Experience in wet storage and prospects of spent fuel management in Czechoslovakia

An information concerning the 7 years' operation of the at-reactor spent fuel pool is given in a survey of pool chemistry, radiochemistry, and operational data as investigated and observed under normal conditions and during spent fuel discharge from reactor refuelling. The performance of the water treatment system is described and the envisaged improvement of its efficiency by inclusion of an inorganic sorbent selective for caesium ions is outlined. An assumed scenario shows the envisaged provisions feasible to solve the problem of spent fuel management as required for twelve WWER-440 power reactor units constituting the near-term programme of nuclear power development in Czechoslovakia. It also comprehends an away-from-reactor storage facility with a capacity of 600 t U going to be put into operation this year. (author)