Decommissioning strategy for an independent spent fuel storage capacity

As the civil nuclear programmes around the world are reaching maturity, there is a growing need for interim storage facilities for spent fuel either at the reactor site, or at a centralized facility. These facilities are designed to provide a buffer in the fuel cycle prior to the fuel being sent for reprocessing or direct disposal. This paper describes how the need to decommission the facility at the end of its operational life, has been incorporated into the design of a spent fuel storage facility, the Modular Vault Dry Store (MVDS). The decommissioning strategy for the store is described in relation to its design features. (Author)