GOVERNMENT/INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT OF A SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL DRY TRANSFER SYSTEM

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is currently engaged in a cooperative program with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to develop a spent nuclear fuel dry transfer system (DTS). The system will enable the transfer of individual spent nuclear fuel assemblies between a conventional top loading cask and multi-purpose canister in a shielded overpack, or accommodate spent nuclear fuel transfers between two conventional casks The DTS has several significant applications and could benefit the Federal waste management system and utilities in a number of ways. It has the potential to: • permit shutdown reactor sites to decommission pools; • provide capability at interim storage facilities to transfer assemblies from small transportation casks to sealed canisters; • provide capability at reactor sites with limited crane capacity to transfer assemblies into large packages to facilitate on-site storage in larger capacity casks; • allow recovery operations at shutdown reactor sites with independent spent nuclear fuel storage installations; • provide a means for utilities that can presently handle only a truck cask to utilize a rail cask; • allow transfers of spent nuclear fuel from existing utility dual purpose systems into alternative systems if required, without returning to the reactor storage pool; and • support existing and future DOE spent nuclear fuel management activities. The project is managed by a Technical Management Committee consisting of DOE and EPRI representatives and includes a member from Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.