CASTOR V casks: quiver for damaged fuel rods
- GNS - Gesellschaft fuer Nuklear-Service mbH, Frohnhauser Strasse 67, 45127 Essen (Germany)
After the accident at Fukushima in 2011, 8 nuclear power plants (NPPs) in Germany were shut down immediately and parliament decided a phase-out of nuclear energy by 2022. As prerequisite for a quick dismantling of the shut-down NPPs, all fuel has to be removed from the spent fuel pools as soon as possible. For over 20 years, spent fuel assemblies from German NPPs have already been stored in CASTOR dual purpose casks by GNS. Already more than 1200 CASTOR casks are stored in dry interim storage facilities worldwide, and there is an additional demand for several hundred more casks for the remaining spent fuel assemblies in Germany until the final phase-out. Furthermore the phase-out decision has triggered the demand for a complementary solution for the damaged fuel rods that have been collected separately in the pools for disposal after the NPP shut-down. In 2011, GNS started to develop a disposal concept for these damaged fuel rods. For that purpose, GNS designed 2 quivers for damaged fuel rods to fit into square tubes of the basket of the CASTOR V/19 (PWR) and the CASTOR V/52 (BWR) respectively. The customisable internal baskets of the quivers facilitate the disposal of a large variety of nuclear inventory. Furthermore, the quiver features a robust design and a welded closure system. This design has been affirmed by a series of tests and qualification processes, supervised by the German authorities. This first of its kind solution ensures the dry interim storage of damaged fuel rods. The package design approval for the quiver for CASTOR V/19 is expected for 2016. This presentation will focus on the design of the Quivers in combination with the CASTOR V casks and describe the challenges during the licensing procedures. We will show the components of the Quiver and explain their mechanical characteristics during accident conditions of transport as well as the drying and welding process necessary to enable the long term storage of the Quivers. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22750101
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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