THE FS65: A NEW PACKAGING FOR THE TRANSPORT OF FRESH MOX FUEL

Considering the development of MOX fabrication and utilization in western continental Europe reactors, and in the framework ofMOX return to Japan, with the consequent fluxes of fuel rods and fuel assemblies between the various fabrication, assembling and reactors sites, COGEMA decided in 1994 to develop a new packaging for the land transport of fresh MOX fuel. This packaging had to accommodate various contents such as either one PWR (900 or 1,300 MW) assembly, or two BWR assemblies, or one rods container. This new design had to meet the IAEA regulations for type B packages, the provisions of ICRP 60 where applicable, and the various requirements of COGEMA's customers, especially those dealing with fuel assembly integrity during transport. Moreover, these requirements were to be satisfied within a limited weight, in order to avoid the replacement of existing land transport vehicles. Optimized solutions have been developed, including two versions of the packaging, the FS65 and the FS65-1,300, equipped with internal arrangements allowing to transport various types of fresh MOX assemblies or rods. Currently, four FS65-1,300 packagings are in routine operation and eight FS65 packagings equipped with a BWR basket have been manufactured. ~ Up to now, more than 11,000 fresh MOX fuel rods have thus been transported in FS65-1,300 ~ packagings.