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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.
Akihide Hidaka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 2 | February 2022 | Pages 318-334
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1929767
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The author previously proposed that glassy cesium-bearing microparticles [resulting uniquely from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station (FDNPS) accident] may have been formed by melting and atomization of glass fibers (GFs) of the high-efficiency particulate air filter in the standby gas treatment system line due to the flame and blast during the hydrogen explosion in Unit 3. Assuming that this hypothesis is correct, Type A could contain or accompany carbon, which ignites spontaneously above 623 K, because of the limited time to be heated up, the inclusion of carbon in the binder applied on the GF surface, and the closely located charcoal filter. As previous studies have not identified carbon, the present analyses were performed with an electron probe microanalyzer to determine whether Type A contains carbon. The results show that Type A contained carbon originating from the binder. Some nonspherical particles were accompanied by Type A, and the film surrounding Type A contained more carbon, which is thought to originate from the charcoal filter. These results cannot be explained by the other mechanisms proposed so far and can be explained consistently only by the author’s proposed hypothesis. Although it may be premature to determine Type A formation mechanisms, this information enables one to limit the temperature conditions of Type A formation.