A Proposed Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage and Transportation Licensing Approach Using As-loaded Analysis

This paper proposes a spent nuclear fuel (SNF) dry storage and transportation licensing approach using cask- specific as-loaded analyses. This new approach attempts to (1) integrate the analyses to demonstrate compliance with the dry cask storage and transportation regulations (10 Code of Federal Regulations [CFR] part 72 [1] and 10 CFR part 71 [2]), (2) support transportation of SNF assemblies not currently qualified as “acceptable contents” in high-density casks (e.g., 32-assembly pressurized water reactor [PWR] cask), and (3) simplify overall SNF storage and transportation licensing including storage and transportation licensing of high burnup (HBU) fuel (> 45 GWd/MTU) after initial cask certification period of 20 years (extended storage). This paper presents (1) current dry storage licensing practices, (2) issues with current licensing practices, (3) the proposed licensing approach based on as-loaded analysis, and (4) a new data and analyses tool that can be used to implement this new approach. Criticality safety analyses are used to present this new approach, but the approach can be generalized and used for other safety analyses, including thermal, shielding, and containment analyses. Companion papers present as-loaded shielding and containment analyses results for selected sites. Note that this is a technical paper, which could support future decision making by department of energy (DOE). No inferences should be drawn from this paper regarding future actions by DOE.