IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i20p5325-d427213.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Neutron Activation of Structural Materials of a Dry Storage System for Spent Nuclear Fuel and Implications for Radioactive Waste Management

Author

Listed:
  • Se Geun Lee

    (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deokyoung-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Korea)

  • Jae Hak Cheong

    (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deokyoung-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Korea)

Abstract

In order to estimate the radiological characteristics of disused dry storage systems for spent nuclear fuel, a stepwise framework to calculate neutron sources (ORIGEN-ARP), incident neutron flux and reaction rate (MCNPX), effective cross-section (hand calculation), and residual activity (ORIGEN-2) was established. Applicability of the framework was demonstrated by comparing the residual activity of a commercialized storage system, HI-STORM 100, listed in the safety analysis report and calculated in this study. For a reference case assuming an impurity-free storage system, the modified effective cross-sections were theoretically interpreted and the need for managing disused components as a radioactive waste for at least four years was demonstrated. Sensitivity analyses showed that the higher burnup induces the higher residual radioactivity, and the impurity 59 Co may extend the minimum decay-in-storage period up to 51 years within the reported range of 59 Co content in stainless steel. The extended long-term storage over 100 years, however, caused no significant increase in residual radioactivity. Impurity control together with appropriate decay-in-storage was proposed as an effective approach to minimize the secondary radioactive waste arising from disused dry storage systems. The results of this study could be used to optimize the decommissioning and waste management plan regarding interim storage of spent fuel.

Suggested Citation

  • Se Geun Lee & Jae Hak Cheong, 2020. "Neutron Activation of Structural Materials of a Dry Storage System for Spent Nuclear Fuel and Implications for Radioactive Waste Management," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-25, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:20:p:5325-:d:427213
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/20/5325/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/20/5325/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:20:p:5325-:d:427213. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.