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Spent Fuel Burnup Credit in Casks: An NRC Perspective
Spent Fuel Burnup Credit in Casks: An NRC Perspective
Until now, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) approval of criticality safety evaluations for spent fuel in transport and storage casks has been based on analyzing the fuel as though it were fresh and without burnable poisons. The well-known nuclide composition of fresh fuel has provided a straightforward and bounding approach for showing that spent fuel systems will remain subcritical under normal and accident conditions. Burnup credit refers to the approval of criticality safety evaluations that consider the decrease in fuel reactivity caused by. irradiation in the reactor.
Selection of Reactor Criticals as Benchmarks for Spent Nuclear Fuels
Selection of Reactor Criticals as Benchmarks for Spent Nuclear Fuels
An Empirical Approach to Bounding the Axial Reactivity Effects of PWR Spent Nuclear Fuel
An Empirical Approach to Bounding the Axial Reactivity Effects of PWR Spent Nuclear Fuel
One of the significant issues yet to be resolved for using
burnup credit ~BUC! for spent nuclear fuel ~SNF! is establishing
a set of depletion parameters that produce an adequately conservative
representation of the fuel’s isotopic inventory. Depletion
parameters ~such as local power, fuel temperature, moderator temperature,
burnable poison rod history, and soluble boron concentration!
affect the isotopic inventory of fuel that is depleted in a
pressurized water reactor ~PWR!. However, obtaining the detailed
Nondestructive Assay of Nuclear Low-Enriched Uranium Spent Fuels for Burnup Credit Application
Nondestructive Assay of Nuclear Low-Enriched Uranium Spent Fuels for Burnup Credit Application
Criticality safety analysis devoted to spent-fuel storage and transportation has to be conservative in order to be sure no accident will ever happen. In the spent-fuel storage field, the assumption of freshness has been used to achieve the conservative aspect of criticality safety procedures. Nevertheless, after being irradiated in a reactor core, the fuel elements have obviously lost part of their original reactivity. The concept of taking into account this reactivity loss in criticality safety analysis is known as burnup credit.
Computational Benchmark of SAS2D Against Spent Fuel Samples from the Takahama-3 Reactor
Computational Benchmark of SAS2D Against Spent Fuel Samples from the Takahama-3 Reactor
Investigation of the Effect of Fixed Absorbers on the Reactivity of PWR Spent Nuclear Fuel for Burnup Credit
Investigation of the Effect of Fixed Absorbers on the Reactivity of PWR Spent Nuclear Fuel for Burnup Credit
The effect of fixed absorbers on the reactivity of pressurized water reactor (PWR) spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in support of burnup-credit criticality safety analyses is examined. A fuel assembly burned in conjunction with fixed absorbers may have a higher reactivity for a given burnup than an assembly that has not used fixed absorbers. As a result, guidance on burnup credit, issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Spent Fuel Project Office, recommends restricting the use of burnup credit to assemblies that have not used burnable absorbers.
Used Fuel Management System Interface Analyses
Used Fuel Management System Interface Analyses
Preliminary system-level analyses of the interfaces between at-reactor used fuel management, consolidated storage facilities, and disposal facilities, along with the development of supporting logistics simulation tools, have been initiated to provide the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other stakeholders with information regarding the various alternatives for managing used nuclear fuel (UNF) generated by the current fleet of light water reactors operating in the United States.
Categorization of Used Nuclear Fuel Inventory in Support of a Comprehensive National Nuclear Fuel Cycle Strategy
Categorization of Used Nuclear Fuel Inventory in Support of a Comprehensive National Nuclear Fuel Cycle Strategy
A technical assessment of the current inventory [~70,150 metric tons of heavy metal (MTHM) as of
2011] of U.S.-discharged used nuclear fuel (UNF) has been performed to support decisions regarding fuel
cycle strategies and research, development and demonstration (RD&D) needs. The assessment considered
discharged UNF from commercial nuclear electricity generation and defense and research programs and
determined that the current UNF inventory can be divided into the following three categories:
2015 NEI Used Fuel Management Conference Presentations
2015 NEI Used Fuel Management Conference Presentations
Link to NEI's website where the 2015 NEI Used Fuel Management Conference presentations can be downloaded.
Day 1
Session 0, Opening Plenary
Korsnick, Maria
Exelon Generation
Nuclear Energy in a Changing Marketplace
Lombard, Mark
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRC Management Perspective: What’s Up?
McCullum, Rod
Nuclear Energy Institute
Management Perspectives
Session 1, Used Fuel Policy
Dry Cask Storage of Nuclear Spent Fuel
Dry Cask Storage of Nuclear Spent Fuel
Dry Cask Storage of Nuclear Spent Fuel
Dry Cask Storage of Nuclear Spent Fuel
This presentation was given by Earl Easton at the 2011 National State Liaison Officers Conference in Bethesda, MD.
