A Simulation Study of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Cask Condition Evaluation Using High Energy X-Ray Computed Tomography

Abstract

The dry cask storage time could be much longer ( > 60 years) for the spent nuclear fuels before final disposition in the United States. The casks have multiple internal components that are designed to provide structural integrity during storage and, in some cases, during transportation. The long-term internal stability of the internals and spent fuel and their cladding is important to maintain the sub-criticality of the fissile materials in the casks. In this study, we propose to develop a high-energy X-ray CT system to examine the integrity of casks and their inner components. With careful system design and advanced image reconstruction techniques, we estimate that a sub-centimeter spatial resolution can be achieved through the simulation study. A complete three-dimension "anatomical" picture of the cask and its inner components can be obtained with a reasonable scanning time.

Department(s)

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science

Comments

The work presented in this paper is supported by U.S. NRC under the Award number NRC-HQ-12-G-38-0039 .

Keywords and Phrases

Design; Fuel storage; Fuels; Image reconstruction; Iterative methods; Nuclear fuels; Radioactive wastes; Spent fuels; Tomography; Cask; Centimeter spatial resolution; Condition evaluation; High energy X ray; Image reconstruction techniques; Internal stability; Iterative reconstruction; Spent nuclear fuels; Computerized tomography; Computed tomography; High-energy X-ray; Iterative reconstruction; Spent nuclear fuel

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

0963-8695

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Citation

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2016 Elsevier, All rights reserved.

Publication Date

01 Jun 2016

Link to Full Text

Share

 
COinS