Spent Fuel Management Situation Worldwide.

On-going IAEA Activities on Spent Fuel from Current

Reactors Fleet and on Innovative Systems

Amparo González Espartero, PhD

a.g.espartero@iaea.org

Technical Lead Spent Fuel Management

Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Materials Section (NEFW-NFCMS)

IAEA Nuclear Energy Department

Technical Meeting on Strategies and Opportunities for the Management of Spent Fuel from

Power Reactors in the Longer Timeframe, Bahadurgarh (India), 25-29 Nov 2019

IAEA actively supports the sustainable, safe, secure, reliable

and economic implementation of Nuclear Energy by

gathering relevant technical information (guidance based on

current operational experience and best practices) that is

provided to its 171 MSs

• Through:

– International conferences and workshops

– Publication of technical documents and reports

– The coordination of international research activitiesthrough Coordinated Research Projects (CRPs)

– The management of specific databases

– E-Tools

449 nuclear reactors

operating in

30 countries

Nuclear Energy Worldwide

~ 30% NPPs located in Europe

Over 10% of global electricity

production

(1/3rd of low-carbon electricity)Regional Distribution of Nuclear Power Plants

3

~ 30 new countries

planning or developing

Nuclear Power

52 more reactors

under construction

(2/3rd in Asia)

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020

1000 t

HM

Discharged

Reprocessed

Stored (including storage for reprocessing)

Spent Fuel Management:

Current Situation

• At the end of 2018, 400+ kt (HM) had been

discharged from NPPs

• Of which about 270+ kt (HM) stored in facilities, either

at reactor (AR) sites or away from reactor (AFR) sites,

the remainder reprocessed

− The majority of SF is stored wet (~80%) in AR site storage facilities

− AR storage in some Member States is becoming saturated

• There are 151 AFR storage facilities in 27 countries of which ~80% are dry

• Some MSs (Canada, USA) have >30% of their spent fuel inventory in dry storage

On the Management of Spent Fuel…

Storage duration: a challenge

• Planned storage durations are increasing:

– In 1980s 20-50 years,

– In 1990s up to 100 years

– In 2000s 100+ years

• License renewal

• Confirming on-going spent fuel behaviour &

integrity

• Maintenance and inspection of Systems

Structures and Components (SSCs)

• Ageing management of deployed storage

systems (beyond design basis for most)

• TransportabilityYankee Rowe NPP (USA)

On the Management of Spent Fuel…

• Advanced reactors implementation

• Environment-friendly innovative fuel cycles:

– Fully closed (recycling valuable materials)

– Natural resources preservation

– Waste burden minimization

– Proliferation resistant

– Flexible to adapt to any policy evolution

Towards Waste burden Minimisation through

Innovative Nuclear Systems

Towards Fully Closed Cycle

LWR Open Fuel Cycle

On the Management of Spent Fuel…

CURRENT IAEA’S ACTIVITIES ON SPENT

FUEL MANAGEMENT

Scope of work SFM Team

• Storage (until ultimate

disposition)

• Reprocessing and recycling

current fleet

• Advanced Fuel Cycles for

Gen-IV

• Transportation of spent fuel

Towards sustainable, safe, secure and economic

long term storage of Spent Fuel

Coordinated Research Project on “Demonstrating Performance of Spent Fuel and Related

Storage System Components During Very Long Term Storage” (DEMO)

CRP No T13014 (2012-2016) Closed

• Overall Objective

– To support the technical basis for water reactor

SF dry storage as durations extend

– Specific research activities:• Stress Corrosion Cracking Mechanisms

• Concrete Systems Degradation

• Cladding Behaviour

• Bolted Closure Systems

• Gamma and Neutron Shielding

• System Demonstration (JPN and USA)

– 11 RAs and 7 RCs from 11 Member States

• Linked to Extended Storage Collaboration Programme (ESCP) International Sub-committee of

EPRI

On the Management of Spent Fuel…

Coordinated Research Project on “Spent Fuel Performance Assessment and Research” (SPAR IV)

CRP No T13016 (2016-2020) Active

• Series of coordinated research projects:

– BEhaviour of spent Fuel Assemblies in STorage (BEFAST I, II and III) and later

– Spent fuel Performance Assessment and Research (SPAR I, II, III and IV)

