PROBLEMS OF CREATING SCIENTIFIC AND METHODOLOGICAL BASES OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL DRY CASK STORAGE THERMAL SAFETY IN UKRAINE

Author

Svitlana Alyokhina, A. Podgorny Institute of Mechanical Engineering Problems of NASU (2/10, Pozharsky str., Kharkiv, 61046, Ukraine), V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (4, Svobody sq., Kharkiv, 61022, Ukraine), e-mail: svitlana.alyokhina@gmail.com, ORCID: 0000-0002-2967-0150

Abstract

An analytical review of modern researches into spent nuclear fuel (SNF) dry cask storage, or dry storage thermal processes is presented and problems of creating scientific and methodological foundations for SNF dry storage thermal safety are discussed. The results of researches into normal and emergency operating conditions for SNF storage facilities (SF), as well as those of scientific achievements aimed at increasing the efficiency of the main equipment and general safety level of SFs are considered. Advantages and disadvantages of modern approaches to thermal research during SNF storage are presented. In numerical studies, computational resources are the main limiting factor, which is why within the framework of the conservative approach that dominate in safety analysis, use geometric simplifications, equivalent thermal properties of individual components, or simplify the task, considering part of the object under the most probable operating conditions. When highlighting the state of the problem of thermal research into emergency storage regimes, it is shown that there are no researches into a number of emergency situations, no attention is paid to the generalization of the results of existing researches and, as a rule, the fuel temperatures directly in storage containers are not determined, which significantly limits the value of such results. This paper highlights directions for carrying out optimization researches into the dry storage of SNF from nuclear power reactors, substantiates the need for research in predicting  SNF thermal state and works aimed at creating special protective structures whose main function will be to improve the thermal state of both fuel and basic equipment. The need to formalize the thermal processes that take place during SNF storage and inclusion of the results into the scientific and methodological bases for SNFSFs operation safety are indicated.

Keywords: thermal safety, spent nuclear fuel, thermal processes, emergency situations, normal operating conditions, dry storage, dry modular storage

