Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Public Report (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 49-54
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From page 49... ...
3.3.2 What would be the Radioactive Releases if a Pool Were Drained? There are two ways in which an attack on a spent fuel pool could spread radioactive contamination: mechanical dispersion and zirconium cladding fires.
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From page 50... ...
Please use the SPENT FUEL POOL STORAGE 50 offsite releases of the radioactive constituents would not occur, however, unless they were mobilized by a zirconium cladding fire that melted the fuel pellets and released some of their radionuclide inventory. Such fires would create thermal plumes that could potentially transport radioactive aerosols hundreds of miles downwind under appropriate atmospheric conditions.
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From page 51... ...
SOURCE: Nuclear Regulatory FIGURE 3.4 Configuration of fuel assemblies used for separate effects analysis, (A) Top view of BWR spent fuel 51
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From page 52... ...
This analysis was used to guide the development of "global response" models to examine the thermal-hydraulic behavior of an entire spent fuel pool. The separate effects analysis examined the thermal behavior of a high decay-heat BWR spent fuel assembly surrounded either by four low decay-heat assemblies (FIGURE 3.5A)
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From page 53... ...
Please use the SPENT FUEL POOL STORAGE 53 In the configuration shown in FIGURE 3.5A, the low decay-heat assemblies act as thermal radiation heat sinks, thereby allowing the more rapid transfer of heat away from the center fuel assembly than would be the case if the center assembly were surrounded by high decay-heat assemblies. The results from this analysis indicate that this configuration can be air cooled sufficiently to prevent the initiation of a zirconium cladding fire within a relatively short time after the center fuel assembly is discharged from the reactor.
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From page 54... ...
Please use the SPENT FUEL POOL STORAGE 54 performed by Sandia.19 If the water level is above the top of the fuel racks, decay heat in the fuel could cause the pool water to boil. Once water levels fall below a certain level in the fuel assembly, the exposed portion of the fuel cladding might heat up sufficiently to ignite if no mitigative actions were taken.
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