Filtern
Dokumenttyp
- Beitrag zu einem Tagungsband (9)
- Vortrag (6)
- Zeitschriftenartikel (2)
Sprache
- Englisch (17)
Schlagworte
- Spent nuclear fuel (17) (entfernen)
Organisationseinheit der BAM
Eingeladener Vortrag
- nein (6)
Since the decision by the German government to face out nuclear electricity generation the total amount of spent nuclear fuel and high level wastes from reprocessing is limited and well determined. In addition the siting and licensing procedure to establish a final repository has been ruled by a new law in the mid of 2013 and further delays are very likely until a deep geological repository may start its operation.
In the meantime dry interim storage in dual purpose casks being permanently certified for interim storage as well as transportation is the established technical solution. Several on-site as well former centralized facilities are operated successfully for many years but storage licenses are generally limited to 40 years and future lifetime extensions are predictable. Permanent aging management for storage facilities and casks is necessary to demonstrate compliance with safety requirements and furthermore to gain relevant data and information about the technical conditions of the facilities and their components for future lifetime extensions.
For that reason procedures and measures are currently improved and the approach is explained in this paper. In addition, the current status and latest experiences concerning periodic safety inspections and aging management measures are discussed.
The properties of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) rods change significantly during their operation life in the reactor core. Further changes occur after their discharge mainly due to the heating-cooling processes and possible ageing associated with the cumulative effects of radioactive decay induce damage in the fuel. Such changes may affect the response of the SNF rods to mechanical solicitations corresponding to normal and accidental conditions.
Research activities at JRC-KARLSRUHE aim at assessing the integrity of SNF rods and processes which might affect their mechanical properties during their interim storage, transport or other handling operations. JRC Hot Cell facilities have been fully adapted to fulfil the experimental goals. The number of experiments that can be performed, however, is limited and there is an acute need to model them, using this process to validate codes, to deeper understand and to extend the results gained at the JRC beyond the conditions that have been tested. For the experimental campaigns two devices for gravitational impact and 3-point bending tests were developed and installed in a hot cell. Segments of real SNF rods pressurized at their original pressures after discharge have been investigated. The setup is fully operational and new results are reported continuously.
German package design approvals were granted recently for dual purpose casks (DPC) intended for loading with encapsulated damaged spent nuclear fuel (DSNF). Comprehensive assessment procedures were carried out by the authority BAM with respect to the mechanical and thermal package design, the activity release of radioactive material and quality assurance aspects for manufacturing and operation of each packaging. The objective of each procedure was to verify the Package Design Safety Report (PDSR) and the relevant guidelines fulfils the requirements of the IAEA regulations.
Previous approvals of German SNF package designs consider mainly standard fuel assemblies with defined specifications and properties for transport and interim storage. Due to the nuclear power phase-out in Germany all kinds of SNF, e.g. damaged spent fuel rods shall be packed in DPC now. Therefore specific requirements shall be considered in accordance with international experiences including IAEA technical reports. The main requirement for DSNF is a tight encapsulation with specific defined properties under transport and storage conditions.
Due to the interim storage period of currently up to 40 years the encapsulation with DSNF in the casks shall also be long term durable. Thus specific loading and drying procedures are necessary and had to be qualified during the approval process. BAM assessed these drying procedures and could confirm the long-term behaviour of the encapsulation and the suitability of the drying equipment. This special equipment was qualified in a “cold handling”. In addition, it was shown that the behaviour of the test equipment used in the qualification process was comparable with the original equipment, e.g. test fuel rods or test encapsulation. In the development of the drying process, experience was obtained in how to put the requirements of the IAEA regulations and related IAEA technical reports into practice.
The paper gives an overview of approval assessment and testing experience made by BAM and point out the main resulting requirements on drying processes for these kinds of encapsulations with DSNF.
German package design approvals were granted recently for dual purpose casks (DPC) intended for loading with encapsulated damaged spent nuclear fuel (DSNF). Comprehensive assessment procedures were carried out by the authority BAM with respect to the mechanical and thermal package design, the activity release of radioactive material and quality assurance aspects for manufacturing and operation of each packaging. The objective of each procedure was to verify the Package Design Safety Report (PDSR) and the relevant guidelines fulfils the requirements of the IAEA regulations.
