Estimation of Spent Fuel Compositions from Light Water Reactors

The compositions and quantities of minor actinide (MA) and fission product (FP) in spent fuels will be diversified with the use of high discharged burnup fuels and MOX fuels in LWRs which will be a main part of power reactors in future.

In order to investigate above diversities, we have studied on the calculation method to be used in the estimation of spent fuel compositions and adopted the real irradiation calculation in which axial burnup and moderator distribution are considered in the burnup calculation.

On the basis of the calculations, compositions and burnup quantities of various LWR spent fuels (reactor type: PWR and BWR, discharged burnup: 33, 45 and 60 GWd/tHM, fuel type: U0₂ and MOX) are apparently estimated among various forms of fuels. As an example, it is shown that there are considerable discrepancy in MA burnup between PWR and BWR spent fuels.     

Fabrication of DUPIC fuel pellets using high burn-up spent PWR fuel

Technology for the direct usage of a spent PWR fuel in CANDU reactors (DUPIC) was developed in KAERI to reduce the amount of spent fuel. DUPIC fuel pellets were fabricated using a dry processing method to re-fabricate CANDU fuel from spent PWR fuel without any intentional separation of fissile materials or fission products. The DUPIC fuel element fabrication process satisfied a quality assurance program in accordance with the Canadian standard. For the DUPIC fuels with various fuel burn-ups between 27,300 and 65,000 MWd/tU, the sintered pellet density decreased with increasing fuel burn-ups. Fission gas releases and powder properties of the spent fuel also influenced the DUPIC fuel characteristics. Measurement of cesium content released from green pellets revealed that their sintered density significantly depended on sintering temperature history. It was useful to establish a DUPIC fuel fabrication technology in which a high-burn-up fuel with 65,000 MWd/tU was treated.     

Spent fuel burnup estimation by Cerenkov glow intensity measurement

The Cerenkov glow images from irradiated fuel assemblies of boiling-water reactors (BWR) and pressurized-water reactors (PWR) are generally used for inspections. For this purpose, a new UV-I.I. CVD (ultra-violet light image intensifier Cerenkov viewing device), has been developed. This new device can measure the intensity of the Cerenkov glow from a spent fuel assembly, thus making it possible to estimate the burnup of the fuel assembly by comparing the Cerenkov glow intensity to the reference intensity. The experiment was carried out on BWR spent fuel assemblies and the results show that burnups are estimated within 20% accuracy compared to the declared burnups for the tested spent fuel assemblies for cooling times ranging from 900-2.000 d     

先进非能动压水堆核电站燃料组件轴向燃耗分布研究

燃料组件的轴向燃耗分布以及末端效应是燃耗信任制技术应用中的难点。基于先进非能动压水堆核电站的运行模式及组件设计特点,结合可能的燃料管理策略,统计轴向两端使用低富集度抑制区的乏燃料组件,生成轴向燃耗包络线。以AP1000堆型的乏燃料贮存单元为例,通过分析统计,证明生成的轴向燃耗包络线用于临界安全分析是保守的。在此基础上,详细研究燃料组件顶部的低富集度抑制区对末端效应的贡献,并对燃料组件进行设计改进,减小至消除末端效应,为简化乏燃料组件相关的临界安全分析提供了一个方法。相关研究工作及成果,是先进非能动压水堆核电站乏燃料组件相关的设施设备的临界安全设计的基础,可为其他堆型的相应研究提供参考和借鉴。     

先进非能动压水堆核电站燃料组件轴向燃耗分布研究

燃料组件的轴向燃耗分布以及末端效应是燃耗信任制技术应用中的难点。基于先进非能动压水堆核电站的运行模式及组件设计特点,结合可能的燃料管理策略,统计轴向两端使用低富集度抑制区的乏燃料组件,生成轴向燃耗包络线。以 AP1000堆型的乏燃料贮存单元为例,通过分析统计,证明生成的轴向燃耗包络线用于临界安全分析是保守的。在此基础上,详细研究燃料组件顶部的低富集度抑制区对末端效应的贡献,并对燃料组件进行设计改进,减小至消除末端效应,为简化乏燃料组件相关的临界安全分析提供了一个方法。相关研究工作及成果,是先进非能动压水堆核电站乏燃料组件相关的设施设备的临界安全设计的基础,可为其他堆型的相应研究提供参考和借鉴。     

