International Safety Standards for the Storage of Spent Fuel

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International Safety Standards forthe Storage of
Spent Fuel

• PHIL METCALF
• International Conference on Management of
• Spent Fuel from Nuclear Power Reactors
• Vienna 31 May 4 June 2010

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Developments since 1994

• Safety standards developments
• Increased enrichment
• Increased burn up
• Advanced fuel design
• MOX
• Re-racking
• Burn up credit
• Storage gt design lifetimes

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1. Government responsibilities
2. National policy strategy
3. Regulatory responsibilities
4. Operator responsibilities
5. Safety/Security
6. Interdependences
7. Management systems
8. Waste minimization
9. Characterization and classification
10. Waste treatment
11. Waste storage
12. Waste acceptance for processing, storage and/or
    disposal
13. Prepare safety case and supporting safety
    assessment
14. Safety case scope and regulatory compliance
15. Safety case documentation

1. Periodic safety review
2. Facilities location and design
3. Facility construction and commissioning
4. Facilities operation, maintenance, emergency
   preparedness
5. Decommissioning
6. Nuclear safeguards
7. Existing facilities

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• 1. INTRODUCTION
• 2. PROTECTION OF HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
• 3. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
• GENERAL
• GOVERNMENT
• OPERATOR
• SAFEGUARDS PHYSICAL PROTECTION SYSTEMS
• 4. MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
• SPENT FUEL MANAGEMENT
• RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
• PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION
• 5. SAFETY CASE AND SAFETY ASSESSMENT
• DOCUMENTATION OF THE SAFETY CASE
• 6. GENERAL SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS FOR STORAGE OF
  SPENT FUEL

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• APPENDICES
• I SPECIFIC SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS WET DRY
  STORAGE
• II CONDITIONS FOR SPECIFIC FUEL TYPES
• ANNEXES
• I SHORT TERM AND LONG TERM STORAGE
• II OPERATIONAL SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS FOR WET AND
  DRY STORAGE
• III EXAMPLES OF OPERATING PROCEDURES
• IV RELATED IAEA SAFETY STANDARDS PUBLICATIONS
• V SAFETY ASSESSMENT (EXTERNAL NATURAL
  PHENOMENA)
• VI SAFETY ASSESSMENT (EXTERNAL HUMAN INDUCED
  PHENOMENA)

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GENERAL

• May be considered waste or resource safety
  issues the same differing circumstances
• Open fuel cycle direct disposal
• Closed fuel cycle reprocessing
• Uncertain
• All involve storage months to decades
• Sometimes uncertain lifetime
• Wet or dry storage (facility or casks)

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• Safety ensured by
• Containment of radionuclides
• Criticality safety
• Heat removal
• Radiation shielding
• Inspection and retrievability
• Functions ensured by
• Proper siting/location
• Design
• Construction and commissioning
• Operation
• Decommissioning (considered in design)

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• Storage not ultimate solution
• Requires end point e.g. reprocessing or disposal
  to ensure safety
• NPP design lifetime - few decades
• /-50 y experience of storage
• /-100 years design lifetimes used
• Considering rate of industrial and institutional
  change, periods beyond 50 y deemed long term in
  the context of this Safety Guide

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OBJECTIVE

• Up-to-date guidance on design, operation and
  safety case for all storage facilities
• Consider different fuel types NPP RRs
• Different periods, including gt design lifetime
• Guidance to meet Safety Requirements
• Safety of Nuclear Fuel Cycle Facilities
• Predisposal Management of Radioactive Waste
• Safety Assessment for Facilities and Activities
• Management System for Facilities and Activities

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SCOPE

• Co-located
• Own sites
• Not specifically operational storage
• Water cooled, others e.g. gas cooled, RR
• Degraded or failed fuel in canisters
• No detailed guidance on physical protection
• Security/safeguards interactions

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Basic Safety Standards

• Workers and public
• Present and future generations
• Normal and accident conditions
• Justification
• Dose and risk limitation - constraints
• Optimization of protection

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Safety Case
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Assessments
? Stakeholder Regulatory Involvement
?

• Safety Case Context
• Safety objectives
• Safety principles
• Regulations

• Safety Strategy
• Waste treatment, minimization
• Interdependencies
• Shielding, containment,
• Defence in depth

? Management System
?
Management of uncertainty
System Description Site and waste
characteristics, Safety Functions, Design Options
Iteration and design optimozatio
Non radiological Environmental Impact
Non-radiological Operational Safety
Site / Engineering
Management System
Radiological impact
Scenarios
Models
Calculations
Limits, controls conditions
Integration of Safety Arguments Normal operation,
anticipated operational ocurrences, accidents,
waste treatment and waste product
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Conclusion

• Guidance on
• Roles and responsibilities
• Design
• Operation
• Decommissioning
• Safety case
• Need for inter-comparison and harmonization of use

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