Challenges of Small Modular Reactor Used Fuel Management in Canada

Currently, Canada is considering the deployment of three streams of small modular reactor (SMR) technologies in different province: 1) grid-scale SMRs based on light water reactor technology (LWR-SMR), such as boiling water reactors (BWRs), 2) SMRs based on sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFR-SMR), and molten-salt fuel reactors (MSR-SMR), and 3) micro-SMRs based on high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR-SMR). Other reactor technologies for SMR applications are also under considerations. Due to their small power generation capacities (15 MWe to 300 MWe) and the anticipated deployment to dozens or hundreds of small, remote, and unconnected communities, it is expected that a large number of units will be required. It is also anticipated that the most economical used fuel management approach for a large fleet of SMRs will require the use of centralized facilities. This paper provides a brief review of challenges and opportunities that may be presented by SMR used to current used fuel management in Canada: wet storage, dry storage, direct geological disposal, and future processing and recycling of partially used nuclear fuels.