Describes international approaches for maintaining fuel subcritical, removing residual heat, providing radiation protection and containing radioactive materials for the lifetime of a facility. It is intended to provide details on the safety assessment of interim spent fuel storage facilities that are not an integral part of an operating plant.
This report results from a Coordinated Research Project on ""Ageing of Materials in Spent Fuel Storage Facilities"". It includes sections on the status of the understanding of the ageing of selected materials and on management of ageing.
This publication is a revision by amendment of IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SSG-15 and provides recommendations and guidance on the storage of spent nuclear fuel. It covers all types of storage facility and all types of spent fuel from nuclear power plants and research reactors. It takes into consideration the longer storage periods beyond the original design lifetime of the storage facility that have become necessary owing to delays in the development of disposal facilities and the reduction in reprocessing activities. It also considers developments associated with nuclear fuel, such as higher enrichment, mixed oxide fuels and higher burnup. Guidance is provided on all stages in the lifetime of a spent fuel storage facility, from planning through siting and design to operation and decommissioning. The revision was undertaken by amending, adding and/or deleting specific paragraphs addressing recommendations and findings from studying the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan.
This publication identifies issues and challenges relevant to the development and implementation of options, policies, strategies and programmes for ensuring safe, secure, and effective storage of spent fuel until transport for reprocessing or disposal. The target audience of this publication includes policy and decision makers who need to be aware of the implicit risks and costs associated with decision timing for determining and implementing an end point for spent fuel management (such as reprocessing or disposal) to ensure the responsible and sustainable use of nuclear energy. The publication will assist those within the nuclear industry in communicating the importance of a clear, credible and sustainable spent fuel management strategy and will encourage decision makers to consider different approaches that may be useful in addressing the uncertainties resulting from an unknown storage duration and an undefined end point for spent fuel management.
In May 2003, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the National Academies organized an international workshop in Moscow on the scientific issues relevant to the establishment and operation of an international spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Russia. Given the broad international interest in this topic, the academies organized a second international workshop on important issues that were not on the agenda or were not adequately discussed at the first workshop. These issues included international monitoring at the facility, transportation requirements, liability and insurance concerns, and status of Russian legislation and regulations that are important in locating and operating a facility. Relevant experience from Europe, the United States, and Asia was also considered in this 2005 workshop. This book contains the papers presented at the 2005 workshop sessions, as well as proceedings from the 2003 workshop. Together they provide an overview of the issues, and useful background for those organizations and individuals involved in further development of an international spent nuclear fuel storage facility in Russia.
This Safety Guide has been developed through a series of technical meetings and represents an international consensus on useful design principles. These principles will be effective in maintaining fuel subcritical, removing residual heat, providing radiation protection and containing radioactive materials for the lifetime of the facility.
This Safety Guide provides recommendations and guidance on the storage of spent nuclear fuel. It covers all types of storage facilities and all types of spent fuel from nuclear power plants and research reactors. It takes into consideration the longer storage periods that have become necessary owing to delays in the development of disposal facilities and the decrease in reprocessing activities. It also considers developments associated with nuclear fuel, such as higher enrichment, mixed oxide fuels and higher burnup. The Safety Guide is not intended to cover the storage of spent fuel if this is part of the operation of a nuclear power plant or spent fuel reprocessing facility. Guidance is provided on all stages for spent fuel storage facilities, from planning through siting and design to operation and decommissioning, and in particular retrieval of spent fuel.
This guidebook is a revised version of Technical Reports Series No. 240, published in 1984. It provides a summary of the experience and information in many areas related to spent fuel storage. It will allow a better understanding of the many problems involved and permit countries that are planning for or operating nuclear power reactors to review the issues in a more informative manner. In view of the large quantity of spent fuel discharged from nuclear power plants, long term storage is currently the primary option for the management of spent fuel. The proven wet storage concept is expected to continue to be used in the future. The design and the technological, economic and material problems of safe spent fuel storage will remain a focus of attention, with particular emphasis on dry storage technology, rod consolidation and other advanced concepts.