Operational experience of on-site transport of spent nuclear fuel in Korea

Abstract

With the rapid development of the nuclear power programme in Korea, the amount of accumulated spent nuclear fuel has inevitably increased year by year. The spent nuclear fuel is being stored in on-site storage pools at the nuclear power plants. As the current storage capacity for spent nuclear fuel is insufficient, at-reactor storage is being expanded at each site with regard to optimisation of technical and economic factors. On-site transport between neighbouring reactors has been necessary to secure sufficient storage capacity for pressurised water reactor spent nuclear fuel assemblies. A complete on-site transport system has been developed, and so far more than 800 spent nuclear fuel assemblies have been transported using two kinds of transport cask.     

Nondestructive assay of spent nuclear fuel with gamma-ray spectroscopy

An important issue in nuclear safeguards is to verify operator-declared data of spent nuclear fuel. Various techniques have therefore been assigned for this purpose. A nondestructive approach is to measure the gamma radiation from spent nuclear fuel assemblies. Using this technique, parameters such as burnup and cooling time can be calculated or verified.     

Comparison of the transportation risks for the spent fuel in Korea for different transportation scenarios

According to the long term management strategy for spent fuels in Korea, they will be transported from the spent fuel pools in each nuclear power plant to the central interim storage facility (CISF) which is to start operation in 2016. At the start of the operation of the final repository (FR), by the year 2065, transport will then take place between the CISF and the FR. Therefore, we have to determine the safe and economical logistics for the transportation of these spent fuels by considering their transportation risks and costs. In this study, we developed four transportation scenarios for a maritime transportation by considering the type of transportation casks and transport means in order to suggest safe and economical transportation logistics for the spent fuels in Korea. And, we estimated and compared the transportation risks for these four transportation scenarios. Also, we estimated and compared the transportation risks resulting from accidents during the transportation of PWR and PHWR spent fuels by road trailers from the CISF and the FR. From the results of this study, we found that risks resulting from accidents during the transportation of the spent fuels have a very low radiological risk activity with a manageable safety and health consequences. The results of this study can be used as basic data for the development of safe and economical logistics for a transportation of the spent fuels in Korea by considering the transportation costs for the four scenarios which will be needed in the near future.     

Heat transfer in spent fuel storage

Heat transfer and fluid flow analyses are described for the underwater storage of spent fuel from nuclear power reactors. The analytical methods and supporting test measurements have been employed by General Electric Company in the design and licensing of two spent fuel storage systems: (a) High-density racks for storage of BWR spent fuels in at-reactor water basins [1]. (b) Multi-element baskets for storage of BWR and PWR spent fuel in GE's facility near Morris, IL [2]. The results show that natural convection flow through individual spent fuel bundles provides safe and effective temperature control. Under accident conditions the relatively slow dynamics of the basin system permits timely repair to a loss of basin cooling capability without significant risk to the spent fuel in storage.     

Expansion of the capabilities of the GA-4 legal weight truck spent fuel shipping cask

Abstract

General Atomics has developed the model GA-4 legal weight truck spent fuel cask, a high-capacity cask for the transport of four pressurised water reactor (PWR) spent fuel assemblies, and obtained a certificate of compliance (CoC, No. 9226) in 1998 from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The currently authorised contents for this CoC, however, are much more limiting than the actual capability of the GA-4 cask to transport spent PWR fuel assemblies. The purpose of this paper is to show how the authorised contents can be significantly expanded by additional analyses without any changes to the physical design of the package. Using burn-up credit as outlined in US NRC Interim Staff Guidance 8, Revision 2, the authorised contents can be significantly expanded by increasing the maximum enrichment as the burn-up increases. Use of burn-up credit eliminates most of the criticality imposed limits on authorised package contents, but shielding still limits the use of the cask for higher burn-up, short-cooled fuel. By reducing the number of assemblies transported (downloading) to two and using shielding inserts, even high-burn-up fuel with reasonable cooling times can be transported.     

