Spine for 280 pages: 14,48 mm Management and Storage of Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Research Reactor Spent Storage of Management and Proceedings Series Management and Storage of Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel Proceedings of a Technical Meeting held in Thurso, United Kingdom, 19–22 October 2009 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA ISBN 978–92–0–138210–8 ISSN 0074–1884 MANAGEMENT AND STORAGE OF RESEARCH REACTOR SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL The following States are Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency: AFGHANISTAN GUATEMALA PANAMA ALBANIA HAITI PAPUA NEW GUINEA ALGERIA HOLY SEE PARAGUAY ANGOLA HONDURAS PERU ARGENTINA HUNGARY PHILIPPINES ARMENIA ICELAND POLAND AUSTRALIA INDIA PORTUGAL AUSTRIA INDONESIA AZERBAIJAN IRAN, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF QATAR BAHRAIN IRAQ REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BANGLADESH IRELAND ROMANIA BELARUS ISRAEL RUSSIAN FEDERATION BELGIUM ITALY Rwanda BELIZE JAMAICA SAUDI ARABIA BENIN JAPAN SENEGAL BOLIVIA JORDAN SERBIA BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA KAZAKHSTAN SEYCHELLES BOTSWANA KENYA SIERRA LEONE BRAZIL KOREA, REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA KUWAIT SINGAPORE BURKINA FASO KYRGYZSTAN SLOVAKIA BURUNDI LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC SLOVENIA CAMBODIA REPUBLIC SOUTH AFRICA CAMEROON LATVIA SPAIN CANADA LEBANON SRI LANKA CENTRAL AFRICAN LESOTHO SUDAN REPUBLIC LIBERIA SWAZILAND CHAD LIBYA SWEDEN CHILE LIECHTENSTEIN SWITZERLAND CHINA LITHUANIA COLOMBIA LUXEMBOURG SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC CONGO MADAGASCAR TAJIKISTAN COSTA RICA MALAWI THAILAND CÔTE D’IVOIRE MALAYSIA THE FORMER YUGOSLAV CROATIA MALI REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CUBA MALTA TOGO CYPRUS MARSHALL ISLANDS TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO CZECH REPUBLIC MAURITANIA TUNISIA DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC MAURITIUS TURKEY OF THE CONGO MEXICO UGANDA DENMARK MONACO DOMINICA MONGOLIA UKRAINE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MONTENEGRO UNITED ARAB EMIRATES ECUADOR MOROCCO UNITED KINGDOM OF EGYPT MOZAMBIQUE GREAT BRITAIN AND EL SALVADOR MYANMAR NORTHERN IRELAND ERITREA NAMIBIA UNITED REPUBLIC ESTONIA NEPAL OF TANZANIA ETHIOPIA NETHERLANDS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NEW ZEALAND FIJI URUGUAY FINLAND NICARAGUA UZBEKISTAN FRANCE NIGER GABON NIGERIA VENEZUELA GEORGIA NORWAY VIETNAM GERMANY OMAN YEMEN GHANA PAKISTAN ZAMBIA GREECE PALAU ZIMBABWE The Agency’s Statute was approved on 23 October 1956 by the Conference on the Statute of the IAEA held at United Nations Headquarters, New York; it entered into force on 29 July 1957. The Headquarters of the Agency are situated in Vienna. Its principal objective is “to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world’’. PROCEEDINGS SERIES MANAGEMENT AND STORAGE OF RESEARCH REACTOR SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL PROCEEDINGS OF A TECHNICAL MEETING HELD IN THURSO, UNITED KINGDOM, 19–22 OCTOBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY VIENNA, 2013 COPYRIGHT NOTICE All IAEA scientific and technical publications are protected by the terms of the Universal Copyright Convention as adopted in 1952 (Berne) and as revised in 1972 (Paris). The copyright has since been extended by the World Intellectual Property Organization (Geneva) to include electronic and virtual intellectual property. Permission to use whole or parts of texts contained in IAEA publications in printed or electronic form must be obtained and is usually subject to royalty agreements. Proposals for non-commercial reproductions and translations are welcomed and considered on a case-by-case basis. Enquiries should be addressed to the IAEA Publishing Section at: Marketing and Sales Unit, Publishing Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria fax: +43 1 2600 29302 tel.: +43 1 2600 22417 email: [email protected] http://www.iaea.org/books For further information on this publication, please contact: Research Reactor Section International Atomic Energy Agency Vienna International Centre PO Box 100 1400 Vienna, Austria Email: [email protected] © IAEA, 2013 Printed by the IAEA in Austria March 2013 IAEA Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Management and storage of research reactor spent nuclear fuel : proceedings of a technical meeting held in Thurso, United Kingdom, 19–22 October 2009 – Vienna : International Atomic Energy Agency, 2013. p. 30 cm. – (Proceedings series, ISSN 0074-1884) STI/PUB/1592 ISBN 978-92-0-138210-8 Includes bibliographical references. 1. Spent reactor fuels – Storage – Congresses. 2. Radioactive waste management – Congresses. 