United States Department of Energy Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage and Transportation R&D Activities

As of August 2015, the US had 72 Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installations located in 34 states around the country. (U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2015) Collectively, more than 2,000 dry storage casks, of different weights, dimensions, and ages, are currently storing spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The majority of these are dual purpose casks (designed for both storage and transportation), but were not licensed for the long storage times and subsequent transportation that are now needed.The Department of Energy’s strategy is to build at least one consolidated storage facility to store the dry storage canisters before a final disposal location is chosen and operational (U.S. Department of Energy, 2013). This necessitates two large radioactive waste transportation campaigns in the future; one from the current storage sites to the consolidated storage facility and another from the consolidated storage facility to the geologic disposal site (assuming the repository is not co-located with the storage facility). Current Research & Development is developing the technical basis to show that the fuel will have the structural integrity and confinement capability to be transported safely on roads and rail after extended storage.This current research is focused on increasing our understanding of: 1) material properties of fuel cladding after wet storage, drying, and prolonged dry storage; 2) the thermal conditions the canister and fuel is exposed to in order to better understand the stress and chemical changes the fuel and fuel storage system may undergo over years of storage; 3) any environmental conditions that could degrade the dry storage system over its storage time; and 4) the loads and strains placed on individual fuel rods during conditions of normal transport. This paper will show progress being made in each of these areas and how they synergize to develop the technical basis for the safe transport of spent fuel