Small PWR Using Coated Particle Fuel of Thorium and Plutonium

An innovative concept of PFPWR50 for district heating has been studied, which is a small PWR of 50MWt capability using coated particle fuels with conventional zircaloy cladding. This concept takes advantages of fuel integrity against fission products release of coated particle fuels and a high reliability of PWR technology based on the long history of a successful operation. We have investigated burnup characteristics of fuel rods, assemblies, and reactor cores by the calculation code SRAC95 in order to establish a core concept of long life without on-site refueling. The loading pattern of assemblies with various concentrations of burnable poison is optimized to obtain a flat excess reactivity during the core life in order to eliminate a soluble boron control system. The core life of a cycle is about 8.9 equivalent full power years. And we have also studied the applicability of SiC/SiC composite cladding in place of zircaloy cladding, which is now under development for gas cooled fast reactor fuels. It could be applicable to high burnup fuel rods for a long term operation. From the calculation results, it is found out that the burnup characteristics do not change significantly with SiC cladding and contribute to elongate the core life to 9.2 equivalent full power years.     

商用压水堆核燃料研发进展与应用展望

压水堆(PWR)是目前核电厂反应堆的主力堆型,而核燃料是反应堆的能量源泉和放射性裂变物质的主要来源,关乎核电厂的经济性和安全性。本文对当前国际上面向商用PWR应用研发的掺杂UO₂燃料、高铀密度燃料、微封装燃料和金属燃料的性能特点、技术状态及前景进行了归纳和评价。在掺杂UO₂燃料中,大晶粒燃料具有较高的技术成熟度,将在PWR实现大规模商用;高铀密度燃料和金属燃料在高温水腐蚀氧化问题以及事故下的行为仍待研究解决;具有极致安全的微封装燃料更适合特殊用途的小型反应堆。应协同开展先进燃料组件设计、建立设计准则以及研发高保真的性能分析技术等,以充分发挥新型燃料的可靠性及高燃耗优势。     

乏燃料组件非破坏性测量的叉形探测器

采用总γ和无源中子测量方法建立了叉形探测器。叉形探测器可用于后处理和贮存工厂中ＰＷＲ和ＢＷＲ型的乏燃料组件的燃耗、冷却时间、总钚和总裂变物质含量的测定。     

Burnup studies of spent fuels of varying types and enrichment

This paper describes the results of fuel burnup measurements, made over a period of several years on discharged fuel from nuclear power plant and research reactor. The measured and calculated burnup of different spent fuel types, viz.: Natural uranium CANDU fuel bundles; 10.5% enriched booster rods; 20% enriched MTR fuel elements have been presented. High-resolution gamma spectrometry, using ¹³⁷Cs and ¹³⁴Cs burnup monitors was employed in different reactors to estimate the amount of ²³⁵U depletion in the respective fuel. The experimental data was compared with those of calculations to optimize fuel-scheduling programme. The burnup data is useful for assessment of fuel performance in the core and resolving design issues related to long-term storage facilities. It has been observed that the gamma spectrometry is very effective in identifying exact position of individual booster bundles inside the discharged booster assemblies, which is useful in safeguard applications. It is concluded that the distribution of measured isotopic activity ratios of ¹³⁴Cs/¹³⁷Cs along the height of the spent fuel gives accurate estimate of the axial neutron flux profiles in the core. The activity ratio technique therefore provides a useful method to determine flux peaking factors at the particular locations of the fuel assemblies in the reactor.     

Nondestructive burnup measurements by gamma-ray spectroscopy on spent fuel elements of the RP-10 research reactor

Gamma-ray spectroscopy is an important nondestructive method for the qualification of irradiated nuclear fuels. Regarding research reactors, the main parameter required in the scope of such qualification is the average burnup of spent fuel elements. This work describes the measurement, using nondestructive gamma-ray spectroscopy, of the average burnup attained by Material Testing Reactor (MTR) fuel elements irradiated in the RP-10 research reactor. Measurements were performed at the reactor storage pool area using ¹³⁷Cs as the only burnup monitor, even for spent fuel elements with cooling times much shorter than two years. The experimental apparatus was previously calibrated in efficiency to obtain absolute average burnup values, which were compared against corresponding ones furnished by reactor physics calculations. The mean deviation between both values amounts to 6%.     

