Spent fuel storage facility for reactor

Purpose: To store after-heat possessing spent fuels till their transportation without water-submerged storage thereby eliminate the requirement for a pool water cooling and purifying system. Constitution: In a spent fuel storage facility, atmospheric air intrudes into a small chamber of a building opened at the upper portion, and enters through an atmospheric air inlet to an outside flow channel. Then, the atmospheric air is guided through a communication aperture formed in the central portion of a air vent channel cover to the inside of an inner flow channel. The atmospheric air flowing into the inner flowing channel directly cools the outer surface of a spent fuel storage pot and, as the result, its temperature is elevated and specific gravity is decreased. Then, the air is flown upwardly, and then released by way of the external exit and a draft chimney into the atmosphere. Since the spent fuel storage pot and the building can be cooled by the repeating natural convection of atmospheric air, there is no requirement for disposing water pool facility and relevent pool water cooling and purifying systems. (Horiuchi, T.)