Spent fuel drying system test results (second dry-run)

Technical Report · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/663267· OSTI ID:663267

Klinger, G S; Oliver, B M; Abrefah, J; Marschman, S C; MacFarlan, P J; Ritter, G A

The water-filled K-Basins in the Hanford 100 Area have been used to store N-Reactor spent nuclear fuel (SNF) since the 1970s. Because some leaks have been detected in the basins and some of the fuel is breached due to handling damage and corrosion, efforts are underway to remove the fuel elements from wet storage. An Integrated Process Strategy (IPS) has been developed to package, dry, transport, and store these metallic uranium fuel elements in an interim storage facility on the Hanford Site (WHC 1995). Information required to support the development of the drying processes, and the required safety analyses, is being obtained from characterization tests conducted on fuel elements removed from the K-Basins. A series of whole element drying tests (reported in separate documents, see Section 7.0) have been conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) on several intact and damaged fuel elements recovered from both the K-East and K-West Basins. This report documents the results of the second dry-run test, which was conducted without a fuel element. With the concurrence of project management, the test protocol for this run, and subsequent drying test runs, was modified. These modifications were made to allow for improved data correlation with drying procedures proposed under the IPS. Details of these modifications are discussed in Section 3.0.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 663267
• Report Number(s): PNNL--11838; ON: DE98058983; BR: N/A
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
DRYING
FUEL STORAGE POOLS
HYDROGEN
MATERIALS HANDLING
N-REACTOR
SPENT FUEL ELEMENTS
TESTING
VACUUM FURNACES
WET STORAGE