CASTOR® geo Casks and the GNS CLU System - Customized High Capacity Dry Storage Solutions

CASTOR® casks by GNS comprise a success over four decades. Meanwhile more than 1400 CASTOR® casks have been loaded and safely transferred into interim storage worldwide. This success is backed by the economic advantage of CASTOR® casks made out of ductile cast iron (DCI) compared to cask made out of forged steel and by its safety benefits compared to thin walled canister storage systems with metal or concrete storage overpacks.GNS has developed an evolution of the established DCI casks, the CASTOR® geo platform with all the well known safety features of the existing CASTOR® casks. The CASTOR® geo casks feature tremendous advantages in terms of fuel assembly (FA) capacity compared to previous cask designs by GNS. The first three CASTOR® geo cask types contracted for Belgian and Swiss customers offer capacities of 21, 24 and 32 PWR FA per cask respectively. A CASTOR® geo cask for 69 BWR FA was also developed. The first CASTOR® geo cask is planned to be delivered in 2021. While the CASTOR® geo solved the need for higher FA capacities per cask, its use can be limited due to small pool crane lifting capacities, where canister based storage systems have handling advantages. Understanding the need for canister based systems for the dry fuel handling with the pool crane, while experiencing the desire of customers for a true dual purpose cask providing all the safety features, GNS developed an all new Cask Loading Unit - The CLU system. The loading and dispatch of the fuel is performed entirely based on a canister which is later loaded into a CASTOR® cask for transport and dry storage. The CASTOR® cask serves as the containment and provides all safety features, which is a tremendous improvement compared to other established storage overpacks made of concrete or metal, which have to be ventilated and where thin walled welded canisters are the only containment during storage. Besides the introduction of the CASTOR® geo casks and the GNS CLU Systems the planned drop tests and “aircraft crash test” onto a CASTOR® geo prototype by means of a missile impact will be presented.