Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel disposal Container System Description Document

Abstract

The Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal Container System supports the confinement and isolation of waste within the Engineered Barrier System of the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR). Disposal containers/waste packages are loaded and sealed in the surface waste handling facilities, transferred underground through the access drifts using a rail mounted transporter, and emplaced in emplacement drifts. The Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal Container System provides long term confinement of the naval spent nuclear fuel (SNF) placed within the disposal containers, and withstands the loading, transfer, emplacement, and retrieval operations. The Naval Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal Container System provides containment of waste for a designated period of time and limits radionuclide release thereafter. The waste package maintains the waste in a designated configuration, withstands maximum credible handling and rockfall loads, limits the waste form temperature after emplacement, resists corrosion in the expected handling and repository environments, and provides containment of waste in the event of an accident. Each naval SNF disposal container will hold a single naval SNF canister. There will be approximately 300 naval SNF canisters, composed of long and short canisters. The disposal container will include outer and inner cylinder walls and lids. An exterior label will provide a means by which to identify a disposal container and its contents. Different materials will be selected for the waste package inner and outer cylinders. The two metal cylinders, in combination with the Emplacement Drift System, drip shield, and the natural barrier will support the design philosophy of defense-in-depth. The use of materials with different properties prevents a single mode failure from breaching the waste package. The inner cylinder and inner cylinder lids will be constructed of stainless steel while the outer cylinder and outer cylinder lids will be made of high-nickel alloy.