Survey of Experience with Dry Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel and Update of Wet Storage Experience [antikvár]

FOREWORD Spent fuel storage is an important part of spent fuel management. At present about 45 000 t of spent water reactor fuel have been discharged worldwide. Only a small fraction of this fuel (approximately 1%) has been reprocessed. The amount of spent fuel arisings will increase significantly in the next 15 years. Estimates indicate that up to the year 2000 about 200 000 t HM of spent fuel could be accumulated. In view of the large quantities of spent fuel discharged from nuclear power plants and future expected discharges, many countries are involved in the construction of facilities for the storage of spent fuel and in the development of effective methods for spent fuel surveillance and monitoring to ensure that reliable and safe operation of storage facilities is achievable until the time when the final disposal of spent fuel or high level wastes is feasible. The first demonstrations of final disposal are not expected before the years 2000-2020. This is why the long term storage of spent fuel and HLW is a vital problem for all countries with nuclear power programmes. The present survey contains data on dry storage and recent information on wet storage, transportation, rod consolidation, etc. The main aim is to provide spent fuel management policy making organizations, designers, scientists and spent fuel storage facility operators with the latest information on spent fuel storage technology under dry and wet conditions and on innovations in this field. The IAEA wishes to thank the working group which prepared this publication and all those who contributed to its preparation through their comments and participation in discussions.