• Covering all power reactor fuels and

− MAGNOX, RBMK, WWER, AGR, BWR, PWR, HWR, PHWR

• Wet and Dry storage systems

• Spent fuel management strategies

• Cladding performance (hydride reorientation)

• Storage facility component degradation studies

• Drying and Dry to wet transfer

• Thermal modelling

• Spent fuel condition on transfer to the next step in the BEFC

• 7 RAs and 4 RCs from 10 MSs

Towards sustainable, safe, secure and economic

long term storage of Spent Fuel

On the Management of Spent Fuel…

Coordinated Research Project on “Ageing Management Programmes for Dry Storage Systems”

CRP No T21028 (2016-2020) Active

– 5 RAs and 1 RC from 4 MSs, observers from 6 MSs

• Background

Challenge: concern with respect to the transportation of storage packages after extended storage

Ageing Management Programmes (AMP) aim at timely detection and control of age-related degradation and other conditions that

may jeopardize future handling and transport, contributing to ensuring safety along time

AMP is a requirement in the new SSR-6

• CRP Overall Objective

– To develop the technical basis and methodology to enable guidance to be provided to Member States on how to generate an ageing

management programme for spent fuel dry storage systems

• Scope

– All dry storage systems for power reactor spent fuel

• Specific activities on

– National regulations (License renewal for extended storage)

– Process for generating am AMP (generic flowchart)

– Identification of SSC (Categorization)

– Technical underpinning (SF, Materials, Systems)

– Operating experience (DPCS, MVDS, Silos)

Towards sustainable, safe, secure and

economic long term storage of Spent Fuel

On the Management of Spent Fuel…

Activities on SF storage

Spent Fuel Storage Guide

• Guidebook on Spent Fuel Storage (IAEA TRS 240, 1991)

− Covers all aspects of storage

− Will highlight the evolution of SF storage and the fact that

storage lifetimes are much longer than anticipated in 1991

Management of SF at Shutdown Reactors

• Covers planned and unplanned reactor shut downs

– E.g. for phase out of nuclear energy or economical reasons

• Technical Meeting on premature shutdown of nuclear power

plants held June 2018

• Site visit to Oyster Creek NPP with DOE May 2019

• TECDOC currently in production

Activities on Integrated Approaches

Integrated approaches to the back end of the fuel cycle

• There is a need to look at the back end of the fuel cycle in a fully integrated manner including items such as retrievability, transportation, storage, recycling and disposal;

• Publication IAEA-TECDOC-1774,based on material gathered prior to 2011;

• TM held July 2018 and updated TECDOC now in preparation.

Activities related to Fukushima accident

KRI-

samples

ValueSharing experiences and knowledge

TMI, Chernobyl and Fukushima,

damaged fuel management strategies

IAEA CRP (T13015) initiated February 2016 on

“Management of Severely Damaged Spent Fuel and

Corium”

Overall objective

• To expand the existing knowledge base and identify optimal

approaches for managing severely damaged spent fuel

2016 to 2019

7 RA and 2 RC from 6 MSs

RCM-1, Vienna (13-16 February 2017)

RCM-2, Japan (5-9 November, 2018)

• Main Objective: To review and update the developments in advanced

fuel cycles leading to minimization of waste burden

• Main output:

To draft a concise report* aimed at reviewing

and updating the technological developments

in current and advanced fuel cycles to provide

policy and decision makers with information

about how different FC strategies can

minimize the burden of generated waste

Towards Waste burden Minimisation

through Innovative Nuclear Systems

• FRs

• LWRs/FRs

• LWRs

• REMIX process (Russian Fed.)

• Corail and MIX processes (France)

*Title: “Existing and Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Technical Options for Waste Burden Minimization”

On the Management of Spent Fuel…

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

3rd International Conference on Fast Reactors and Related

Fuel Cycles (FR17)

