Shipment of Spent Nuclear Fuel from the Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc, Czech Republic to the Russian Federation for Reprocessing

After 50 years of operation of the research reactor operated by the Nuclear Research Institute Rez plc (NRI), a large amount of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of Russian origin has been accumulated. In 2005, NRI joined the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return (RRRFR) program under the US-Russian Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) and started the process of SNF shipment from the LVR-15 research reactor back to the Russian Federation (RF). SNF shipment from NRI to the Russian Federation represents a very complex and complicated scope of work, technically, legally and contractually. The SNF shipment has been realized under several specific conditions: 1. High capacity SKODA VPVR/M casks were used for transportation for the first time, which enabled the shipment of both high and low enriched SNF (about 550 fuel assemblies) in one shipment, resulting in substantially reduced risk. 2. For the first time, high enriched uranium SNF from a research reactor has been sent to the RF from a European Union country under the appropriate intergovernmental agreements, legal regulations and conditions. 3. Combined road (ADR) and railway (RID) transport of the dangerous material was used, with several re-loadings of goods. The following topics are described in the paper: - The types of SNF from the LVR-15 reactor and the quantity of particular types. - Experience gained during preparatory work for the SNF shipment. - Experience gained during preparation and fulfillment of the frame contract between the US DOE and NRI, the contract between IAEA, SKODA JS and NRI to supply a transport and packaging system, and negotiations and contracts between NRI and respective subcontracting organizations in the Czech Republic, Russian Federation and transit countries Slovakia and Ukraine, to ensure the goal and schedule of the project were met. - Experience gained during the legislative and legal process to obtain all licenses, permissions and agreements in the Czech Republic, transit countries Slovakia and Ukraine, and the Russian Federation, including the technical and financial support of the US DOE and IAEA. - The transportation of SNF from NRI to the RF that took place in December 2007. - The legislative and methodological aspects of the return of vitrified waste back to the Czech Republic. Present and future NRI activities in support of SNF shipments from other countries are also discussed, from the point of view of the owner of the 16 high capacity SKODA VPVR/M casks, and from a supplier of some specific services. (authors)