3. Nuclear reactors – Safety measures – Congresses. I. International Atomic Energy Agency. II. Series: Proceedings series (International Atomic Energy Agency). IAEAL 13-00785 44 FOREWORD Responsible use of nuclear technology requires that in addition to safety, security and environmental protection, credible solutions be developed for addressing the management of research reactor fuel throughout the full fuel cycle, including its disposition after removal from the reactor core. It is clear that the end point of the research reactor fuel cycle is associated with the development of a geological repository to be used for disposition of the spent fuel assembly after it is properly conditioned or for disposition of the waste resulting from its reprocessing. Developing a geological repository for spent nuclear fuel and high level waste is not an easy task. Only a few countries have made great progress in the implementation of geological repositories, including Finland, France, Sweden and the United States of America. The technology and costs involved in developing a geological repository and maintaining it for hundreds of years make it prohibitive for most countries, especially those countries with only one or two research reactors and no nuclear power programme. Furthermore, in most countries the inventories of spent nuclear fuel and high level waste grow slowly. For these reasons, many Member States are currently deferring the decision on selecting an end point solution for their research reactor spent nuclear fuel, and it is expected that hundreds of research reactors worldwide, both operational and shutdown but not yet decommissioned, will continue with at-reactor or away-from-reactor storage of research reactor spent nuclear fuel (RRSNF) for long periods. This situation has raised concerns about the condition of the stored fuel and storage facilities, because spent fuel at both research and test reactors is being stored for longer periods than originally planned and in larger quantities. Furthermore, considering that 124 of the 240 operating research reactors and 181 of the 217 shutdown but not yet decommissioned research reactors are over 40 years old, it is understandable that concerns focus on the condition of the stored fuel, the ageing fuel storage facilities, the extension of their lifetimes and the ultimate disposition of spent fuel assemblies. To help managers of research reactors and RRSNF storage facilities deal with interim storage of spent fuel, the IAEA has developed a programme of activities to study and discuss how to safely maintain the integrity of the fuel and to improve storage conditions until a final decision on the end point is made. Within this programme, a technical meeting was organized to discuss good practices for the management and storage of RRSNF. The meeting was held during October 2009 in Thurso, United Kingdom, and was attended by experts representing organizations having proven experience in handling and storing RRSNF. The information assimilated during the meeting was collected and assembled in this publication, with the purpose of making available to managers of research reactors and managers of RRSNF storage facilities, information on current good practices on interim storage of RRSNF. The IAEA wishes to thank all those who participated in the technical meeting, as well as N. Iyer, D. Vinson, J. Lian, P. Standring and A. Soares for their contributions to the final version of the report. The IAEA officers responsible for this publication were P. Adelfang and S. Tozser of the Division of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology. EDITORIAL NOTE The papers in these proceedings are reproduced as submitted by the authors and have not undergone rigorous editorial review by the IAEA. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the IAEA, the governments of the nominating Member States or the nominating organizations. The use of particular designations of countries or territories does not imply any judgement by the publisher, the IAEA, as to the legal status of such countries or territories, of their authorities and institutions or of the delimitation of their boundaries. The mention of names of specific companies or products (whether or not indicated as registered) does not imply any intention to infringe proprietary rights, nor should it be construed as an endorsement or recommendation on the part of the IAEA. The authors are responsible for having obtained the necessary permission for the IAEA to reproduce, translate or use material from sources already protected by copyrights. CONTENTS SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1 2. OPTIONS FOR RESEARCH REACTOR SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL ........................... 2 2.1. Research reactor spent nuclear fuel reprocessing ................................................... 2 2.2. Return of research reactor spent nuclear fuel to the country where it was enriched .............................................................................................