LWR spent fuel storage technology: Advances and experience

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:5988546

Gilbert, E R; Bailey, W J; Johnson, Jr, A B; McKinnon, M A

By 2003, the year the US Department of Energy (DOE) currently predicts a repository will be available, 58 domestic commercial nuclear-power plant units are expected to run out of wet storage space for LWR spent fuel. To alleviate this problem, utilities implemented advances in storage methods that increased storage capacity as well as reduced the rate of generating spent fuel. Those advances include (1) transhipping spent-fuel assemblies between pools within the same utility system, (2) reracking pools to accommodate additional spent-fuel assemblies, (3) taking credit for fuel burnup in pool storage rack designs, (4) extending fuel burnup, (5) rod consolidation, and (6) dry storage. The focus of this paper is on advances in rod consolidation and dry storage. Wet storage continues to be the predominant US spent-fuel management technology, but as a measure to enhance at-reactor storage capacity, the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 authorized DOE to assist utilities with licensing at-reactor dry storage. Information exchanges with other nations, laboratory testing and modeling, and cask tests cooperatively funded by US utilities and DOE produced a strong technical basis to develop confidence that LWR spent fuel can be stored safely for several decades in both wet and dry modes. Licensed dry storage of spent fuel in an inert atmosphere was first achieved in the US in 1986. Studies are underway in several countries to determine acceptable conditions for storing LWR spent fuel in air. Rod-consolidation technology is being developed and demonstrated to enhance the capacity for both wet and dry storage. Large-scale commercial implementation is awaiting optimization of practical and economical mechanical systems. 22 refs., 1 fig.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 5988546
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA-16234; CONF-8903112-3; ON: DE89014930
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052002* -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Disposal & Storage
053000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Environmental Aspects
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
CASKS
CONTAINERS
DESIGN
DRY STORAGE
ENERGY SOURCES
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUEL RODS
FUELS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MODIFICATIONS
NUCLEAR FUELS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
SPENT FUEL CASKS
SPENT FUEL STORAGE
SPENT FUELS
STORAGE
TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE STORAGE
WASTES
WATER COOLED REACTORS