Spent nuclear fuel is currently being stored at nuclear reactor sites. The spent fuel removed from the reactor is first placed in a large water pool to remove the initial decay heat. After several years, when the decay heat has dropped below a set level, the fuel is moved into concrete storage casks where natural circulation continues the cooling process. The purpose of this report is to predict, using a simplified analysis, how hot the fuel rods get when cooled by air in the cask. The increase in temperature and the decrease in density cause a chimney effect in the cask. This paper presents an analytical method of obtaining maximum fuel clad temperature in the cask. A non-dimensional model is derived, which is used to calculate the entrance and exit air velocities of the cask. The relationship between these velocities and the temperature used to obtain the maximum fuel clad temperature. A numerical scheme used to predict the maximum temperature is presented here and the results are compared to the analytical model. Both methods yielded corroborating results for fuel placed in the casks after spending similar amounts of time in a spent fuel pool.
Skip Nav Destination
ASME 2005 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference
July 17–21, 2005
Denver, Colorado, USA
Conference Sponsors:
- Pressure Vessels and Piping Division
ISBN:
0-7918-4189-8
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Air Cooling Temperature Analysis of Spent Fuel
F. J. Moody,
F. J. Moody
General Electric, Wilmington, NC (Retired)
Search for other works by this author on:
J. C. Law
J. C. Law
General Electric, Wilmington, NC
Search for other works by this author on:
A. L. Laursen
GE Energy, Wilmington, NC
F. J. Moody
General Electric, Wilmington, NC (Retired)
J. C. Law
General Electric, Wilmington, NC
Paper No:
PVP2005-71194, pp. 821-827; 7 pages
Published Online:
July 29, 2008
Citation
Laursen, AL, Moody, FJ, & Law, JC. "Air Cooling Temperature Analysis of Spent Fuel." Proceedings of the ASME 2005 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference. Volume 4: Fluid Structure Interaction. Denver, Colorado, USA. July 17–21, 2005. pp. 821-827. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/PVP2005-71194
Download citation file:
5
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
Thermal Analysis of Irradiated Fuel Subassemblies and Fuel Pins During Storage in Concrete Pits of Head-End Facility
J. Thermal Sci. Eng. Appl (March,2016)
Impact of Approximations in Operating History Data on Spent Fuel Properties With Serpent 2
ASME J of Nuclear Rad Sci (October,2022)
Reduction in Auxiliary Energy Consumption in a Solar Adsorption Cooling System by Utilization of Phase Change Materials
J. Sol. Energy Eng (October,2016)
Related Chapters
Utilities’ Perspective of Spent Fuel Storage
Global Applications of the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code
Subsection NCA—General Requirements for Division 1 and Division 2
Companion Guide to the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Volume 1, Third Edition
Subsection NCA—General Requirements for Division 1 and Division 2
Companion Guide to the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code, Volume 1, Second Edition