THE FIRST INTERIM SPENT FUEL STORAGE FACILITY IN EUROPE COMPLETELY LOADED

The paper describes the current situation in the spent fuel storage facility at the Dukovany NPP focusing on the operational experience. The Czech power utility CEZ plc decided on a new technology in the storage of spent nuclear fuel at the end of the Eighties. The main feature is the dual-purpose CASTOR? 440/84 metal cask delivered by the company GNS Essen in Germany for fuel assemblies of the Russian type VVER 440. The first building was designed for 60 casks and the proposed life time is 40 years starting from 1995. In 1999 CEZ plc adopted a concept for the fuel cycle back-end for its nuclear power stations. To implement the strategy for spent fuel management, the Long-Term Spent Fuel Storage Preparatory Programme of CEZ was developed and subsequently approved in June 2000. The main aspect relating to spent fuel is that the first spent fuel should be handed over to the governmental authority for final disposal after 2065 at the earliest. The main milestones of the Storage Facility Dukovany I: - 1993: Contract signed between CEZ and GNS for the delivery of 60 CASTOR? 440/84 casks - 1995: December: Commissioning of the storage facility Dukovany I and first cask deployed for storage - 1997 January: Finish of trial operation - 1997 October: End of international spent fuel transports between Slovak and Czech Republic. 9 CASTOR? casks (90 tHM) used for transport from Bohunice NPP to Dukovany NPP - 2006 March: CASTOR? 440/84 cask No. 60 deployed for storage – full capacity achieved The main milestones of the Storage Facility Dukovany II: - 1997 project for capacity 132 casks (1340 tonnes of HM) - 2001 May contract between CEZ and GNS Essen (e.g. winner of competition) - 2005 July licence of advanced CASTOR® cask type 440/84M in Czech Republic - 2006 December start of trial operation and storage of first cask Future Storage Facility in Temelin NPP: - 1998 start of project for capacity 150 casks approximately (1370 tonnes of HM) - 2005 EIA was accepted by state authority - 2006 December contract between CEZ and GNS Essen (e.g. winner of competition) Main conclusions: - The first Czech interim spent fuel storage is completely loaded – with 60 casks stored (600 tonnes of HM) - 12 years of safe and reliable operation - The storage license for the facility is valid until 2010 (validity 10 years) - Good experience of Dukovany NPP and understanding by a large part of the Czech public - The 2nd storage facility at Dukovany NPP is under trial operation from December 2006 - The storage facility at Temelin NPP is under design preparation