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Two steps forward for U.K. advanced nuclear
This week, two significant announcements have emerged from the United Kingdom’s advanced reactor sector.
On June 14, Rolls-Royce, the United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory, and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency announced that they had signed two trilateral memorandums of cooperation to collaborate on “advanced modular reactor (AMR) technology, specifically high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR), and the coated particle fuel these reactors will use.”
Separately, on June 16, Bellevue, Wash.–based TerraPower announced that its Natrium reactor design has been formally submitted for U.K. regulatory review. The company also announced the formation of a new subsidiary, TerraPower UK Ltd.
Yongliang Xiong, Yifeng Wang (SNL)
Proceedings | International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management 2019 (IHLRWM 2019) | Knoxville, TN, April 14-18, 2019 | Pages 186-188
Spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is presently being stored at reactor sites awaiting shipment offsite. Analyses conducted for the US Department of Energy (DOE) to evaluate potential strategies for removing SNF from reactor sites use detailed, agent-based models of SNF storage and transportation. Often these models include assumptions to facilitate analysis. Some assumptions might rely on expert judgement, and others are implicitly made when analysis is performed. One common, implicit assumption is that there is no preferred time of year to load casks. Another assumption is that operating reactor sites can only load a fixed number of casks per year. An examination of cask loading dates might improve the quality of these and other assumptions and provide further insight into industry practice. Investigators reviewed dates listed in cask registration letters submitted to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The cask loading dates were then evaluated to identify patterns that would shed light on the validity of assumptions. First, the typical number of casks loaded in a campaign was examined. Next, the time between cask loadings was examined. Seasonal variations were evaluated, along with variations that appear to occur as a result of plant outage cycles. Finally, some larger loading campaigns were noted. Loading campaign size and the relationship between loading campaigns and outages followed notable trends. For smaller sites with fewer reactors, a relatively large degree of scheduling flexibility appears to be present. However, for sites having more reactors, less flexibility is observed, and the relationship between outages and dry cask loading is clearly apparent. It is clear that fewer casks are loaded during the spring and fall, when outages are more likely. Furthermore, cask loadings are reduced during the winter months.