Benchmark Problem Suite for Reactor Physics Study of LWR Next Generation Fuels

This paper proposes a benchmark problem suite for studying the physics of next-generation fuels of light water reactors. The target discharge burnup of the next-generation fuel was set to 70GWd/t considering the increasing trend in discharge burnup of light water reactor fuels. The UO₂ and MOX fuels are included in the benchmark specifications. The benchmark problem consists of three different geometries: fuel pin cell, PWR fuel assembly and BWR fuel assembly. In the pin cell problem, detailed nuclear characteristics such as burnup dependence of nuclide-wise reactivity were included in the required calculation results to facilitate the study of reactor physics. In the assembly benchmark problems, important parameters for in-core fuel management such as local peaking factors and reactivity coefficients were included in the required results. The benchmark problems provide comprehensive test problems for next-generation light water reactor fuels with extended high burnup. Furthermore, since the pin cell, the PWR assembly and the BWR assembly problems are independent, analyses of the entire benchmark suite is not necessary: e.g., the set of pin cell and PWR fuel assembly problems will be suitable for those in charge of PWR in-core fuel management, and the set of pin cell and BWR fuel assembly problems for those in charge of BWR in-core fuel management.     

压水堆核电厂乏燃料组件源项计算分析

核燃料贮存、运输以及后处理过程中的安全是构成核与辐射安全的重要内容,为保证安全性,提高运输经济性,减小后处理厂对环境的排放,须获得乏燃料组件的包络源项,因此,采用ORIGEN-ARP程序分析组件运行历史、初始富集度、燃耗深度等参数对源项的影响。运行历史在卸料初期对源项略有影响,可采用合适的保守因子予以包络,在冷却一定时间后,其影响可忽略不计;初始富集度、燃耗深度均不同的组件须经对比计算以获得包络源项。计算表明：在目前核电厂乏燃料组件中,²³⁵U初始富集度为4.45%、燃耗深度为55 GW•d/tU的AFA-3G型组件源项是包络的,可作为乏燃料水池、运输容器设计,以及后处理厂排放源项分析的初始源项。     

Re-evaluation of Assay Data of Spent Nuclear Fuel obtained at Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute for validation of burnup calculation code systems

The isotopic composition of spent nuclear fuels is vital data for studies on the nuclear fuel cycle and reactor physics. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has been active in obtaining such data for pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR) fuels, and some data has already been published. These data have been registered with the international Spent Fuel Isotopic Composition Database (SFCOMPO) and widely used as international benchmarks for burnup calculation codes and libraries.     

Prediction of temperature and water level in a spent fuel pit during loss of all AC power supplies

A prediction method for water temperature in a spent fuel pit of a pressurized water reactor (PWR) has been developed to calculate the increase in water temperature during the shutdown of cooling systems. In this study, the prediction method was extended to calculate the water level in a spent fuel pit during loss of all AC power supplies, and predicted results were compared with measured values of spent fuel pools in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The calculations gave reasonable results, but overestimated the decreasing rate of the water level and the water temperature. This indicated that decay heat was overestimated and evaporation heat transfer from the water surface was underestimated. Results of calculations with 80% decay heat and 155% (Unit 4 pool) or 230% (Unit 2 pool) evaporation heat flux were in good agreement with measured values. The data-fitted evaporation heat fluxes agreed rather well with the evaporation heat transfer correlation proposed by Fujii et al.     

SCALE analysis of CLAB decay heat measurements for LWR spent fuel assemblies

A set of decay heat measurements for spent fuel assemblies recently carried out at the Swedish central interim storage facility for spent fuel, CLAB, was analyzed with the SCALE code system. The measurements include a variety of light water reactor assemblies that cover a large burnup range – up to 51 GWd/MTU – and a cooling time domain of interest to spent fuel storage and transportation applications. The results of the analysis show a good agreement between measured and predicted decay heat, with the calculated decay heat in general within the range of the uncertainty of the measured value. The effect of various assembly data on the calculated decay heat is analyzed and discussed. Uncertainties that may arise from various approaches and assumptions in the computational model are identified and examined.