Design and Inspection Plan of Dual Purpose Dry Metal Casks for Interim Storage Facility in Japan

The purpose of this paper is to introduce operational plan of the first Interim StorageFacility (hereinafter referred to as ISF) built outside the property of nuclear power plant (hereinafter referred to as NPP) in Japan, located in Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture. The paper will also introduce design and elaborate on inspection plans of the facility as well as the Dual Purpose Dry Metal Casks (hereinafter referred to as the Casks) which will be used in storage facility and for transporting and storing spent fuel.The storage completed its first building, waiting to proceed on to its second one, andseveral casks are already manufactured. Preparation is currently under way for safetyreview of the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, NRA based on the new regulatory standardestablished by the wake of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident triggered by theGreat East Japan Earth Quake.Several companies hold different roles in this duty. Tokyo Electric Power CompanyHoldings, Inc. (TEPCO) and the Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC) are responsiblefor filling spent fuel into and packing casks, as well as transporting the Casks. Recyclable–Fuel Storage Company (RFS), a subsidiary of TEPCO and JAPC isresponsible for storing the Casks.Metal Casks are designed so that basic safety requirements last for both 50 years ofstoring period and transportation, where casks travel from NPP to ISF and out to its next destination. The basic safety requirements of casks are maintaining subcriticality, removing heat, containing and shielding radiation.