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DOE on track to deliver high-burnup SNF to Idaho by 2027
The Department of Energy said it anticipated delivering a research cask of high-burnup spent nuclear fuel from Dominion Energy’s North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia to Idaho National Laboratory by fall 2027. The planned shipment is part of the High Burnup Dry Storage Research Project being conducted by the DOE with the Electric Power Research Institute.
As preparations continue, the DOE said it is working closely with federal agencies as well as tribal and state governments along potential transportation routes to ensure safety, transparency, and readiness every step of the way.
Watch the DOE’s latest video outlining the project here.
K. Natesan, D. L. Smith
Nuclear Technology | Volume 22 | Number 1 | April 1974 | Pages 138-150
Technical Paper | Fusion Reactor Materials / Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT74-A16283
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Thermodynamic calculations were made on the distribution of hydrogen and tritium between various refractory metals and liquid lithium as a function of temperature. The limiting tritium pressures that can be attained by cold trapping secondary liquid metals such as sodium, potassium, and sodium—78 wt% potassium (NaK) were also calculated. In the absence of tritium breeding, these pressures are 2.5 × 10−5, 2 × 10−7, and 1.2 × 10−10 Torr for sodium, potassium, and NaK, respectively, which correspond to tritium concentrations in lithium of 45, 4, and < 1 ppm, respectively, at 700°C. For a 1000-MW(th) thermonuclear reactor with a tritium breeding rate of 150 g/day, a tritium recovery system that incorporates (a) a separate lithium purification loop with niobium as the permeable membrane, (b) NaK as the secondary heat transport fluid, and (c) tungsten cladding on the IHX tubes will yield a tritium pressure of 10−9 Torr or less in the secondary system. This configuration will result in a tritium release rate ∼10−6 g/h to the steam system for a tungsten-clad steam generator operating at ∼600°C. The corresponding activity release rate is ∼300 Ci/yr.