Optimized direct disposal of spent fuel by canister storage in boreholes

Nuclear industry designed a fuel rod canister for spent fuel elements in an effort to optimize emplacement technologies for both types of radioactive waste generating heat, i.e. spent fiiel elements and waste arisings from reprocessing. This so-called BSK-3 canister has the same diameter as a HLW canister and is to accommodate three PWR fuel elements. The possibility to handle in one single emplacement system all repository storage casks generating heat is expected to produce benefits in terms of time and expense. The appropriate emplacement technique is being developed and tested by DBE TECHNOLOGY GmbH within a research and development project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology and the EU Commission with the support of German nuclear industry. Challenging demands arise with respect to the technology of handling systems, for instance, from the length of BSK-3 (approx. 5 m) and its mass (approx. 5.2 t). The main facilities to be developed from scratch for this purpose are a transfer cask, a platform car, an emplacement device, and a borehole lock. In addition, there is a battery loco of the kind used in mining, which is still available from earlier projects. The functions and designs of the components and of the entire emplacement system are described and illustrated. The test program for full-scale demonstration of the emplacement technology and for verification of systems reliability will be conducted in a former turbine hall of E.ON at Landesbergen. Lower Saxony, in 2008.