Multi-Pack Disposal Concepts for Spent Fuel (Revision 1)

Technical Report · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1235646· OSTI ID:1235646

Hardin, Ernest ^[1]; Matteo, Edward N. ^[1]; Hadgu, Teklu ^[1]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

At the initiation of the Used Fuel Disposition (UFD) R&D campaign, international geologic disposal programs and past work in the U.S. were surveyed to identify viable disposal concepts for crystalline, clay/shale, and salt host media. Concepts for disposal of commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level waste (HLW) from reprocessing are relatively advanced in countries such as Finland, France, and Sweden. The UFD work quickly showed that these international concepts are all “enclosed,” whereby waste packages are emplaced in direct or close contact with natural or engineered materials . Alternative “open” modes (emplacement tunnels are kept open after emplacement for extended ventilation) have been limited to the Yucca Mountain License Application Design. Thermal analysis showed that if “enclosed” concepts are constrained by peak package/buffer temperature, that waste package capacity is limited to 4 PWR assemblies (or 9 BWR) in all media except salt. This information motivated separate studies: 1) extend the peak temperature tolerance of backfill materials, which is ongoing; and 2) develop small canisters (up to 4-PWR size) that can be grouped in larger multi-pack units for convenience of storage, transportation, and possibly disposal (should the disposal concept permit larger packages). A recent result from the second line of investigation is the Task Order 18 report: Generic Design for Small Standardized Transportation, Aging and Disposal Canister Systems. This report identifies disposal concepts for the small canisters (4-PWR size) drawing heavily on previous work, and for the multi-pack (16-PWR or 36-BWR).

• Research Organization: Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE), Fuel Cycle Technologies (NE-5)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1235646
• Report Number(s): SAND2016-0338R; 618505; TRN: US1600257
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
SPENT FUELS
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
PWR TYPE REACTORS
BWR TYPE REACTORS
FINLAND
SWEDEN
CLAYS
CONTAINERS
FRANCE
SHALES
DESIGN
SALTS
THERMAL ANALYSIS
AGING
CAPACITY
TRANSPORT
STORAGE