Year
2010
File Attachment
Abstract
TN International proposes to its customers a wide range of solutions for the transport of nuclear material and takes part in all the phases of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle. Thus TN International has developed neutron shielding materials for various customer transportation needs, which have been adapted to the characteristics of transported nuclear materials. The shielding material is fitted on the casks as an external layer of the containment shell in the radius gap. For example the TN Vyal BTM resin (made by mixing a thermoset resin and two minerals fillers) is used on casks requiring a maximum temperature. This resin can resist up to 160°C. At the moment, the manufacturing process involves pouring the mixture directly into the cask external shell under temperature control. This process need to be monitored very precisely for two reasons: On one hand, the pouring operation is not reversible. After pouring the resin, there is no way to remove it (except by destroying the external shell) or to access it directly (no possibility to cut a sample). On the other hand, some resin (for example TN Vyal BTM resin) need to stay in a temperature range during the polymerisation. As the casks have a significant thermal inertia and are located in boiler workshops, the pouring becomes a complex operation that needs to be performed by qualified operators and following a qualified procedure. TN International manufacturing and R&D departments are jointly developing alternative solutions to the in-situ pouring. One of these solutions is to manufacture the resin layer as blocks that are poured in separated moulds and subsequently installed on the cask. This new process enables the control of the resin after pouring permitting the rejection of any defective blocks before their mounting in the cask. Even if these resins have been developed for casks, their use is now being adapted to other needs such as nuclear installation. For example, this technology was successfully adapted by TN International in EPRTM reactors. Actually, TN International recently received an order for the procurement of neutron shielding in the core of the EPRTM reactor (OL3)in Olkiluoto (Finland). This contract opens new perspectives for the TN Vyal BTM application in Nuclear Power Plants or fuel plants.