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Using an expert system to predict fuel consolidation wastes

Conference · · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA)
OSTI ID:5266903
With the ever-increasing quantities of spent nuclear fuel that the nation's nuclear utilities are required to store on site, fuel rod consolidation is becoming increasingly attractive as a method of increasing spent nuclear fuel interim storage capacity. If and when fuel rod consolidation is implemented by a utility, two new waste streams are introduced. They are spent fuel disassembly (SFD) hardware and nonfuel assembly (NFA) hardware. Both of these waste streams result from the elimination of the void spaces in the fuel assembly, void spaces in which these hardware elements were previously housed or associated. The majority of the waste in these waste streams is rated as greater than class C low-level waste, which is currently expected to be disposed of in the federal high-level-waste repository. In order to plan for their eventual disposal, the approximate makeup of such wastes must be known. The expert system approach was chosen to attempt to predict the quantities and distribution. The purpose of this work was to develop a working prototype of such a system.
OSTI ID:
5266903
Report Number(s):
CONF-890604--
Conference Information:
Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (USA) Journal Volume: 59
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English