Abstract

Until a long-term solution is finalized, interim storage of sufficiently cooled spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies in dry casks is the predominant practice. Since these dry casks can contain approximately 160 kg of reactor-grade plutonium, they require safeguards monitoring. Results of a simulation study conducted on the design development and analysis of a remote monitoring system (RMS) are presented. The goal of the study was to determine the suitability of this RMS to meet the SNF monitoring objectives. MCNP simulations of a dry cask with all its contents and a set of simulations with one or two removed SNF assemblies were performed to test the detection capabilities of the RMS. The removed assemblies were substituted with dummy assemblies to simulate concealment. The studies showed that the RMS design is suitable to monitor and detect the removal of even a single SNF assembly from the cask.

摘要

在最终确定长期解决方案之前，将充分冷却的乏核燃料 (SNF) 组件临时储存在干桶中是主要做法。由于这些干桶可容纳大约 160 公斤的反应堆级钚，因此需要进行保障监督。介绍了对远程监控系统 (RMS) 的设计开发和分析进行的模拟研究结果。该研究的目的是确定此 RMS 是否适合满足 SNF 监测目标。对一个带有所有内容物的干木桶进行 MCNP 模拟，并进行一组模拟，其中一个或两个 SNF 组件被移除，以测试 RMS 的检测能力。移除的组件被替换为虚拟组件以模拟隐藏。