NUHOMS® System for Storage and Transportation of VVER Fuel

Orano TN (TN) has been awarded contracts for the supply of China’s first spent fuel dry storage facilities in Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) with VVER-1000 fuel assemblies and Daya Bay NPP with PWR fuel assemblies. TN’s NUHOMS® System is a proven and widely used spent fuel dry storage technology and has been licensed by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC) for more than 35 years and implemented in the United States and Armenia for spent fuel dry storage of various fuel types including PWR, BWR, and VVER-440. NUHOMS® System is adapted to meet site specific needs from Tianwan NPP and NUHOMS® 31VTH system is ideally suited for the Tianwan site and its VVER-1000 spent fuel. This system has been approved by the China National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) for use at Tianwan. This paper will present the design and development of NUHOMS® 31VTH, which is a dual purpose storage and transportation canister and can store 31 VVER-1000 type fuel assemblies, providing criticality control, containment, and heat removal. As China begins implementing dry storage, it is simultaneously developing the governing regulations. In the meantime, the licensing application relies heavily on the USNRC model. There are some differences of emphasis, which are explored in this paper. With this project, the NUHOMS® system continues to demonstrate its adaptability to different fuel types, site conditions, environmental conditions, and regulatory requirements.