The presentation highlights the current state of spent nuclear fuel as well as the progress toward its ultimate disposal.
Nuclear Fuels Storage and Transportation Planning Project (NFST) System Analysis Models
Nuclear Fuels Storage and Transportation Planning Project (NFST) System Analysis Models
Animated slide show of Nuclear Fuels Storage and Transportation Planning Project (NFST) System Analysis Models. Runs in Microsoft PowerPoint slide show. Run time is 12 minutes.
WCS Files License Application with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to Operate a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) for Used Nuclear Fuel
WCS Files License Application with Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to Operate a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) for Used Nuclear Fuel
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 28, 2016) – Waste Control Specialists LLC (WCS) submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a license to construct and operate a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) for used nuclear fuel. The filing comes after a year of pre-application meetings with NRC and maintains the timeline WCS outlined in February 2015.
The application is being led by WCS, along with its partners AREVA and NAC International, both global industry leaders in the transportation and storage of used nuclear fuel.
WCS Presentation Slides to NRC 8-22-16
WCS Presentation Slides to NRC 8-22-16
WCS Presentation slides for NRC meeting held 8-22-16 to discuss the status of responses to NRC Requests for Supplemental Information.
Sister Rod Examinations at ORNL for the HBU Spent Fuel Data Project
Sister Rod Examinations at ORNL for the HBU Spent Fuel Data Project
Presentation made at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Extended Storage Collaboration Project (ESCP) meeting November 2016 discussing the status of nondestructive examinations being performed on high burnup (HBU) sent nuclear fuel (SNF) rods at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and proposed destructive examinations that will be performed over the next several years.
Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Reference Design Concept
Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Reference Design Concept
Presentation slides on the Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Reference Design Concept, including site plans; handling, inspection and repackaging concepts and facilities; and cost and staffing estimates.
Hosting a Nuclear Facility: Mayors Discuss Role of Community Engagement
Hosting a Nuclear Facility: Mayors Discuss Role of Community Engagement
Engaging local stakeholders through transparent and open dialogue is pivotal for the success of nuclear projects. Engagement requires time, trust-building and adaptability as expectations evolve. In many places, communities that initially expressed scepticism or opposition have become advocates because of this engagement and better understanding of what it means to host a nuclear facility.
Overview of Environmental Justice in Consent-Based Siting
Overview of Environmental Justice in Consent-Based Siting
Presentation at the U. S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) meeting held in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on August 29 and 30, 2023.
Incorporating Social Science into Consent-Based Siting
Incorporating Social Science into Consent-Based Siting
Presented at the U. S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) meeting held in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on August 29 and 30, 2023.
Incorporating International Siting Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Incorporating International Siting Best Practices and Lessons Learned
Presentation at the U. S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board (NWTRB) meeting held in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on August 29 and 30, 2023.
From Integral Experiments to Nuclear Data Improvement
From Integral Experiments to Nuclear Data Improvement
Target accuracy on LWR neutronics parameters is 2 to 5 times lower than the a priori uncertainty (1σ)
due to nuclear data. This paper summarizes the experimental facilities and the integral measurements that are required
for code qualification. The rigorous use of integral information through trend analysis method is described. Trends
on JEF2 data from Keff measurements and P.I.Es are presented. These trends were accounted for in the new JEFF3
evaluations. The role of fundamental experiments, such as worth measurement of separated isotopes, is emphasized.
Evaluation of Burnup Credit for Accommodating PWR Spent Nuclear Fuel in High-capacity Cask Designs
Evaluation of Burnup Credit for Accommodating PWR Spent Nuclear Fuel in High-capacity Cask Designs
This paper presents an evaluation of the amount of burnup credit needed for high-density casks to
transport the current U.S. inventory of commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies. A prototypic
32-assembly cask and the current regulatory guidance were used as bases for this evaluation.
By comparing actual pressurized-water-reactor (PWR) discharge data (i.e., fuel burnup and initial
enrichment specifications for fuel assemblies discharged from U.S. PWRs) with actinide-only-based
Advances in Applications of Burnup Credit to Enhance Spent Fuel Transportation, Storage, Reprocessing and Disposition-Proceedings of a Technical Meeting held in London, 29 August-2 September 2006
Advances in Applications of Burnup Credit to Enhance Spent Fuel Transportation, Storage, Reprocessing and Disposition-Proceedings of a Technical Meeting held in London, 29 August-2 September 2006
This publication records the proceedings of a technical meeting organized by the IAEA and
held in London 29 August–2 September 2005 with sixty participants from 18 countries. As
indicated in the title, the objective of this meeting was to provide a forum for exchange of
technical information on spent fuel burnup credit applications and thereby compile state-ofthe-
art information on technical advances related to spent fuel transportation, storage,
reprocessing and disposition.