Core Management and Fuel Handling for Nuclear Power Plants

The purpose of this Safety Guide is to provide recommendations on core management and fuel handling activities at nuclear power plants to meet the relevant requirements established in SSR-2/1 (Rev. 1) and Requirement 30 of SSR-2/2 (Rev. 1). These activities are necessary in order to allow optimum reactor core operation without compromising the limits imposed by the design safety considerations relating to the nuclear fuel and to the plant as a whole. The recommendations provided in this Safety Guide are aimed primarily at operating organizations of nuclear power plants and regulatory bodies. It is expected that this Safety Guide will be used primarily for land based stationary nuclear power plants with water cooled reactors designed for electricity generation or for other production applications (such as district heating or desalination). This Safety Guide covers the safety objective of core management and the basic tasks of the core management programme. The receipt of fresh fuel, storage and handling of fuel assemblies and core components , the loading and unloading of fuel assemblies and core components, and the insertion and removal of other reactor materials are also within the scope of this Safety Guide. This Safety Guide covers the preparations for the dispatch of irradiated fuel from the site. Transport, off-site storage and disposal of irradiated fuel and core components are outside the scope of this publication. Aspects of fuel accounting not directly relating to nuclear safety are not considered in this publication; thus, the State system for accounting for and control of nuclear material is outside the scope of this Safety Guide.