• Title/Summary/Keyword: Dry storage cask

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A Criticality Analysis of the GBC-32 Dry Storage Cask with Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 Fuel Assemblies from the Viewpoint of Burnup Credit

  • Yun, Hyungju;Kim, Do-Yeon;Park, Kwangheon;Hong, Ser Gi
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.48 no.3
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    • pp.624-634
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    • 2016
  • Nuclear criticality safety analyses (NCSAs) considering burnup credit were performed for the GBC-32 cask. The used nuclear fuel assemblies (UNFAs) discharged from Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3 Cycle 6 were loaded into the cask. Their axial burnup distributions and average discharge burnups were evaluated using the DeCART and Multi-purpose Analyzer for Static and Transient Effects of Reactors (MASTER) codes, and NCSAs were performed using SCALE 6.1/STandardized Analysis of Reactivity for Burnup Credit using SCALE (STARBUCS) and Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code, version 6 (MCNP 6). The axial burnup distributions were determined for 20 UNFAs with various initial enrichments and burnups, which were applied to the criticality analysis for the cask system. The UNFAs for 20- and 30-year cooling times were assumed to be stored in the cask. The criticality analyses indicated that $k_{eff}$ values for UNFAs with nonuniform axial burnup distributions were larger than those with a uniform distribution, that is, the end effects were positive but much smaller than those with the reference distribution. The axial burnup distributions for 20 UNFAs had shapes that were more symmetrical with a less steep gradient in the upper region than the reference ones of the United States Department of Energy. These differences in the axial burnup distributions resulted in a significant reduction in end effects compared with the reference.

Change in radiation characteristics outside the SNF storage container as an indicator of fuel rod cladding destruction

  • Rudychev, V.G.;Azarenkov, N.A.;Girka, I.O.;Rudychev, Y.V.
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.53 no.11
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    • pp.3704-3710
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    • 2021
  • The characteristics of the external radiation on the surface of the casks for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage by dry method are investigated for the case when the spatial distribution of SNF in the basket changes due to the destruction of the fuel rod claddings. The surface areas are determined, where the changes in fluxes of neutrons, produced by 244Cm actinide, and γ-quanta, produced by long-lived isotopes, are maximum in the result of the decrease in the height of the SNF area. Concrete (VSC-24) and metal (SC-21) casks are considered as examples. The procedure of periodic measurement of the dose rate of neutrons or γ-quanta at the specified points of the cask surface is proposed for identifying the fuel rod cladding destruction. Under normal operation, the decrease in the dose rate produced by neutrons as the function of SNF storage duration is determined by the half-life of 244Cm, and for γ-quanta - by the half-lives of long-lived SNF isotopes. Consequently, a stepwise change in the dose rate of neutrons or γ-quanta, detected by the measurements, as compared to the previous one, would indicate the destruction of the fuel rod claddings.

A Verification of Tip-over Analysis of a Dry Concrete Storage Cask under The Accident Conditions by a Test for the 1/3 Scale Model (사고조건하의 건식저장용기 전복해석검증을 위한 1/3 축소모델의 시험)

  • Kim Dong-Hak;Seo Ki-seog;Lee Ju-Chan;Jung Ki-Jung;Cho Chun-Hyung;Choi Byung-Il;Lee Heung-Young
    • Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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    • 2005.11a
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    • pp.237-246
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    • 2005
  • A tip-over test of the 1/3 scale model is conducted to verify the tip-oner analysis of a dry concrete storage cask under a hypothetical accident condition. The tip-oner analysis is executed using the velocity at each point which are determined from the initial angular velocity as the initial conditions of the model just before the impact. To confirm the structural integrity of the canister of a dry concrete storage cask, the non-detective testing such as Liquid Penetrants testing and Ultrasonic Testing are conducted. The strains and tile accelerations acquired by the tip-over test are compared with those by the analysis to verify the tip-over analysis. The lid of a storage calk are plastically deformed at the impact point. Liquid

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Nondestructive inspection of spent nuclear fuel storage canisters using shear horizontal guided waves

  • Choi, Sungho;Cho, Hwanjeong;Lissenden, Cliff J.
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.50 no.6
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    • pp.890-898
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    • 2018
  • Nondestructive inspection (NDI) is an integral part of structural integrity analyses of dry storage casks that house spent nuclear fuel. One significant concern for the structural integrity is stress corrosion cracking in the heat-affected zone of welds in the stainless steel canister that confines the spent fuel. In situ NDI methodology for detection of stress corrosion cracking is investigated, where the inspection uses a delivery robot because of the presence of the harsh environment and geometric constrains inside the cask protecting the canister. Shear horizontal (SH) guided waves that are sensitive to cracks oriented either perpendicular or parallel to the wave vector are used to locate welds and to detect cracks. SH waves are excited and received by electromagnetic acoustic transducers (EMATs) using noncontact ultrasonic transduction and pulse-echo mode. A laboratory-scale canister mock-up is fabricated and inspected using the proposed methodology to evaluate the ability of EMATs to excite and receive SH waves and to locate welds. The EMAT's capability to detect notches from various distances is evaluated on a plate containing 25%-through-thickness surface-breaking notches. Based on the results of the distances at which notch reflections are detectable, NDI coverage for spent nuclear fuel storage canisters is determined.