Yekaterinburg

Russia, 26-29 June 2017

https://www.iaea.org/publications/13414/fast-

reactors-and-related-fuel-cycles-next-generation-

nuclear-systems-for-sustainable-development-fr17

FR17 TOPICS

1. National and multi-national strategies and

programmes

2. Reactor concept designs

3. Operating and decommissioning experience

4. Safety and licensing

5. Fuel cycle options and processes

6. Fuels

7. Coolant technology and structural materials

8. Experiments, tests and simulation

9. Economics, performance and scenarios of industrial deployment

10. Proliferation resistance and physical protection

11. Skills, capabilities, professional development, knowledge management,

international networks

FR17 in NUMBERS

• 449 Scientific papers presented− 243 Orals and 206 Posters

• 558 Participants from 27 MSs

• 18 participants from 6 International Organisations including the IAEA

• 36 Grants awarded

• Technical tour BN-800 and BN-600

• YGE panel with 6 orals presentations

https://www.iaea.org/events/management-of-spent-fuel-conference-2019

• Track 1 – National Strategies

• Track 2 – SF and HLW storage and subsequent transportability

• Track 3 – Transportation in the back-end

• Track 4 – Recycling as a spent fuel management option

• Track 5 – Impacts of advanced nuclear energy systems on the BEFC

• Track 6 – Disposal

• Track 7 – Challenges from an integrated approach to the BEFC system (including

Storage, Transport, Recycling and Disposal)

SFM19 in NUMBERS

• 258 participants from 45 MSs

• 92 orals

• 34 posters and 14 E-Posters

• 140 papers peer-reviewed

• Young Generation Challenge:– 35 applications from 17 MSs

– An IAEA panel selected 4 winners:

• Hungary (Storage), Japan (Advanced Fuel Cycles),

Russian Federation (Recycling), United Kingdom

(Disposal)

– Granted to attend the Conference, to deliver an

oral presentation and co-chair a technical

session

– The audience voted for the winner of the

winners though the App

E-LEARNING MATERIAL

E-Learning Overview

7 Modules planned to

cover all aspects of

spent fuel management

Modules 1 & 5

now available!

https://nucleus.iaea.org/sites/connect-

members/LMS/Pages/Welcome-to-the-learning-materials-

section.aspx

Spent Fuel & Radioactive Waste Management, Decommissioning & Environmental Remediation

Principles, Policies & Strategies Safety Case Development

Spent Fuel ManagementRadioactive Waste and DSSR

ManagementDecommissioning Environmental Remediation

Module 1 – Policy & Strategy for SFM

Designed to give an overview

of what spent fuel is and the

different options for its

management

Material aimed at

professionals new to nuclear

or university students

Module 5 – Spent Fuel Storage

Lecture 5.1 covers the

different strategies in use for

spent fuel storage

Lecture 5.2 describes the

different designs of facilities

and their operation

COMPLEMENTARY ACTIVITIES

Support to Newcomers

Provide support to newcomer countries developing nuclear programmes

through NENP/NIDS

Training Activities

Participate in Workshops and Nuclear

Schools and provide training materials

• Joint IAEA-Rosatom

Meeting for Young Scientists,

Moscow and Saint Petersburg

(Russia)

• IAEA Nuclear Energy

Management

Schools

Spent Fuel Management

Network

https://nucleus.iaea.o

rg/sites/connect/SFM

public/Pages/default.

aspx

International Conventions

European Waste

Management Directive

(EURATOM 2011/70)

Joint Convention on the Safety

of Spent Fuel Management and

the Safety of Radioactive

Waste Management

http://goto.iaea.org/JointConvention

• A legally binding agreement between Contracting Parties

(CPs)

• The only international legally binding instrument in the area of

Safety of Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Management

The Joint Convention is….

82 CONTRACTING

PARTIES

(September 2019)

Joint Convention - Objectives

• To achieve and maintain high level of Safety worldwide in SF and RWM

• To ensure that there are effective defences against potential hazards so

that individuals, society and the environment are protected now and in the

future

• To prevent accidents and mitigate their consequences

Contracting Parties commit … To adopt appropriate measures to ensure Safety of SFM and RWM

To prepare and submit a National Report for peer review by other

CPs

To respond to the written questions submitted by other CPs

To attend the meetings of CPs

To participate actively in the review process in order to allow other

CPs to discuss the Report and seek clarification

Conclusions and Take-aways

• Fuel Cycle should maintain enough flexibility to accommodate

future developments

• Increasing storage durations might impact spent fuel handling

and transportation post-storage

• It is paramount to take an integrated approach of the nuclear fuel

cycle to guarantee efficient, safe, secure, sustainable and

economic management of the generated spent fuel

• It is an intergenerational issue, so it is crucial to involve the Next

Generations to keep skills, knowledge and capabilities in the long

term

Thank you for your attention