Numerical simulation of decay heat scattering out of AP1000 nuclear reactor spent fuel cask based on finite element method

Abstract

The heat transfer performance of the spent fuel transport cask is inseparably related to the safety of the whole reprocessing system. In this study, we carried out the thermal analysis on the NAC-STC transport cask for AP1000 spent fuel assembly to evaluate the thermal performance of transport cask by the finite element method software ANSYS. A computational dynamics model was developed to study the temperature distribution inside the transport cask and on the surface of the cask. The effectiveness of the numerical calculation is demonstrated by comparing with the theoretical results. The results show that transport cask can reach steady-state during transportation, and the highest temperature in the case is 328?, which is below the maximum safety limit of 400?. Besides, the temperature of the fuel element baskets, sealing ring, photon shielding layer and neutron shielding layer in the cask are all within the safety limit.