Dry Spent Fuel Storage Compatibility at the Back End of the Fuel Cycle

by John P. Roberts, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: High Level Radioactive Waste Management 1990

Abstract:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has publicly called for dry storage designs to be compatible with the back end of the fuel cycle, to achieve overall fuel cycle efficiency. Thus, spent fuel stored in dry storage casks, modules, or vaults should be readily transportable from the reactor sites at the end of storage, without, to the maximum extent practicable, return of such fuel to reactor basins. There appears to be no opposition, per se, to this concept of transportability, from vendors, utilities, or from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (which must take spent fuel from reactor sites for ultimates disposal in a repository). However, regardless of their general agreement or acquiescence with the Commission's objective, each of these parties has serious concerns about the scheduling and implementation of such a Commission policy. Vendors fear being precipitately forced into expensive and impractical design changes.

Subject Headings: Energy storage | Waste storage | Nuclear power | Fuels | Federal government | Energy efficiency | Water storage

Services: Buy this book/Buy this article

 

Return to search