scholarly journals Sensitivity studies in spent fuel pool criticality safety analysis for APR-1400 nuclear power plants

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 709-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulrahman S. Al Awad ◽  
Abdalla Habashy ◽  
Walid A. Metwally
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Safety Analysis ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Sensitivity Studies ◽  
Spent Fuel Pool ◽  
Criticality Safety

scholarly journals Temperature conditions in the RBMK spent fuel pool in the event of disturbances in its cooling mode

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-13
Author(s):  
David A. Hakobyan ◽  
Victor I. Slobodchuk
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Cooling Mode ◽  
Temperature Conditions ◽  
Fuel Assemblies ◽  
Spent Fuel Pool

The problems of reprocessing and long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at nuclear power plants with RBMK reactors have not been fully resolved so far. For this reason, nuclear power plants are forced to search for new options for the disposal of spent fuel, which can provide at least temporary SNF storage. One of the possible solutions to this problem is to switch to compacted SNF storage in reactor spent fuel pools (SFPs). As the number of spent fuel assemblies (SFAs) in SFPs increases, a greater amount of heat is released. In addition, no less important is the fact that a place for emergency FA discharging should be provided in SFPs. The paper presents the results of a numerical simulation of the temperature conditions in SFPs both for compacted SNF storage and for emergency FA discharging. Several types of disturbances in normal SFP cooling mode are considered, including partial loss of cooling water and exposure of SFAs. The simulation was performed using the ANSYS CFX software tool. Estimates were made of the time for heating water to the boiling point, as well as the time for heating the cladding of the fuel elements to a temperature of 650 °С. The most critical conditions are observed in the emergency FA discharging compartment. The results obtained make it possible to estimate the time that the personnel have to restore normal cooling mode of the spent fuel pool until the maximum temperature for water and spent fuel assemblies is reached.

Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel in the UAE Nuclear Power Plants

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Al Saadi ◽  
Yongsun Yi
Keyword(s):  
Discount Rate ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Cooling Period ◽  
Dry Storage ◽  
Spent Fuel Pool ◽  
Interim Storage

The interim storage options of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in Barakah nuclear power plants in the UAE were studied in terms of costs and technical issues. Considering the capacity of the spent fuel pools in Barakah nuclear power plants, two scenarios for the interim SNF storage were established. Scenario 1 is ‘minimum use of spent fuel pool’ that SNF will be transferred to dry storage facilities as soon as SNF has been sufficiently cooled down in a pool for the dry storage. Scenario 2 is defined as ‘maximum use of spent fuel pool’ that SNF will be stored in a pool as long as possible till the amount of stored SNF in the pool reaches the capacity of the pools and, then, to be moved for dry storage. For these two scenarios, cost analysis was performed in terms of net present values (NPVs) and levelized unit costs (LUCs). The life cycle of the dry storage was divided into three phases: i) preconstruction phase, ii) construction phase and iii) operation phase. By using data available in literature for the three phases, the total costs were calculated and compared between the two scenarios. For a basic analysis, using the discount rate of 5 % and the required cooling period (Tcool) of 7 years before the SNF transfer to dry storage, LUCs were 184 and 192 $/kg HM for Scenarios 1 and 2, respectively, which were comparable to other analysis results in literature. Then, additional calculations were performed using two different values of the discount rate and the cooling period, respectively. The NPV 1 for Scenario 1 ranges between 175.7 and 413.5 million 2014 $, depending on the discount rate and the cooling period, Tcool. For Scenario 2, NPVs of 85.2 and 237.3 million 2014 $ were obtained for discount rates of 7% and 3%, respectively. The comparisons of the NPVs between the two scenarios showed that Scenario 1 would cost 1.5 to 2.7 times Scenario 2. Technical issues of a dry storage system associated with the site specific conditions in the UAE were also studied. The higher ambient air temperature in the UAE than other countries could affect the cooling capacity of the dry storage by natural convection, which will affect the required cooling period (Tcool) in the spent fuel pool. Also, the harsh environments could have detrimental effects on the integrity of metallic components by degradation phenomena such as pitting, stress corrosion cracking (SCC). This discussion implies that the two aspects related to the harsh environment in the UAE should be studied as early as possible. The environmental and safety impacts associated with the dry storage of SNF were discussed. According to published reports in the USA it seems that there will be no significant environmental impacts of the dry storage for 60 years. However, it is judged that future studies should address the impacts for longer time period than 60 years.

NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SPAIN: ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION AND ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES

10.6036/10156 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 355-358
Author(s):  
Pablo Fernández Arias ◽  
DIEGO VERGARA RODRIGUEZ
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Waste ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Waste Storage ◽  
Alternative Strategies ◽  
Temporary Storage ◽  
Long Term Storage ◽  
High Level

Centralized Temporary Storage Facility (CTS) is an industrial facility designed to store spent fuel (SF) and high level radioactive waste (HLW) generated at Spanish nuclear power plants (NPP) in a single location. At the end of 2011, the Spanish Government approved the installation of the CTS in the municipality of Villar de Cañas in Cuenca. This approval was the outcome of a long process of technical studies and political decisions that were always surrounded by great social rejection. After years of confrontations between the different political levels, with hardly any progress in its construction, this infrastructure of national importance seems to have been definitively postponed. The present research analyzes the management strategy of SF and HLW in Spain, as well as the alternative strategies proposed, taking into account the current schedule foreseen for the closure of the Spanish NPPs. In view of the results obtained, it is difficult to affirm that the CTS will be available in 2028, with the possibility that its implementation may be delayed to 2032, or even that it may never happen, making it necessary to adopt an alternative strategy for the management of GC and ARAR in Spain. Among the different alternatives, the permanence of the current Individualized Temporary Stores (ITS) as a long-term storage strategy stands out, and even the possibility of building several distributed temporary storage facilities (DTS) in which to store the SF and HLW from several Spanish NPP. Keywords: nuclear waste, storage, nuclear power plants.

Application of TRACE and FRAPTRAN in the Spent Fuel Pool of Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant

2013 ◽  
Vol 479-480 ◽  
pp. 543-547
Author(s):  
Jong Rong Wang ◽  
Hao Tzu Lin ◽  
Wan Yun Li ◽  
Shao Wen Chen ◽  
Chun Kuan Shih
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Safety Issue ◽  
Water Injection ◽  
Safety Analysis ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Spent Fuel Pool ◽  
Study Case

In the nuclear power plant (NPP) safety, the safety analysis of the NPP is very important work. In Fukushima NPP event, due to the earthquake and tsunami, the cooling system of the spent fuel pool failed and the safety issue of the spent fuel pool generated. In this study, the safety analysis of the Chinshan NPP spent fuel pool was performed by using TRACE and FRAPTRAN, which also assumed the cooling system of the spent fuel pool failed. There are two cases considered in this study. Case 1 is the no fire water injection in the spent fuel pool. Case 2 is the fire water injection while the water level of the spent fuel pool uncover the length of fuel rods over 1/3 full length. The analysis results of the case 1 show that the failure of cladding occurs in about 3.6 day. However, the results of case 2 indicate that the integrity of cladding is kept after the fire water injection.

Qualification Requirements Design for Neutron Absorber Plate for Spent Fuel Racks in Domestic Nuclear Power Plants

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
You Shi ◽  
Dong Ning ◽  
Yi-zhong Yang
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Aluminum Matrix ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Absorber Plate ◽  
Neutron Absorber ◽  
Fuel Storage ◽  
B4c Particle

Boron carbide (B4C) particle-reinforced aluminum matrix composite is the key material for use as neutron absorber plate in fuel storage applications for Generation III advanced passive nuclear power plants in China. This material has once depended upon importing with various restrictions so that it has meaningful practical significance to realize the localized manufacturing for this material in China. More importantly, since it is the first time for this material to be used in domestic plant, particular care should be taken to assure the formal supplied products exhibit high stabilized and reliable service in domestic nuclear engineering. This paper initiates and proposes a principle design framework from technical view in qualification requirements for this material so as to guide the practical engineering application. Aiming at neutron absorber materials supplied under practical manufacturing condition in engineering delivery, the qualification requirements define B4C content, matrix chemistry, 10B isotope, bulk density, 10B areal density, mechanical property, and microstructure as key criteria for material performance. The uniformity assessment as to different locations of this material is also required from at least three lots of material. Only qualified material meeting all of the qualification requirements should proceed to be verified by lifetime testing such as irradiation, corrosion, and thermal aging testing. Systematic and comprehensive performance assessments and verification for process stabilization could be achieved through the above qualification. The long-term service for this neutron absorber material in reliable and safe way could be convincingly expected in spent fuel storage application in China.

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