Full text:  Download in PDF

References

1. (2017). Nuclear technology review. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 54 p.
2. Paton, B. Ye., Neklyudov, I. M., & Krasnorutskiy, V. S. (2013). Budushcheye atomnoy energetiki opredelyayet zadachi yadernogo toplivnogo tsikla Ukrainy [The future of nuclear power determines the tasks of the nuclear fuel cycle of Ukraine]. Vopr. atom. nauki i tekhniki − Problems of Atomic Science and Technology, no. 5 (87), pp. 3–10 (in Russian).
3. Afanasyev, A., Gromok, L., Pavelenko, V., & Steinberg N. (2004). Radioactive waste management in Ukraine: Status, problems, prospects. Intern. conf. on fifty years of nuclear power – The next fifty years. Book of extended synopses, vol. 35, iss. 41, pp. 139–140.
4. (2015). Pro zatverdzhennia Stratehichnykh napriamiv povodzhennia z vidpratsovanym yadernym palyvom atomnykh elektrostantsii Ukrainy z reaktoramy typu VVER na period do 2030 roku ta Planiv zakhodiv shchodo yikh realizatsii [On approval of strategic directions for the treatment of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear power plants of Ukraine with VVER type reactors for the period up to 2030 and action plans for their implementation]. Order of the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine dated June 19, 2015, No. 386 / Information and Analytical System on the Legislation of Ukraine. Available at: http://parusconsultant.com/?doc=09NZ22A550, name is from the screen.
5. Rudychev, V. G., Alekhina, S. V., Goloshchapov, V. N. et al. (2013). Bezopasnost sukhogo khraneniya otrabotavshego yadernogo topliva [Safety of dry storage of spent nuclear fuel]. Yu. M. Matsevityy & I. I. Zalyubovskiy (Eds). Kharkov: Khark. nats. un-t im. V. N. Karazina, 200 p. (in Russian).
6. Nosovskiy, A. V., Vasilchenko, V. N., Pavlenko, A. A., Pismennyy, Ye. N., & Shirokov, S. V. (2006). Vvedeniye v bezopasnost yadernykh tekhnologiy [Introduction to the safety of nuclear technologies]. A. V. Nosovskiy (Ed.). Kyiv: Tekhnika, 360 p. (in Russian).
7. Wataru, M., Takeda, H., Shirai, K., & Saegusa, T. (2007). Thermal hydraulic analysis compared with tests of full-scale concrete casks. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 2008, no. 238, pp. 1213–1219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2007.03.036
8. Wataru, M., Takeda, H., Shirai, K., & Saegusa T. (2008) Heat removal verification tests of full-scale concrete casks under accident conditions. Nuclear Engineering and Design, no. 238, pp. 1206–1212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2007.03.035
9. Yamakawa, H., Gomi, Y., Ozaki, S., & Kosaki, A. (2010). Thermal test and analysis of a spent fuel storage cask. Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials. Proc. the 10th Intern. Symposium (London, 13–18 Sept. 1992), London, pp. 549–556.
10. Yamakawa, H., Wataru, M., Kouno, Y., & Saegusa, T. (1998). Demonstration test for a shipping cask transporting high burn-up spent fuels – thermal test and analyses. Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials. Proc. the 12th Intern. Symposium (Paris, 10–15 May 1998), Paris, pp. 659–666.
11. Greiner, M., Gangadharan, K. K., & Gudipati, M. (2006). Use of fuel assembly/backfill gas effective thermal conductivity models to predict basket and fuel cladding temperatures within a rail package during normal transport. ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Conf. Proc. (Vancouver, 23–27 July 2006), Vancouver, pp. 2–11. https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2006-ICPVT-11-93742
12. Li, J., Murakami, H., Liu, Y., Gomez, P. E. A., Gudipati, M., & Greiner, M. (2007). Peak cladding temperature in a spent fuel storage or transportation cask. Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Materials. Proc. the 15th Intern. Symposium (Miami, 21–26 October 2007), Miami, pp. 21–32.
13. Manteufel, R. D. & Todreas, N. E. (1994). Analytic formulae for the effective conductivity of a square or hexagonal array of parallel tubes. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, no. 37, pp. 647 – 657. https://doi.org/10.1016/0017-9310(94)90136-8
14. Bahney III, R. H. & Lotz, T. L. (1996). Spent nuclear fuel effective thermal conductivity report. U.S. Department of Energy, 204 p.
15. Thomas, G. R. & Carlson, R. W. (1999) Evaluation of the use of homogenized fuel assemblies in the thermal analysis of spent fuel storage casks. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 57 p.
16. Kamichetty, K. K., Greiner, M., & Venigalla, V. V. R. (2010). Use of geometrically-accurate models to predict spent nuclear fuel cladding temperatures within a truck cask under normal and fire accident conditions. ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division/K-PVP Conf. Proc. (Bellevue, 18-22 July 2010). Bellevue. https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2010-25991
17. Lebon, G., Mathieu, Ph., & Van, J. V. (1979). Modeling of the transient heat transfer in a nuclear reactor fuel rod using a variational procedure. Nuclear Engineering and Design, vol. 51, iss. 2, pp. 133–142. https://doi.org/10.1016/0029-5493(79)90085-2
18. Othman R. (2004). Steady state and transient analysis of heat conduction in nuclear fuel elements: Master’s Degree Project. Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.
19. Talukder, N. K. (2000). Unsteady heat conduction in the soil layers above underground repository for spent nuclear fuel. Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 36, iss. 2, pp. 143–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002310050376
20. Fort, J. A., Cuta, J. M., Bajwa, C. S., & Baglietto, E. (2010). Modeling heat transfer in spent fuel transfer cask neutron shields: A challenging problem in natural convection. ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division/K-PVP Conf. Proc. (Bellevue, 18-22 July 2010). Bellevue, pp. 45–50. https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2010-25752
21. Lee, S. Y. (1999). Heat transfer modeling of dry spent nuclear fuel storage facilities. Proceedings of ASME National Heat Transfer Conf., (Albuquerque, 15-17 August 1999), Albuquerque, pp. 53–59.
