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Title: Achieving increased spent fuel storage capacity at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR)

Conference ·
OSTI ID:34333
; ; ; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
  2. Griess (J.C.), Knoxville, TN (United States)

The HFIR facility was originally designed to store approximately 25 spent cores, sufficient to allow for operational contingencies and for cooling prior to off-site shipment for reprocessing. The original capacity has now been increased to 60 positions, of which 53 are currently filled (September 1994). Additional spent cores are produced at a rate of about 10 or 11 per year. Continued HFIR operation, therefore, depends on a significant near-term expansion of the pool storage capacity, as well as on a future capability of reprocessing or other storage alternatives once the practical capacity of the pool is reached. To store the much larger inventory of spent fuel that may remain on-site under various future scenarios, the pool capacity is being increased in a phased manner through installation of a new multi-tier spent fuel rack design for higher density storage. A total of 143 positions was used for this paper as the maximum practical pool capacity without impacting operations; however, greater ultimate capacities were addressed in the supporting analyses and approval documents. This paper addresses issues related to the pool storage expansion including (1) seismic effects on the three-tier storage arrays, (2) thermal performance of the new arrays, (3) spent fuel cladding corrosion concerns related to the longer period of pool storage, and (4) impacts of increased spent fuel inventory on the pool water quality, water treatment systems, and LLLW volume.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
34333
Report Number(s):
CONF-941207-29; ON: DE95008782; TRN: 95:009023
Resource Relation:
Conference: Spent nuclear fuel meeting: challenges and initiatives, Salt Lake City, UT (United States), 14-16 Dec 1994; Other Information: PBD: [1994]
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English