Scoping study of casks shipped from the MRS facility to various repository sites

Technical Report · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5440945· OSTI ID:5440945

Bucholz, J A

The objective of this study was to determine the maximum number of specialized repository waste packages that could be shipped from the Monitored Retrievable Storage (MRS) facility in Pb-, Fe-, and U-shielded casks weighing 200,000 or 300,000 lbs. The study included 18 different waste packages designed for the Salt, Tuff, and Basalt repositories. Nine of these contained consolidated PWR fuel pins, and nine contained consolidated BWR fuel pins. Discrete ordinates calculations were performed to determine the neutron and gamma shield thicknesses that would ensure a dose rate of 10 millirem/hr, 10 ft from the centerline of the cask(s). Over 100 casks of particular interest have been identified, while preliminary design information is also given for 522 casks of potential interest. Relative to the 200,000-lb casks, 50 to 100% more fuel may be shipped in the larger 300,000-lb casks. Placing the spent fuel canisters in overpacks prior to shipment from the MRS will reduce the net payload by 30 to 50%. The highest-capacity cask/waste package combination studied corresponds to a 300,000-lb U-shielded cask containing 84 consolidated PWR fuel assemblies in 21 canisters, or 171 consolidated BWR fuel assemblies in 19 canisters. Criticality analyses have shown these high-capacity casks to be safely subcritical - even if all the canisters were loaded with unirradiated LWR fuel containing 3.4 wt % U-235.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA). Computing and Telecommunications Div.
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 5440945
• Report Number(s): ORNL/CSD/TM-237; ON: DE86015990
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
CAPACITY
CASKS
CONTAINERS
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MONITORED RETRIEVABLE STORAGE
OPTIMIZATION
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
SPENT FUEL CASKS
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
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