DESIGN INFORMATION VERIFICATION FOR SPENT FUEL CONDITIONING PLANTS AND FOR GEOLOGICAL REPOSITORIES

The disposal of spent fuel is a major option for the back-end of the nuclear fuel cycle. It will require the construction, operation and eventual closure of conditioning plants and geological repositories. Consequently, a safeguards approach including Design Information Verification (DIV) must be developed for these facilities.DIV is the examination of a completed facility to verify that it has been built to the design declared by the operator. Although DIV takes place chiefly before a plant begins routine operation, there is a continuing interest in ensuring that the plant remains as declared. That is, that the continuity of knowledge of design information is maintained during the operational phase of the plant and also post closure if necessary.A major problem with DIV of a repository is that there will be continuous structural changes during its operational life requiring advanced or special techniques for revcrificalion. Some of these are briefly reviewed. Furthermore, since a disposal facility is expected to be operational for several decades, new mining technology may also have an impact on the DIV methods employed. Another factor in the safeguards supervision of a repository is that when the fuel has been backfilled and/or scaled in place a reassay will be a very costly exercise. The role of DIV in such novel circumstances must, therefore, be fully considered.