FURTHER EXPERIENCE AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE TRANSPORT OF SPENT FUEL

At PATRAM '89 I described (Gowing 1989} the flasks used by British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) and its subsidiary Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited (PNTL} for transporting spent LWR fuel from Japan to Sellafield and gave statistics on their use. In this paper the statistics will be updated and developments in operation and licensing reported. Transport of spent fuel from Japan started in 1969 with the Magnox fuel from Japan's first nuclear power station. The special features of the flasks used for this are described and experience of their handling summarized. To meet future requirements for the transport of spent LWR fuel of higher burnup and initial enrichment, new flasks are required and progress with the design, licensing and procurement of these is described.