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Center for Used Fuel Research: Building confidence in storage and transport
Used nuclear fuel storage and transportation have reached a critical juncture.
Dozens of utilities need reliable data on how used nuclear fuel performs in dry storage casks and canisters to extend regulatory licenses at sites across the United States. Likewise, the Department of Energy expects to take ownership of the used nuclear fuel—termed “spent nuclear fuel” in the laws and regulations governing its stewardship—and transfer it to one or more federal staging facilities for management and disposition.
Meanwhile, dozens of reactor companies are testing prototypes of advanced reactors and advanced reactor fuels. Eventually, regulators and industry must also verify the safety and security of storage methods for these advanced fuel types.
To help address these challenges, the DOE established the Center for Used Fuel Research (CUFR) in January 2026 for work related to the long-term storage and transport of used nuclear fuel.
Kosuke Aizawa, Kaoru Fujita, Shingo Hirata, Naoto Kasahara
Nuclear Technology | Volume 183 | Number 1 | July 2013 | Pages 1-12
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-A16988
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A conceptual design study of Japan Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (JSFR) is in progress in the Fast Reactor Cycle Technology Development (FaCT) project in Japan. In the design of JSFR, a selector valve mechanism is adopted for its failed-fuel detection and location (FFDL) system. Since JSFR has only two FFDL units for [approximately]600 fuel subassemblies due to its compact design of the reactor vessel, one FFDL unit must handle a much larger number of subassemblies than in previous designs. In addition, during the long plant life of 60 years, the wear length of the selector valve will become longer than those of past reactors. Therefore, the endurance of the selector valve becomes important. To demonstrate the manufacturability and endurance of the selector valve, a full-size mockup valve including coating to protect the sliding mechanism was manufactured, and an endurance experiment of the mockup model under high-temperature sodium was conducted. Dimensional inspections and seal performance showed manufacturability of the selector valve. The cross-section observation, hardness measurement, and chemical assay results after the endurance experiment showed that the coating layer on the sliding surface still remains. Thus, the endurance of the JSFR selector valve was demonstrated.