Spent fuel storage in pressure vessel for a nuclear heating reactor

In large reactors, the fuel handling including spent fuel storage is solved by deep, lined channels and a spent fuel pool. Since the cores and pressure vessels of heating reactors are largely due to their low volumetric power density and integrated arrangement of primary heat exchangers, in-vessel storage will be a most attractive solution to achieve the economic aim by simplifying a classic refueling scheme. Furthermore, the experiences of long term fuel storage at higher temperatures and reaching very close to the active core will be gained by investigating the effects and data of fuel bundles before discharging. This paper presents an in-vessel storage scheme developed by INET (Institute of Nuclear Energy Technology). (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.