Spent fuel dry storage technology development: thermal evaluation of three adjacent drywells (each containing a 0.6 kW PWR spent fuel assembly)
A spent fuel Adjacent Drywell Test was conducted at the Engine-Maintenance, Assembly and Disassembly (E-MAD) facility on the Nevada Test Site utilizing three nearly identical pressurized water reactor spent fuel assemblies each having a decay heat level of approximately 0.6 kW. Each fuel assembly was encapsulated inside the E-MAD Hot Bay and placed in an instrumented near-surface drywell storage cell for thermal testing. Each fuel assembly was sealed inside a 14-in. diam, 168-in.-long stainless steel canister and attached to a concrete-filled, 20-in.-diam, 34-in.-long, shield plug. The canister assembly was then placed in a carbon steel drywell liner which had been grouted into a hole drilled in the soil adjacent to E-MAD. The three drywells were located 25 feet apart in a linear array. Thermocouples, provided to measure canister, liner and soil temperatures, were inserted into tubes on the outside of the canister and drywell liner and were attached to plastic pipes which were grouted into holes in the soil. Temperatures from the three drywells and the adjacent soil were recorded throughout the Adjacent Drywell Test. Drywell thermal data showed virtually no thermal interaction between adjacent drywells. However, peak temperatures reached by the three drywells did show a fairly significant difference. Peak canister and drywell liner temperatures were reached in August 1981 for all three drywells. The two previously unused drywells responded similarly with peak canister and liner temperatures reaching 199{sup 0}F and 158{sup 0}F, respectively. Comparable peak temperatures for the third drywell which had previously contained spent fuel for nearly 21 months prior to the Adjacent Drywell Test reached 210{sup 0}F for the canister and 169{sup 0}F for the drywell liner. This difference is attributed to a decrease in soil thermal conductivity caused by the dryout of soil around the drywell used for previous spent fuel testing.
- Research Organization:
- Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Advanced Energy Systems Div.
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC08-81NV10171
- OSTI ID:
- 59731
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NV/10171-3; ON: DE82012565; TRN: 82:012819
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Sep 1981
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Spent fuel dry storage technology development: electrically heated drywell storage test (3kW operation)
Spent fuel dry storage technology development: thermal evaluation of isolated drywells containing spent fuel (1 kW PWR spent fuel assembly)