Development of a Concrete Container for Irradiated Fuel Storage and Transport

Ontario Hydro generates more than 67 million MWe-h/year from its 16 nuclear reactors. These reactors are all of the CANDU type and make use of a natural uranium fuel cycle. Ontario Hydro is committed to storage of used fuel for the next several decades. Additional storage capacity will be required at several station sites. Water filled bays have been very successful, and are well suited to storage of relatively hot newly discharged fuel. However, after a period of initial storage, fuel cools to the point where passively cooled dry storage in sealed concrete containers is feasible. This alternative offers low cost and flexibility, and can be made even more attractive if the same container can be used for transportation without any requirement for re-handling fuel.