사용후핵연료의 장기 건식 건전성 성능과 주요 열화 기구에 관한 고찰

초록

As the capacity of spent nuclear fuel storage pool at reactor sites becomes saturated in ten years, long term dry storage strategy has been recently discussed as an alternative option in Korea. In this study, we reviewed safety-criteria-related research results on spent nuclear fuel performance and integrity under long-term dry storage and proposed the direction and the scope of future domestic research and development. Creep and hydride effect in relation to the embrittlement are known to be the major degradation mechanisms of the spent fuels during the long term dry storage. However, recent research results showed that hydride reorientation and hydride embrittlement are one of the most critical factors to the spent fuel integrity. Accordingly safety criteria of US and Japan for the storage system are basically founded on those mechanisms. However, in Korea, not only in-pile but out-of-pile experimental data have not been generated to understand fuel cladding degradation and to determine the criteria to ensure the safety. In addition, the transient behavior of the spent fuel during transportation also needs to be thoroughly examined. Therefore, various experimental research and development will be required to establish our own safety criteria for future long-term dry storage of domestic spent fuels.

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