Restoration Of The Savannah River Site’s H-Canyon Electrolytic Dissolver Capability As An Option For Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposition

The Savannah River Site (SRS) and other sites began developing electrolytic dissolution methods for Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) as early as the 1950s. A large-scale electrolytic dissolver was initially set up and successfully operated at the Semiworks facility at SRS beginning in the early 1960s. An electrolytic dissolver was operated in H‑Canyon from 1969 to 1980, designed to accommodate multiple fuel types with claddings of various metals such as stainless steel, Zr, Inconel, Hastelloy, and NiCr. Fuel assemblies were charged to a perforated inert basket in the dissolver located between the electrodes. The fuel was dissolved using the “liquid contact” principle, where current enters and leaves the dissolving metal through the nitric acid electrolyte. Many types of SNF are stored in the water-filled Disassembly Basin of the L-Area Storage Facility at SRS. While SRS’s H-Canyon facility is configured for the dissolution and processing of aluminum clad SNF, the capability to dissolve non-aluminum clad SNF such as fuels clad in stainless steel and Zr has not existed for decades. There are approximately 2000 non-aluminum clad items stored in L-Basin including a range of intact assemblies, loose rods/plates, and post irradiation examination pieces that do not have a planned disposition pathway. Use of an electrolytic dissolver is being evaluated for disposition of SNF of these types at the H-Canyon facility.