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Demonstrating Performance of Spent Fuel and Related Storage System Components during Very Long Term Storage
Closed for proposals
Project Type
Project Code
T13014CRP
1875Approved Date
Status
Start Date
Expected End Date
Completed Date
14 December 2016Description
As spent fuel from power reactors continues to be stored for longer periods of time, the management of spent fuel has become one of the more important factors influencing the future of nuclear energy. Extrabudgetary funds support the CRP to target anticipated technical needs for demonstrating the performance of spent fuel from heavy and light water reactors as well as the related system components during dry storage within the long term (not expected to last more than approximately 100 years, and with a defined end point) and beyond. The following specific research objectives are being addressed: stress corrosion cracking mechanisms and monitoring; rod behaviour; concrete systems; bolted closed systems; neutron shielding; and full-scale systems for demonstrating performance.
Objectives
The overall objective of this CRP is to support and share improvement in the nuclear power community’s technical basis for LWR spent fuel management licences as dry storage durations extend. This will involve developing- a network of experts working on current research projects to demonstrate the long term performance of spent fuel.- experimental data on the very long-term performance of spent fuel and related important storage system components.- computational and experimental methods to adequately demonstrate very long-term performance.- capability to assess the impact of high burn-up fuel on very long-term storage (CRP results are also expected to facilitate subsequent transport and disposal).This work will contribute to technical basis documentation for demonstrating the performance of spent fuel and related important storage system components over long durations, and thereby facilitate the transfer of this knowledge to others including to newcomer countries.
Specific objectives
Determine the effect of drying and storage on spent fuel cladding behaviour during subsequent normal transport (particularly effects that might impact the ability to handle fuel after that transport).
Determine whether predictive models based on laboratory experiments adequately predict behaviour of full assemblies, including the interaction of the rods with assembly hardware under prototypic storage conditions (given that full assemblies have a range of characteristics relevant to storage and transport).
Evaluate degradation of the spent fuel and the confinement capability of the spent fuel canister or container (avoiding penetrations that could compromise integrity).
Evaluate long-term confinement in spent fuel casks, focusing on metal gaskets for normal and accident conditions during storage and transport.
Evaluate long-term confinement in spent fuel casks, focusing on the bolted lid for normal and accident conditions during storage and transport.
Evaluate long-term neutron shielding capability.
Evaluate mechanisms for stress corrosion cracking (SCC) as a way of breaching spent fuel canisters in a marine environment.
Evaluate monitoring for stress corrosion cracking (SCC) in a marine environment (in order to evaluate the confinement capability of welded stainless steel canisters and to protect the integrity of the contents).
Evaluate system effects analytically by integrating important components of spent fuel storage demonstration in a “prototypic” manner.
Evaluate the confinement capability of concrete cask systems, including enabling examination of existing actual casks.
Impact
High: a network of experts has been established to continue to address the technical issues associated with the extension of initially envisaged periods of SNF dry storage (in spite of the fact that some features of the storage system e.g. gaskets - either metallic of polymeric - or polymeric neutron shielding are components for a subset of the deployed storage systems for spent fuel from water cooled power reactors and, consequently, the exchange of information and results has an impact mainly on the Contracting Institutes involved in R&D work on such systems).
Relevance
High (Taking into consideration that two out of three demonstration projects to be started within the next 12 months i.e. in Japan in mid Fiscal Year 2016 (October) and in the USA in mid 2017 have contributed to this CRP and in the latter case justified the appointment of the Agency as member of the Steering Committee and the International Subcommittee of the Extended Storage Collaboration Program (ESCP) managed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). EPRI was assigned by the US DOE to manage the demonstration project to be started mid 2017.