Radiation Physics and Engineering
A peer-reviewed journal published by K. N. Toosi University of Technology

The effect of the number of spent fuel casks on the dose of the outer part of the hall concrete wall

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

Zohreh Gholamzadeh
Ebrahim Abedi
Seyed Mohammad Mirvakili

Reactor and Nuclear Safety Research School, Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute (NSTRI), Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22034/rpe.2021.296510.1033
Abstract
The management of high radioactive spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from research and power reactors has become a key topic of discussion in the nuclear communities. Metal casks are used for the management and disposal of spent fuel and all types of radioactive waste worldwide. The spent fuel assemblies-contained casks are stored in interim storage facilities. The present study aims to show the neutronic behavior and neutron/gamma dose rates of a designed hall for storage of the casks as a current technical, economic, safe and flexible solution, adaptable to any long and short-term SNF storage strategy. The hall structure was considered as ordinary concrete with an internal dimension of 5×6×5 m3. The concrete wall thickness was discussed to keep the dose rate limit of 10 μSv/h (neutron and gamma) at its external side when 25 casks are available inside the hall. ORIGEN and MCNPX computational codes were used to model the storage hall contained 25 Tehran Research Reactor spent fuel casks. The carried out calculations showed 30 cm thickness would fulfil total gamma and neutron dose rate limitation after the external surface of the concrete wall. When the hall contains 25 casks (any contains 16 55%-burnup 10-years cooled spent fuel assembly), maximum gamma and neutron dose rates at the external surface of the hall are 3.45 nSv/h and 3.45 μSv/h, respectively. In addition, the carried out calculations showed natural circulation of air could powerfully remove the deposited heat of neutron and gamma rays.

Highlights

• Storage casks were simulated using the computational code.
• Gamma and neutron dose rates were calculated for a 25-capacity storage hall.
• Shielding effect of the cask material has important role on external wall dose rates of the hall.

Keywords

Spent fuel cask
Gamma and neutron dose rate
Interim storage hall
MCNPX simulation
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Radiation Physics and Engineering
Volume 2, Issue 3
Summer 2021
Pages 1-7

  • Receive Date 24 July 2021
  • Revise Date 16 September 2021
  • Accept Date 04 October 2021

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