Year
2015
Abstract
Storing used fuel at reactor sites for long period of time wasn’t originally planned. But given the delays in the deployment of long term solutions such as geological repositories, license renewal beyond the initial license duration of 20 years is now necessary in some countries. Considering national revised plans to development of geological repository for UNF and HLW, we can predict that UNF will need to remain in dry storage configuration for period that could easily reach at least 100 years and potentially more. In the United States, there are 72,000 MTU of SNF discharged including 22,000 MTU in dry storage (about 2,000 casks/canisters) at 63 operating dry storage facilities. In Germany, as of today about 1,000 dry storage casks are stored at 16 sites including on-site and consolidated storage sites as transportation of UNF is prohibited nowadays. With reactor shutdowns by 2025, it is expected to increase to a total of 1,600 dry storage casks (equivalent of 17,000 MTU). Regulators are in the process of defining a program to monitor and maintain dry storage systems on site to ensure of same level of safety and security. In this early stage of license renewals, aging management programs include mainly periodic inspections of the used fuel dry storage systems and components to ensure potential aging effects are identified and effectively managed. As our industry learns through R&D studies and demonstration and surveillance programs, aging management programs will evolve with advanced inspection technologies and industry operating experience as they become available in the future. This presentation will discuss innovative solutions being developed to monitor age-related degradation, prevent equipment failures caused by ageing and develop contingency plans as needed.