http://www.mtexpress.com/search/?t=article&nsa=eedition&q=Leyse
EPRI had already started examining longer-term storage
safety in 2009 when it established the Extended Storage Collaboration Program
with industry and government experts. “The program has grown to more than 400
members from 16 countries, all seeking to answer the same question: What needs
to be done to ensure the safe, extended storage of spent fuel?” said EPRI
Senior Technical Leader Keith Waldrop.
A
Related Issue: Evaluating High-Burnup Fuel Storage
Over time, the nuclear industry has
increased its fuel burnup to improve reactor economics. According to the NRC,
the average fuel discharged from reactors today has reached the high-burnup
threshold, and more of this fuel is being stored in casks. Based on laboratory
research, NRC is concerned that high-burnup fuel in dry storage may have a
greater potential for cracking in the zirconium alloy rod that contains the
uranium fuel.
EPRI has been investigating how to
store high-burnup fuel safely since the 1990s. In 2002, NRC accepted
EPRI-developed technical criteria to license cask storage of high-burnup fuel
for 20 years. “Many casks with high-burnup fuel are approaching 20 years now,”
Machiels said. “Researchers have to confirm that the existing criteria will
ensure safe storage over extended periods.”
EPRI and DOE have launched a
demonstration project to confirm the behavior of high-burnup fuel during
extended storage. EPRI researchers are modifying a commercial storage cask with
monitoring equipment, which Waldrop called the project’s “biggest challenge.”
By 2017, the cask will be loaded with several types of high-burnup fuel at
Dominion’s North Anna Power Station, and key parameters including temperature
will be monitored for 10 years at the plant’s cask storage facility. Rods from
the cask will be tested and the results compared to those from tests prior to
storage to identify any changes. “The results will enhance the technical basis
for longer-term storage of high-burnup fuel,” said Waldrop.
“We know that as spent fuel cools,
temperature and radiation decrease; therefore, the potential for fuel
degradation is reduced as well,” said Machiels. “There will be a time when
conditions are mild enough that any degradation is unlikely. We are focused on
aging management to make sure that the systems protecting the spent fuel will
perform properly over all the time they’re needed.”
Email to EPRI:
|
| Subject: |
Request for details |
| Date: |
4/1/2016 10:34:29 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time |
| From: |
 Bobleyse@aol.com |
|
|
Expert:
It is disclosed,
EPRI and DOE have launched a demonstration project to confirm the behavior
of high-burnup fuel during extended storage. EPRI researchers are modifying a
commercial storage cask with monitoring equipment, which Waldrop called the
project’s “biggest challenge.” By 2017, the cask will be loaded with several
types of high-burnup fuel at Dominion’s North Anna Power Station, and key
parameters including temperature will be monitored for 10 years at the plant’s
cask storage facility. Rods from the cask will be tested and the results
compared to those from tests prior to storage to identify any changes. “The
results will enhance the technical basis for longer-term storage of high-burnup
fuel,” said Waldrop.
The above paragraph states, "By 2017, the cask will be loaded
with several types of high-burnup fuel ..." I believe that since those tasks
are to be completed during the next nine months, there is currently a lot of
documentation that details the activities. I want access to that
documentation. How do I get that?
The above reference is written by a professional journalist.
It is not her job to understand the technology. That is apparently the reason
that EPRI provides access to techexpert.
Robert H. Leyse
PO Box 2850
Sun Valley, ID
(208) 622-7740
