IAEA nuclear fuel cycle databases: Relevance to spent nuclear fuel management

Full text: Reliable statistical data on spent fuel management would be essential for the global nuclear community, e.g. for approaches related to international cooperation, as well as for the needs of individual countries. Compilation of data on large amounts of spent fuel located at various nuclear facilities around the world is a challenge. It is not a trivial exercise to collect and compile spent fuel inventory data as they are subject to dynamic change. Spent fuel inventory data are important to various national and international spent fuel management activities, especially for planning and regulatory activities. Recently, security issues became an additional factor to be considered in the information management associated with spent fuel or radioactive waste. The specific need for spent fuel inventory data varies depending on the ultimate purpose: International Level - compilation on a gross tonnage (in heavy metal basis) mainly for statistical purposes and global trend analysis both for use by IAEA and at the request of Member States; National Level - compilation for industry and regulatory purposes on either a gross tonnage or individual assembly basis to assist in planning and public awareness; and Operator Level - the origination and maintenance of detailed data on individual assemblies by the utility for operational needs or to meet regulatory requirements. There is, in general, a global trend towards greater transparency of information with the general public which may require more information to be made public on spent fuel management, including data on inventories or transportation. With the increase in the commercialisation of the nuclear industry, the trend is away from national governments operating nuclear facilities, including spent fuel management. This results in the spread of information on spent fuel as it is not concentrated at government level, but is instead held by various organizations . Spent fuel information may also have to be considered in the context of nuclear knowledge preservation. In addition to current inventories, historical and projected data are important for various purposes such as consistency analysis. The IAEA in its role as a focal centre of global cooperation on nuclear activities, established a variety of databases, including the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Information System (NFCIS) which encompasses a global list of nuclear fuel cycle facilities. The NFCIS database was published in hardcopy two times in the past. The database includes a long list of spent fuel storage facilities because of the large number of facilities with spent fuel inventories. It is a challenge to maintain a reliable updating of spent fuel inventory data in those storage facilities, requiring a good mechanism in place for the collection and compilation of data to be obtained from the operators or national authorities. The NFCIS is supported by a simulation software tool named Nuclear Fuel Cycle Simulation System (VISTA) which provides a method for versatile analyses of nuclear fuel cycle systems for all types of commercial nuclear power systems. It provides, among others, for the calculation of various quantities involved in the operation of nuclear fuel cycle facilities resulting from a given set of assumptions applicable to the various fuel cycles, including the statistics on the generation and management of spent nuclear fuel. The Nuclear Fuel Cycle Simulation System (VISTA) was developed to calculate fuel cycle material and service requirements. This subject was one of the key issue papers at an International Symposium. The purpose was to develop a simple and fast calculation tool in order to compare different fuel cycle options. The need for a small number of input parameters was a very critical part of the development. Later the model was expanded to enable actinide tracking. A simplified isotopic calculation program (CAIN) was added to the system. By adding CAIN, VISTA became capable of calculating the isotopic composition of spent fuel for any existing reactor type, for a given fresh fuel composition and a given discharge burnup. A possible use of VISTA might be: i) to estimate actinide accumulations in spent nuclear fuel; ii) to calculate nuclear fuel cycle material and service requirements for selected scenarios; and iii) to compare the different options for future nuclear fuel cycle developments. NFCIS and VISTA have recently been upgraded to a more user-friendly service which is immediately accessible on the web. (author)