Understanding and Managing Aging of Spent Nuclear Fuel and Facility Components in Wet Storage
Storage of nuclear fuel after it has been discharged from reactors has become the leading spent fuel management option. Many storage facilities are being required to operate longer than originally anticipated. Aging is a term that has emerged to focus attention on the consequences of extended operation on systems, structures, and components that comprise the storage facilities. The key to mitigation of age-related degradation in storage facilities is to implement effective strategies to understand and manage aging of the facility materials. A systematic approach to preclude serious effects of age-related degradation is addressed in this paper, directed principally to smaller facilities (test and research reactors). The first need is to assess the materials that comprise the facility and the environments that they are subject to. Access to historical data on facility design, fabrication, and operation can facilitate assessment of expected materials performance. Methods to assess the current condition of facility materials are summarized in the paper. Each facility needs an aging management plan to define the scope of the management program, involving identification of the materials that need specific actions to manage age-related degradation. For each material identified, one or more aging management programs are developed and become part of the plan Several national and international organizations have invested in development of comprehensive and systematic approaches to aging management. A method developed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is recommended as a concise template to organize measures to effectively manage age-related degradation of storage facility materials, including the scope of inspection, surveillance, and maintenance that is needed to assure successful operation of the facility over its required life. Important to effective aging management is a staff that is alert for evidence of materials degradation and committed to carry out the aging management programs.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 918849
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-46867; TRN: US0805915
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Safety Related Issues of Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage, Kazakhstan, 26-29 September 2005. Published in: Safety Related Issues of Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage, 167-180
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Managing Waste Inventory and License Limits at the Perma-Fix Northwest Facility to Meet CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company (CHPRC) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Deliverables - 12335
Proceedings of the 2006 international congress on advances in nuclear power plants - ICAPP'06