Physical-chemistry problems in safe disposal of irradiated fuel from RA research reactor

Spent fuel resulting from 25 years of operating the 6.5/10 MW heavy water moderated and cooled research RA at the Vinca Institute is still all stored in the temporary spent fuel storage pool in the basement of the reactor building. In 1984, the reactor was shut down for refurbishment, which for a number of reasons has not yet been completed. However, independently of the future status of the research reactor, safe disposal of the so far irradiated fuel must be the subject of primary concern. Basic facts about operation, ageing, reconstruction and spent fuel storage of the research reactor RA have been presented and discussed in detail in some earlier papers. This paper describes present activities and discusses options for permanent solution of the spent fuel storage problem. (author)