Previous approvals of German SNF package designs consider mainly standard fuel assemblies with defined specifications and properties for transport and interim storage. Due to the nuclear power phase-out in Germany all kinds of SNF, e.g. damaged spent fuel rods shall be packed in DPC now. Therefore specific requirements shall be considered in accordance with international experiences including IAEA technical reports. The main requirement for DSNF is a tight encapsulation with specific defined properties under transport and storage conditions.
Due to the interim storage period of currently up to 40 years the encapsulation with DSNF in the casks shall also be long term durable. Thus specific loading and drying procedures are necessary and had to be qualified during the approval process. BAM assessed these drying procedures and could confirm the long-term behaviour of the encapsulation and the suitability of the drying equipment. This special equipment was qualified in a “cold handling”. In addition, it was shown that the behaviour of the test equipment used in the qualification process was comparable with the original equipment, e.g. test fuel rods or test encapsulation. In the development of the drying process, experience was obtained in how to put the requirements of the IAEA regulations and related IAEA technical reports into practice.
The paper gives an overview of approval assessment and testing experience made by BAM and point out the main resulting requirements on drying processes for these kinds of encapsulations with DSNF.
The General Guidance in the Swedish regulations state that the safety assessment for a final repository for spent nuclear fuel should be 1 million years after closure. SKB developed the KBS-3 method, according to which the spent nuclear fuel is protected by three barriers. It is encapsulated in canisters with a diameter of 1 metre and a length of 5 metres. The canister consists of a cast iron insert surrounded by a 5 centimetre thick shell of copper. The canisters are disposed in the bedrock at a depth of about 500 meters surrounded by bentonite clay. In order to assess the safety over this extremely long period, an extensive quality control programme is applied to the canisters before deposit. In this programme, the use of
non-destructive testing (NDT) is vital. The safety assessment of the canister in turn places high demands on the coverage, detectability, and reliability of the applied NDT inspections of the canister parts, i.e. cast iron insert, copper base, tube and lid, and the copper friction stir welds (FSW). This paper presents the extensive full-scale inspection development programme that runs at the Canister Laboratory in Oskarshamn (Sweden). In order to fulfil the high demands, phased array ultrasonic inspection techniques are developed using practical trials aided by ultrasonic modelling. The techniques apply, for example, different frequencies, inspection angles, focus depths, and both longitudinal and shear waves. Increased inspection reliability of the FSW is achieved by applying digital X-ray technique using a 9 MeV linear accelerator and a line detector. To complete the coverage, complementary surface inspections methods, i.e. eddy current array, magnetic flux sensor techniques and magnetic particle inspection, are applied. The canister safety assessment was the driving force to include reliability studies during the NDT development. Initially, the technical reliability was considered, resulting in development of advanced POD models (probability of detection). In combination with human factors studies, these models were implemented as tools in the development of the NDT techniques. Human factors studies were also applied to improve the inspection procedures to be more user-friendly enabling reliable inspections.
Germany had been transporting spent fuel to the reprocessing plant in Sellafield and La Hague for decades until around 2005. Resulting from the obligation to take back the vitrified high-level waste from reprocessing six CASTOR® HAW28M filled with 168 canisters with radioactive waste in vitrified form were transported from Sellafield to the interim storage facility Biblis in 2020. Rail wagons were used for the transport to the port in Barrow-in-Furness, where they were loaded into a dedicated seagoing vessel, certified as INF Class 3 according to the INF Code. This was the first time that vitrified high level waste with considerable heat load was transported under a German design approval certificate.
BAM was involved in the authority assessment of the conditions for the sea transport. For the first transport BAM required among others, assessment of temperature distribution during transport, logging of temperatures of cargo bays and graphical imaging of temperatures of the bay with the cask in order to ensure compliance with temperature specifications, e.g. maximal neutron absorber and gasket temperatures. Special interest was taken in the identification of possible events exceeding the specified temperatures considering the different philosophies of IMDG code and its supplement INF code regarding temperature control of hatches. Results show compliance with assumed conditions.