Technical Information Needs and Regulatory Considerations for Front-End Transportation Activities of HALEU Fuel Feed Material

Technical Report · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2462756· OSTI ID:2462756

Maheras, Steven J. ^[1]; Rigato, Antonio B. ^[1]; Adkins, Harold E. ^[2]; Todd, Donald R. ^[1]; Kaiser, Krista I. ^[1]; Arm, Stuart T. ^[1]; Richmond, David J. ^[1]; Thomas, Kenneth M. ^[1]

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1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
2. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)

This report fulfills task order number 31310022F0033 Task 1 Assessment of technical information needs and considerations for front-end transportation activities for HALEU fuel feed material. This assessment primarily focuses on the transportation outlook and packaging requirements for transporting high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel feed material. The regulatory framework is described in section 3.0. In section 4.0 the specific issues associated with reviewing HALEU feed material packages are discussed. The rest of the report discusses the need for new packages and Department of Energy progress on HALEU production. Through this evaluation it is shown that the 5% enrichment barrier between low-enriched uranium and HALEU is a significant challenge to transportation packaging. However, there are licensed designs and concepts that can be used to transport HALEU feedstock. No significant issues were identified through the HALEU range up to 20% enriched.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 2462756
• Report Number(s): PNNL--33999
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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