This report documents a heat transfer and shielding performance test conducted on a Ridihalgh. Eggers & Associates REA 2023 boiling water reactor (BWR} spent fuel storage cask. The experimental work was conducted for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Commercial Spent Fuel Management Program by the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL} and General Electric at the latter's Morris Operation (GE-MO). The testing effort consisted of three parts: pretest preparations, performance testing. and post-test activities. Pretest preparations included conducting cask handling dry runs and characterizing BWR spent fuel assemblies from Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station. The performance test matrix included 14 runs consisting of two loadings, two cask orientations, and three backfill environments. Post-test activities included calorimetry and axial radiation scans of selected fuel assemblies, in-basin sipping of each assembly, crud collection, video and photographic scans, and decontamination of the cask interior and exterior.The REA 2023 spent fuel storage cask consists of a double containment design with silicone rubber 0-rings for sealing the primary lid of the inner cavity and a welded final closure on the secondary cover. The cask has a smooth, painted, stainless steel outer skin; a lead/stainless steel gamma shield; and a water/glycol neutron shield. The fuel basket is constructed of stainless steel clad Boral for criticality control, copper plates to conduct heat to the cask wall, and stainless steel for structural strength. The loaded cask is approximately 5 m tall and 2.25 m in diameter. and weighs approximately 100 tons. The basket is configured to hold 52 BWR spent fuel assemblies. The test fuel assemblies were of the General Electric 7x7 rod design. The REA 2023 BWR spent fuel storage cask design and manufacturing rights have been acquired by Mitsubishi of Japan, and the cask model designation has been changed to MSF IV.Dry runs of cask handling were performed prior to fuel being loaded in the cask and concurrent with fuel calorimetry. The objectives of the dry runs were to gain cask handling and loading experience and to finalize procedures. Each dry run was conducted successfully without significant problems. During the dry v dry runs, minor modifications were required to make the lifting yoke, yoke alignment guide, impact limiter, primary head bolts, neutron shield rupturo-: disk, and the cask pressurizing device more functionai.The Cooper spent fuel assemblies were cnaracterized using in-basin si~p ing, calorimetry, axial radiation scans, video scans, and 35-mm photograph,!.The results of these methods revealed no indication of any failed fuel befcre or after the performance test. Gas sampling during testing did indicate a leak in a fuel rod after the cask was fully loaded. However, the leak was calctlated to be extremely small, so small that its source was not identifiable by post-test sipping activities, video scans, or photography.Based on pretest calorimetry, fuel assembly decay heat rat...
This report summarizes the results of heat transfer and shielding performance tests and demonstrations conducted from 1983 through 1992 by or in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Commercial Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM). The performance tests cor,sisted of 6 to tions was estimated to be extremely small, and has had no adverse effect on testing efforts. iii ACRONYMS AND INITIALISMS BWR boil ing water reactor CCP
A concrete horizontal modular system for spent-fuel storage was constructed and demonstrated at Carolina Power and Light's (CP&L) Robinson station. This report documents the success of both cold and hot performance testing of the modules. BACKGROUND The Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) of 1982 reaffirms that U.S. utilities are responsible for the interim storage of their spent nuclear fuel until DOE begins accepting it for disposal. The act also directs DOE to work with the private sector in demonstrating viable new storage technologies that expand interim storage options. CP&L subsequently entered into a cooperative agreement with DOE and EPRI in 1983 to demonstrate dry storage of spent fuel in the NUTECH horizontal modular storage system (NUHOMS) at the H. B. Robinson plant near Hartsville, South Carolina. This report evaluates the system's thermal performance during cold heater tests, as well as its thermal and shielding performance when loaded with spent fuel. OBJECTIVES To demonstrate and document the thermal performance of the NUHOMS system under normal and simulated off-normal conditions while validating the heat transfer and shielding design analyses.APPROACH Before loading the modules with spent fuel, researchers conducted a series of cold electric heater tests to simulate the decay heat of spent-fuel assemblies. To model off-normal conditions, they blocked the air inlets and outlets. Researchers then repeated the tests after loading spent fuel into the storage modules and determined shielding performance by measuring radioactive dose rates around the modules. RESULTSThe results of this project demonstrated the conservative design of the NUHOMS systems used at the H. B. Robinson site. Measurement of fuel temperatures, for example, indicated that fuel was maintained well below peak NRC limits. With the spent fuel in place, the peak measured concrete temperatures were below the maximum design temperatures recommended by the American Concrete Institute. Evaluation of data indicated that thermal performance of the system was only mildly sensitive to blockage of the module's air inlets or outlets. Similarly, evaluation of radiologic data around EPAI NP-6941s Electric Power Research Institute the loaded horizontal module showed very low gamma and neutron readings, which were well within design limits.EPRI PERSPECTIVE This report complements report NP-6940, which documents the design, licensing, and construction of the test NUHOMS modules. With the completion of this project, utilities now have an additional spent-fuel storage option available to them to meet their growing needs in this area. On the basis of the demonstration program-which documents technical performance, NRC licensability, and system economicsutilities can now more confidently plan their spent-fuel storage strategies.
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