Dry storage of irradiated CANDU fuel at Pickering NGS

Ontario Hydro generates about 86 million MW-h/year from its 20 nuclear CANDU reactors. The combination of a large generating capacity and relatively low fuel burn-up means that Ontario Hydro must manage very large volume of its used fuel. Irradiated fuel bays at Pickering NGS will be full by mid 1995. Additional storage capacity will be required by this date for the station to continue operation. Several long term storage options to supplement existing on-site facilities were studied. The dry storage system, based on the modular storage container, as an option, was found to be economical and operationally simple. The dry storage facility at Pickering NGS is planned to provide additional on-site storage capacity for fuel generated from 1994 to the end of the station's operating life (year 2025). This paper describes the design and operation of the Dry Storage System at Ontario Hydro's Pickering Nuclear Power Generating Station. The facility is planned as a two phased project. Phase I will provide a storage space for 700 dry storage containers (268,800 fuel bundles) or about 12 years of station's operation. Phase II will have the capacity for additional 800 containers (307,200 fuel bundles) and will provide storage until station decommissioning in 2025. Seventy containers will be required annually to meet storage requirements of the station's operation at 100% capacity factor. Staff of six persons will be required to operate the facility. Normal operation includes activities such as receiving and commissioning new containers, loading them with 4 modules of used fuel in the bays, draining and drying the cavity, decontaminating the container surface and lid welding. A helium leak test is performed before the container is placed in the storage. (author) 6 refs., 6 tabs., 7 figs