22. Chalasani, N. R. & Greiner, M. (2009). Natural convection/radiation heat transfer simulations of enclosed array of vertical rods. Packaging, Transport, Storage & Security of Radioactive Material, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 117–125. https://doi.org/10.1179/174650909X12494858706276
23. Kwon, Y. J. (2010). Finite element analysis of transient heat transfer in and around a deep geological repository for a spent nuclear fuel disposal canister and the heat generation of the spent nuclear fuel. Nuclear Science and Engineering, vol. 164, no. 3, pp. 264–286. https://doi.org/10.13182/NSE09-11
24. Burnham, Ch., Dreifke, M., Ahn, Ch., Shell, D., Giminaro, A., & Shanahan, M. (2012). Spent nuclear fuel storage in a molten salt pool. Honors thesis projects, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
25. Poskas, R., Simonis, V., Poskas, P., & Sirvydas, A. (2017). Thermal analysis of CASTOR RBMK-1500 casks during long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel. Annals of Nuclear Energy, vol. 99, pp. 40–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2016.09.031
26. Droste, B., Völzke, H., Wieser, G., & Qiao, L. (2002). Safety margins of spent fuel transport and storage casks considering aircraft crash impacts. Ramtrans, vol. 13, no. 3–4, pp. 313–316.
27. Pugliese, G., LoFrano, R., & Forasassi, G. (2010). Spent fuel transport cask thermal evaluation under normal and accident conditions. Nuclear Engineering and Design, vol. 6, no, 240, pp. 1699–1706. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2010.02.033
28. Fedorovich, E. D., Karyakin, Y. E., Mikhailov, V. E., Astafieva, V. O., & Pletnev, A. A. (2010). Modeling of heatmasstransfer in ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ storages for spent nuclear fuel. Proc. of 14th Intern. Heat Transfer Conf., Washington, DC, USA, August 8–13, 2010, vol. 7. pp. 303–310. https://doi.org/10.1115/IHTC14-22878
29. Zhang, Y., Ouyang, Y., Zhou, Y., & Liu, J. (2017). Accident safety evaluation method for spent fuel dry storage facilities. Proc. Intern. Conf. on Nuclear Eng., vol. 7, pp. 17–20.
30. Saegusa, T., Mayuzumi, M., Ito, C., & Shirai, K. (1996). Еxperimental studies on safety of dry cask storage technology of spent fuel allowable temperature of cladding and integrity of cask under accidents. Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology, vol. 33, iss. 3, pp. 250–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/18811248.1996.9731897
31. Shirai, K., Wataru, M., Takeda, H., Tani, J., Arai, T., & Saegusa, T. (2015). Testing of metal cask and concrete cask. Management of Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Reactors, Proc. of Intern. Conf., (Vienna, 5 – 19 June 2015), Vienna, pp. 102–105.
32. (2008). Safety analysis report for dry spent nuclear fuel storage facility of Zaporizhska NPP. Version 3.01.1. SE Zaporizhska NPP. – Inv. No. 1526(3). – Energodar, 2008, 624 p.
33. Alekhina, S. V., Goloshchapov, V. N., & Kostikov, A. O. (2011). Optimizatsiya shiriny ventilyatsionnogo trakta konteynera s otrabotannym yadernym toplivom [Optimization of the width of the ventilation path of a container with spent nuclear fuel]. Problemy Mashinostroyeniya – Journal of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 23–29 (in Russian).
34. Danker, W. & Schneider, K. (2003). Optimization of cask capacity for long term spent fuel storage. Storage of Spent Fuel from Power Reactors. Proc. the Intern. Conf. (Vienna, 2-6 June 2003), Vienna, pp. 195–201.
35. Nagano, K. (1998). An economic analysis of spent fuel management and storage. Proc. of 11th Pacific Basin Nuclear Conf. (Toronto, 3–7 May 1998), Toronto, vol. 2, pp. 1073–1080.
36. Shamanin, I. V., Gavrilov, P. M., Bedenko, S. V., & Martynov, V. V. (2012). Optimizatsiya neytronno-fizicheskikh kharakteristik sistem khraneniya otrabotannogo topliva [Optimization of neutron-physical characteristics of spent fuel storage systems]. Izv. Tomsk. politekhn. un-ta. − Proceedings of Tomsk Polytechnic University, vol. 320, no. 4, pp. 10–14 (in Russian).
37. Batiy, V. G., Kaftanatina, O. A., Morozov, Yu. V., Pravdivyy, A. A., Rudko, V. M., & Bogutskiy, D. V. (2011). Optimizatsiya protsessa obrashcheniya s radioaktivnymi otkhodami v protsesse ekspluatatsii novogo khranilishcha otrabotavshego yadernogo topliva Chernobylskoy AES [Optimization of the process of radioactive waste management in the process of operation of a new storage of spent nuclear fuel of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant]. Problemy Bezpeky Atomnykh Elektrostantsiy i Chernobylia – Problems of Nuclear Power Plants’ Safety and of Chornobyl, iss. 17, pp. 147–153 (in Russian).
38. (1997). Monograph on spent nuclear fuel storage technologies. Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, 1997, 270 p.
39. Herranz, L. E., Penalva, J., & Feria, F. (2015). CFD analysis of a cask for spent fuel dry storage: Model fundamentals and sensitivity studies. Annals of Nuclear Energy, vol. 76, pp. 54–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2014.09.032
40. Pismennyy, Ye. N., Gershuni, A. N., & Nishchak, A. P. (2000). Sostoyaniye i razvitiye sistem okhlazhdeniya otrabotannogo yadernogo topliva [State and development of cooling systems for spent nuclear fuel]. Promyshlennaia Teplotekhnika – Industrial Heat Engineering, vol. 22, no. 5–6, pp. 82–87 (in Russian).
41. Radchenko, M. V. & Makarchuk, T. F. (2008). Sovremennyye tendentsii obrashcheniya s obluchennym yadernym toplivom. Analiticheskiy obzor [Current trends in the management of irradiated nuclear fuel. Analytical review]. Moscow: Izdat. dom Azimut, 294 p. (in Russian).
42. Kostikov, A. O. (2011). Identyfikatsiia ta optymizatsiia heometrychnykh parametriv obiektiv enerhetyky i radioelektroniky shliakhom rozviazannia obernenykh zadach teploprovidnosti [Identification and optimization of geometric parameters of energy objects and radio electronics by solving inverse heat conduction problems]. Abstract of a Doctoral Dissertation (Engineering), A. Podgorny Institute of Mechanical Engineering Problems of the NAS of Ukraine, Kharkiv, 34 p. (in Ukrainian).

Received 26 June 2018

Published 30 September 2018