[en] The maximum fuel rod temperature within a spent-fuel dry storage canister of Wolsong nuclear power plant unit 1 [a Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) pressurized heavy-water reactor], which should not exceed the potential fuel oxidation temperature (180 degrees C) for thermal safety, cannot easily be obtained by any single existing method because of the complicated geometric shape of the 37-element CANDU spent-fuel bundles within a storage basket. However, the mean temperature distribution of the fuel bundles within a basket can be calculated. The main objective of this paper is to present an analytical method to evaluate the maximum fuel rod temperature of a 37-element CANDU spent-fuel bundle when its outermost fuel rod temperature is known a priori or when it can be calculated