Forty-nine years of safe storage of research reactor spent fuel at ANSTO

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dc.contributor.authorDimitrovski, Len_AU
dc.contributor.authorAnderson, Men_AU
dc.date.accessioned2021-02-08T05:29:38Zen_AU
dc.date.available2021-02-08T05:29:38Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2009-10-19en_AU
dc.date.statistics2020-02-08en_AU
dc.description.abstractANSTO permanently shut down its 10 MW research reactor (HIFAR) in January 2007 following 49 years of operation. The shutdown followed the earlier closure of a smaller 100 kW research reactor (MOATA) in 1995. The spent fuel resulting from the operation of the HIFAR and MOATA reactors (2281 elements) was stored in wet and dry storage facilities. Of the 2281 spent fuel elements produced only 19 incurred some degree of “damage”, either physical or chemical. Until recently (2007) some of these elements were still kept in dry storage, awaiting removal and preparation for final shipment. The damaged fuel elements were then removed from the wet storage ponds, some placed inside special sealed cans, and then deposited in the dry storage holes for long term storage. The management of spent fuel remained a very important aspect of the operation of research reactors for ANSTO. For disposition of UK-origin spent fuel arising from the operation of the HIFAR reactor, ANSTO initially elected to ship the irradiated fuel assemblies to the UKAEA in Dounreay, Scotland. With the closure of Dounreay, alternatives were evaluated, and reprocessing of the spent fuel at the La Hague reprocessing plant was selected as the option for the disposition of ANSTO’s UK origin spent fuel. Between 1999 and 2004, a total of 1288 fuel assemblies were sent in four shipments to the La Hague reprocessing plant. For the remaining HIFAR fuel assemblies containing US origin uranium, ANSTO decided to exercise its option to return the fuel assemblies to the USA under the Foreign Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel (FRR SNF) acceptance programme. ANSTO’s remaining spent fuel was shipped to the USA in 2006 and 2009 respectively. This paper describes ANSTO’s management of its spent fuel inventory.en_AU
dc.identifier.booktitleManagement and storage of research reactor spent nuclear fuel : proceedings of a technical meeting held in Thurso, United Kingdom, 19-22 October 2008en_AU
dc.identifier.citationDimitrovski. L., & Anderson, M (2009). Forty-nine years of safe storage of research reactor spent fuel at ANSTO. Paper presented to Technical Meeting on Management and Storage of Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuel; Thurso (United Kingdom); 19-22 Oct 2009. In Management and storage of research reactor spent nuclear fuel : proceedings of a technical meeting held in Thurso, United Kingdom, 19-22 October 2008, Vienna: International Atomic Energy Agency. Retrieved from https://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1592_web.pdf.en_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceenddate22 October 2009en_AU
dc.identifier.conferencenameTechnical Meeting on Management and Storage of Research Reactor Spent Nuclear Fuelen_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceplaceThurso, United Kingdomen_AU
dc.identifier.conferencestartdate19 October 2009en_AU
dc.identifier.isbn978-92-0-138210-8en_AU
dc.identifier.issn0074-1884en_AU
dc.identifier.otherSTI/PUB/1592en_AU
dc.identifier.placeofpublicationVienna, Austriaen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub1592_web.pdfen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/10330en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherInternational Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)en_AU
dc.subjectANSTOen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectSpent fuel storageen_AU
dc.subjectWet storageen_AU
dc.subjectHIFAR Reactoren_AU
dc.subjectMOATA Reactoren_AU
dc.subjectDry storageen_AU
dc.subjectRadioactive waste managementen_AU
dc.titleForty-nine years of safe storage of research reactor spent fuel at ANSTOen_AU
dc.typeConference Paperen_AU
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