Technical and economic assessment of storage systems for spent fuel from commercial LWRs

The objective of the study was to examine the technical and economic aspects of the cask storage system for storing spent fuel in transport/storage casks in Japan, and to compare them with those of the pool storage system. The scenarios for the transport and storage of spent fuel, and the main characteristics of spent fuel, were established as the basic conditions for the present study. On the basis of these conditions, conceptual designs, safety analyses and cost estimations of the spent fuel transport/storage casks and the storage facilities were carried out. Data were prepared for the pool storage system based on the same conditions. The cask storage system was then examined from the technical and economic viewpoint and a comparison made with the pool storage system. It was assumed that the transport/storage casks which had been developed and licensed in Europe and the United States of America would be applicable to Japan. In the present study, conceptual designs of the transport/storage casks were made on the basis of the capacity of the existing cranes at the reactor building. With regard to the safety (in particular, shielding) and economic aspects, conceptual designs of a trench system using truck cranes and an individual shielding type storage system were made for AR storage. For AFR storage, a conceptual design of a simple concrete building was made. The major results of a shielding analysis and seismic safety analyses are given. An economic assessment of the spent fuel management costs for the cask storage system and the pool storage system for AR storage of 500 t U and AFR storage of 3000 t U revealed that the costs for the cask storage system were lower than those for the pool storage system. (author). 3 figs, 3 tabs