Temperature distribution in spent fuel shipping baskets

An analytical method was developed for estimating temperatures in solid metal shipping container inserts (baskets) containing irradiated fuel assemblies. The problem is formulated in two dimensions as steady-state conduction over the basket cross section. The fuel assemblies are treated as line sources of heat inside a simply connected region for a solid design or a doubly connected region for an annular design. The method of images is used to construct cylindrical harmonics around isolated singularities. These harmonics are solutions to Poisson's equation, and the boundary conditions are satisfied by linear combination. The fuel arrangement and the rates of heat generation of the fuel assemblies are left in general form. Two solutions are given for baskets containing up to N fuel assemblies. These solutions calculate the temperatures in the basket materials relative to the outside surfaces of the baskets. The solution for the annular design assumes an adiabatic inner surface. The solution for the solid design allows multiple rings of holes