Used Nuclear Fuel Receipt, Shipping and Disposition at Savannah

Used Nuclear Fuel Receipt, Shipping and
Disposition at Savannah River Site (SRS)
David B. Rose
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC
January 13 – 15, 2014
INMM Spent Fuel Management Seminar XXIX
Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel – Arlington, VA
Outline
• Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Receipt & Storage
– Foreign & Domestic SNF Receipt Programs
– Transportation / Casks
– Cask & Fuel Handling
– Storage Capacity
• Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposition & Shipping
– Risk Reduction – SRE Fuel Processing
– Uranium Recycle – HEU Downblending
• Summary
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Nuclear Material Management at SRS
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Spent Fuel Project - Mission
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Receive and store aluminum-based Used Nuclear Fuel (UNF) from
foreign & domestic research reactors
Operated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (SRNS) for
DOE Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM)
Support National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA’s) Global
Threat Reduction Initiative for removal of Highly Enriched Uranium
(HEU) from civilian reactor sites worldwide
– Authorized through May 2019
Support ongoing domestic research reactor programs
Store legacy special nuclear materials
Package and ship fuel for disposition
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Foreign Research Reactor (FRR) Receipts
44 Shipments Received
• 25 Countries
• 233 Casks
• 7995 Assemblies
Anticipated Receipts (thru 2019)
• 42 Shipments
• 102 Casks
• 2121 Assemblies
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Domestic Research Reactor (DRR) Receipts
273 Shipments Received
• 273 Casks
• 2775 Assemblies
Anticipated Receipts (thru 2033)
• 4 Remaining Facilities
• 213 Casks
• 1067 Assemblies
MIT
NIST
MURR
HFIR
Savannah
River Site
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Transportation to SRS
Foreign SNF shipments by dedicated boat
(excl. Canada)
Ground transport to SRS by road and rail
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Cask Management
Cask:
BRR
Owner:
DOE
Max. Capacity: 8 MIT or MURR
Cask:
GE-2000
Owner:
GE/DOE
Max. Capacity: 42 MTR, 1 HFIR Core
Cask:
TN-7/2
Owner:
TN
Max. Capacity: 64 MTR, 60 DIDO
Cask:
GNS-16
Owner:
TN
Max. Capacity: 33 MTR, 28 DIDO
Cask:
LWT
Owner:
NAC
Max. Capacity: 42 MTR
Cask:
Owner:
Max. Capacity:
18.5T
JAERI, KUR, BNFL
30 MTR
Cask:
JRF-90Y-950K
Owner:
JAERI
Max. Capacity: 5 MTR
Cask:
TN-MTR
Owner:
TN
Max. Capacity: 52 MTR, 52 DIDO
Cask:
20T
Owner:
JAERI
Max. Capacity: 30 MTR
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Cask Unloading
Shielded Transfer System (STS)
Short casks: Underwater unloading
Tall casks: Shielded (dry) transfer system
• Cask in dry well
• Fuel basket hoisted into shielded tube
• System moves over pool
• Basket lowered into pool
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Underwater Fuel Handling
Underwater Saw
Material Test Reactor Fuels:
• Inert material may be
cropped to optimize storage
• Assemblies placed end-toend in bundling tube
• Placed into storage rack
Bundle Lid Installation
Oversized or odd-shaped fuels,
such as HFIR cores, are stored in
special dedicated racks or fuel
storage buckets.
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Material Test Reactor Fuel Storage
Submerged 3 x 10 and 4 x 10 EBS racks
• Expanded Basin Storage (EBS) Racks
- Fixed geometry for criticality control
- 4 to 5 MTR assemblies per bundle
- 3 NRU/NRX assemblies per bundle
- one bundle per storage rack position
- 3650 positions currently installed
- 3144 positions currently filled
- Space to add more racks
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Racks seismically qualified for design basis
seismic event
No active cooling required
HFIR Note: Space to add more
HFIR racks
Loaded tube ready for storage
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Modifications to Expand Receipt Capability
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Fuel from the Canadian National Research Universal (NRU) and National
Research Experimental (NRX) reactors
Fuel assemblies approximately 10 feet long; too long for existing system
Required facility modifications:
– Shielded Transfer System (STS) modifications to handle new longer and
heavier basket (18 assemblies per basket)
– New Unloading Station for transferring fuel assemblies from LWT cask
basket to L Bundles for storage in racks (3 assemblies per bundle tube)
– Criticality block to prevent interaction with other fuels along LWT basket
transport route
– Underwater handling tools
* Not to scale
NRU Fuel Assembly
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Fuel Disposition – Risk Reduction
• Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) Processing
– Declad thorium-uranium metal fuel
– Welded cans; single barrier preventing reaction with
basin water
– Processing in H Canyon began FY13
– Co-processed with selected low-uranium fuels to aid
in Canyon process
– Uranium not recovered
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Fuel Disposition – HEU Blenddown
• Savannah River Site Spent Nuclear Fuel Management
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) amended March 2013
• Approximately 3.3 MTHM of aluminum based high enriched
uranium (HEU) fuel to be processed in H Canyon
– Approximately 1000 fuel bundles
– Up to 200 HFIR cores
• Avoids installation of additional EBS & HFIR storage racks
• Supports anticipated future foreign & domestic fuel receipts
• Down blend HEU to LEU; available for use in commercial
power reactors
• To begin in FY14 following the SRE campaign
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SNF Shipment to H Canyon
• SRS 70-Ton cask
• Interchangeable inserts for different fuel geometries
• Direct unloading to H Canyon dissolver using remotely
operated crane
Cask with HFIR insert
70-Ton Cask on rail car
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Uranium Recycle
HEU spent nuclear fuel converted to LEU for fabrication
of commercial reactor fuel
LEU shipment from H Canyon
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Summary
• SRS continues to safely receive and store spent nuclear
fuel to reduce global threat
• Foreign fuel receipt mission continues into 2019
• Domestic fuel receipts continue indefinitely
• SNF inventory being dispositioned in stages as directed
by DOE-EM
– Current: H Canyon processing to reduce risks, avoid costly storage
expansion, beneficial reuse of U-235
– Future: Possible continued recovery and recycle using H Canyon
capability; potential conversion to dry storage pending final
disposition decision
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