The storage of spent fuel in Vietnam: Present status and prospects

Full text: The status of storage of spent fuel in Vietnam is reviewed. It includes the current status at the Dalat Nuclear Research Reactor (DNRR) and the prospects to future nuclear power plant. At DNRR: since its reconstruction and upgrading, a temporary spent fuel storage was designed and constructed. It's a pool storage with dimension of 2045x1808x3700mm containing distilled water, where 300 fuel assemblies could be stored in. The method used for calculating the burnup of the Dalat reactor spent fuel is based on the codes of WIMS, HEXAGA, and HEXNOD. The experimental method used for evaluating the burnup of spent fuel is relative method by gamma scanning or measurement of long-lived fission product 137Cs and activation product 134Cs. For ensuring the quality of water in the pool storage, the sanitation work has been carried out regularly by circulation pumping and filtering. The prospects: In the next decade, a nuclear power plant should be introduced in Vietnam. The problem related to the storage of spent fuel will depend on the nuclear power, type of fuel and the policy of supplier. The experience with spent fuel storage of nuclear power plants in the world would be gained and used by the future managers and operators in Vietnam. (author)