licensing necessary to implement the Test Plan. To provide data that is most relevant to high burnup fuel in dry storage, the design of the test storage system must closely mimic real conditions high burnup SNF experiences during all stages of dry storage: loading, cask drying, inert gas backfilling, and transfer to an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) for multi-year storage. To document the initial condition of the used fuel prior to emplacement in a storage system, “sister ” fuel rods will be harvested and sent to a national laboratory for characterization and archival purposes. This report supports the demonstration by describing how sister rods will be shipped and received at a national laboratory, and recommending basic nondestructive and destructive analyses to assure the fuel rods are adequately characterized for UFDC work. For this report, a hub-and-spoke model is proposed, with one location serving as the hub for fuel rod receipt and characterization. In this model, fuel and/or clad would be sent to other locations when capabilities at the hub were inadequate or nonexistent. This model has been proposed to reduce DOE-NE’s obligation for waste cleanup and decontamination of equipment.},
doi = {10.2172/1236840},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1236840}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}