Results of a multi-year study aimed at the resolution of regulatory issues related to the storage and transportation of high-burnup spent fuel
- ANATECH Corporation, 5435 Oberlin Drive, San-Diego, CA. 92121 (United States)
- EPRI, 3412 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto CA 94304 (United States)
Available in abstract form only. Full text of publication follows: Finding timely resolutions of current regulatory issues related to spent fuel storage and transportation is one of the most important priorities for both industry and regulators. Spent fuel pools at many US power plants have either reached or are rapidly approaching full capacity, a condition made worse by the longer cooling time required for high burnup (>45 GWd/MTU) spent fuel compared to lower burnup fuel for which most spent fuel pools were designed to accommodate. Consequently, the need for the transfer of spent fuel to dry storage, with eventual transportation to off-site interim storage facilities or to a permanent repository, has brought with it the need to cope with a number of regulatory issues that require significant lead time to resolve. In anticipation of this need, EPRI has, over the past several years, implemented a number of research programs, which include: (a) assessing the criticality risks during transportation; (b) evaluating the option of moderator exclusion; (c) participating in data gathering for implementation of full burnup credit; (d) evaluating the potential for fuel reconfiguration during transportation accidents; and (e) assessing the impact of fuel reconfiguration on spent fuel reactivity levels. The criteria by which the results of this program may be evaluated are the regulations contained in 10 CFR Parts 71 and 72 as well as in Standard Review Plans and Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) documents such as ISG-11, ISG-8 and ISG-19. Of these research programs, the fuel reconfiguration issue is the most complex because it requires long lead-time to develop the necessary material behavior models and analysis methods. To this end, the paper describes the results of EPRI's multi-year research program, with emphasis on the various phenomena that govern cladding thermo-mechanical behavior from the onset of placing spent fuel in dry storage casks to the consequences of hypothetical accidents on cladding failure and fuel reconfiguration. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Three Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016-5990 (United States); Technological Institute of the Royal Flemish Society of Engineers (TI-K VIV), Het Ingenieurshuis, Desguinlei 214, 2018 Antwerp (Belgium); Belgian Nuclear Society (BNS) - ASBL-VZW, c/o SCK-CEN, Avenue Hermann Debrouxlaan, 40 - B-1160 Brussels (Belgium)
- OSTI ID:
- 21156523
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: ICEM'07: 11. International Conference on Environmental Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management, Bruges (Belgium), 2-6 Sep 2007; Other Information: Country of input: France; Proceedings may be ordered from ASME Order Department, 22 Law Drive, P.O. Box 2300, Fairfield, NJ 07007-2300 (United States)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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