SAFE TRANSPORT OF SPENT FUELS AFTER LONG-TERM STORAGE

Considering the scarcity of energy resources in Japan, a nuclear energy policy pertaining to the spent fuel storage has been adopted. The nuclear energy policy sets the rules that spent fuels generated from LWRs shall be reprocessed and that plutonium and unburnt uranium shall be recovered and reused. For this purpose, a reprocessing plant, which has a reprocessing capability of 800 ton/yr, is under construction at Rokkasho Village. However, it is anticipated that the start of its operation will be delayed. In addition, the amount of spent fuels generated from nuclear power plants exceeds its reprocessing capability. Therefore, the establishment of storage technology for spent fuels becomes an urgent problem in Japan in order to continue smoothly the LWR operations. In this paper, the background of nuclear power generation in Japan is introduced at first. Next, the policy of spent fuel storage in Japan and circumstances surrounding the spent fuels in Japan are mentioned. Furthermore, the major subjects for discussions to settle and improve ‘Standard for Safety Design and Inspection of Metal Casks for Spent Fuel Interim Storage Facility’ in Atomic Energy Society of Japan are discussed, such as the integrity of fuel cladding, basket, shielding material and metal gasket for the long term storage for achieving safe transport of spent fuels after the storage. Finally, solutions to the unsolved subject in establishing the spent fuel interim storage technologies are introduced accordingly.