Used Nuclear Fuel Receipt, Shipping and Disposition at Savannah River Site (SRS)

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1 Used Nuclear Fuel Receipt, Shipping and Disposition at Savannah River Site (SRS) David B. Rose Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC January 13 15, 2014 INMM Spent Fuel Management Seminar XXIX Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel Arlington, VA

2 Outline Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Receipt & Storage Foreign & Domestic SNF Receipt Programs Transportation / Casks Cask & Fuel Handling Storage Capacity Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposition & Shipping Risk Reduction SRE Fuel Processing Uranium Recycle HEU Downblending Summary 2

3 Nuclear Material Management at SRS 3

4 Spent Fuel Project - Mission Receive and store aluminum-based Used Nuclear Fuel (UNF) from foreign & domestic research reactors Operated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (SRNS) for DOE Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) Support National Nuclear Security Administration s (NNSA s) Global Threat Reduction Initiative for removal of Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) from civilian reactor sites worldwide Authorized through May 2019 Support ongoing domestic research reactor programs Store legacy special nuclear materials Package and ship fuel for disposition 4

5 Foreign Research Reactor (FRR) Receipts 44 Shipments Received 25 Countries 233 Casks 7995 Assemblies Anticipated Receipts (thru 2019) 42 Shipments 102 Casks 2121 Assemblies 5

6 Domestic Research Reactor (DRR) Receipts 273 Shipments Received 273 Casks 2775 Assemblies Anticipated Receipts (thru 2033) 4 Remaining Facilities 213 Casks 1067 Assemblies MIT MURR HFIR NIST Savannah River Site 6

7 Transportation to SRS Foreign SNF shipments by dedicated boat (excl. Canada) Ground transport to SRS by road and rail 7

8 Cask Management Cask: BRR Owner: DOE Max. Capacity: 8 MIT or MURR Cask: GE-2000 Owner: GE/DOE Max. Capacity: 42 MTR, 1 HFIR Core Cask: TN-7/2 Owner: TN Max. Capacity: 64 MTR, 60 DIDO Cask: GNS-16 Owner: TN Max. Capacity: 33 MTR, 28 DIDO Cask: LWT Owner: NAC Max. Capacity: 42 MTR Cask: 18.5T Owner: JAERI, KUR, BNFL Max. Capacity: 30 MTR Cask: JRF-90Y-950K Owner: JAERI Max. Capacity: 5 MTR Cask: TN-MTR Owner: TN Max. Capacity: 52 MTR, 52 DIDO Cask: 20T Owner: JAERI Max. Capacity: 30 MTR 8

9 Cask Unloading Shielded Transfer System (STS) Short casks: Underwater unloading Tall casks: Shielded (dry) transfer system Cask in dry well Fuel basket hoisted into shielded tube System moves over pool Basket lowered into pool 9

10 Underwater Fuel Handling Material Test Reactor Fuels: Inert material may be cropped to optimize storage Assemblies placed end-toend in bundling tube Placed into storage rack Underwater Saw Bundle Lid Installation Oversized or odd-shaped fuels, such as HFIR cores, are stored in special dedicated racks or fuel storage buckets. 10

11 Material Test Reactor Fuel Storage Expanded Basin Storage (EBS) Racks - Fixed geometry for criticality control - 4 to 5 MTR assemblies per bundle - 3 NRU/NRX assemblies per bundle - one bundle per storage rack position positions currently installed positions currently filled - Space to add more racks Submerged 3 x 10 and 4 x 10 EBS racks Racks seismically qualified for design basis seismic event No active cooling required HFIR Note: Space to add more HFIR racks Loaded tube ready for storage 11

12 Modifications to Expand Receipt Capability Fuel from the Canadian National Research Universal (NRU) and National Research Experimental (NRX) reactors Fuel assemblies approximately 10 feet long; too long for existing system Required facility modifications: Shielded Transfer System (STS) modifications to handle new longer and heavier basket (18 assemblies per basket) New Unloading Station for transferring fuel assemblies from LWT cask basket to L Bundles for storage in racks (3 assemblies per bundle tube) Criticality block to prevent interaction with other fuels along LWT basket transport route Underwater handling tools * Not to scale NRU Fuel Assembly 12

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14 Fuel Disposition Risk Reduction Sodium Reactor Experiment (SRE) Processing Declad thorium-uranium metal fuel Welded cans; single barrier preventing reaction with basin water Processing in H Canyon began FY13 Co-processed with selected low-uranium fuels to aid in Canyon process Uranium not recovered 14

15 Fuel Disposition HEU Blenddown Savannah River Site Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) amended March 2013 Approximately 3.3 MTHM of aluminum based high enriched uranium (HEU) fuel to be processed in H Canyon Approximately 1000 fuel bundles Up to 200 HFIR cores Avoids installation of additional EBS & HFIR storage racks Supports anticipated future foreign & domestic fuel receipts Down blend HEU to LEU; available for use in commercial power reactors To begin in FY14 following the SRE campaign 15

16 SNF Shipment to H Canyon SRS 70-Ton cask Interchangeable inserts for different fuel geometries Direct unloading to H Canyon dissolver using remotely operated crane Cask with HFIR insert 70-Ton Cask on rail car 16

17 Uranium Recycle HEU spent nuclear fuel converted to LEU for fabrication of commercial reactor fuel LEU shipment from H Canyon 17

18 Summary SRS continues to safely receive and store spent nuclear fuel to reduce global threat Foreign fuel receipt mission continues into 2019 Domestic fuel receipts continue indefinitely SNF inventory being dispositioned in stages as directed by DOE-EM Current: H Canyon processing to reduce risks, avoid costly storage expansion, beneficial reuse of U-235 Future: Possible continued recovery and recycle using H Canyon capability; potential conversion to dry storage pending final disposition decision 18

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