THE NEW FRESH FUEL PACKAGE FOR MOX PWR FUEL

The American nuclear power industry is currently based on the use of uranium oxide fuel that is used in the reactors on a once-through fuel cycle basis. The Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel planned to be produced at the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility (MFFF), being built near Aiken, South Carolina, is to be irradiated at commercial nuclear power plants. It will require a packaging that can transport the fuel assemblies safely, and also be compatible with the fuel handling systems currently in place at these plants. This paper covers the development of the PWR package, in combination with the fuel assembly that will meet all the transportation regulatory requirements while meeting the handling requirements for both the fuel fabrication and fuel utilization facilities. The development of the package is based on the lessons-learned from testing of various fresh fuel packagings and the interaction of the fuel assembly with the package. The qualification of the package will be by full-scale testing of the package using prototypic fuel assemblies. The development of the package is a two-step process utilizing engineering test units (ETUs) to demonstrate capabilities, and provide a basis for the final qualification by the use of certification test units (CTUs), which undergo both free drop and thermal tests. The integrity of the fuel for both the ETU tests and the CTU tests will be demonstrated by leakage rate testing of the fuel cladding.