Shipment of Contaminated Fresh Fuel from Closing Nuclear Reactor Facilities

Over the past five years, several nuclear reactors worldwide have closed unexpectedly, after fresh fuel for the next fuel reload had been delivered to the reactor. The fresh fuel is frequently stored in locations at the reactor facility, such as the spent fuel pool, where the fresh fuel can become surface contaminated. As the fresh fuel can be used in other reactors still in operation of the same design, or the uranium fuel itself can be recovered and used in other reactors, the contaminated fresh fuel must be transported to those other locations for future use.In 2013, AREVA Inc. successfully transported contaminated fresh fuel from the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to the AREVA Richland facility for recovery of the uranium fuel and use in other reactors. AREVA Inc. is also transporting contaminated fresh fuel in 2016 and 2017 from the Crystal River #3 Plant to the Oconee Nuclear Station where that fresh fuel will be used in future reloads, and will be transporting contaminated fresh fuel from the Krümmel Nuclear Power Plant in Germany to the AREVA Richland facility for recovery of the fuel in 2017.For these transports, AREVA has evaluated the certificates of licensed shipping containers to determine which containers can be used for these transports. The 51032-2 containers are being used for US-only transportation, while the ANF-10 container will be used for the international shipments. For the Crystal River shipment, AREVA has obtained a Letter Authorization from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to authorize the transport, and for Krümmel AREVA will be obtaining a US validation of the German certificate for the container. To execute the shipments, AREVA provides on-site personnel to the shipping facilities. Those personnel oversee the loading of the shipping containers, confirm appropriate closure of each container, prepare the transportation documentation for the shipment, and perform the shipment.This approach has been very successful to recycle the fuel material so it is not wasted. This has also provided some much-needed revenue for facilities undergoing decommissioning.