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30 March 2011. Related:

isfsi-security.pdf    US Nuclear Spent Fuel Storage Security    March 30, 2011 (410KB)

Revise Haddam Neck site, add three drawings of casks. Detailed report on safety, security and durability of dry casks:

Evaluation of the Technical Basis for Extended Dry Storage and Transportation of Used Nuclear Fuel, United States Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, December 2010:

http://www.nwtrb.gov/reports/eds_execsumm.pdf (145 pp, 5MB)

Conclusions

The technical information currently available, together with the experience gained to date in the dry storage of used fuel, demonstrates that used fuel can be safely stored in short term and then transported for additional storage, processing or repository disposal, at least for low burnup fuel. However, additional information is required in order to demonstrate, with similarly high confidence, that high burnup fuel can be safely transported and any type of used fuel can be stored in dry storage facilities for extended periods without the fuel degrading to the extent that it may not perform satisfactorily during continued storage and subsequent transportation.

However, the Board recommends a number of research and development programs be implemented to demonstrate that used fuel can be stored safely in dry storage facilities for extended periods. However, research alone will not be sufficient. Because the experience base for extended dry storage of used fuel is short and the credible degradation phenomena are several and not robustly predictable in a quantitative sense, an in-service inspection and aging maintenance program appears to be necessary to support extended dry storage of used nuclear fuel. The technical details of such an in-service inspection program will depend on the desired safety objectives of extended dry storage. Consequently, a practical engineering approach that is based on the observational method and periodic assessments will likely be required to provide an adequate safety basis in addition to what can be learned from targeted scientific investigations.

The regulations concerning dry storage of used fuel do not currently address storage for extended periods. There is also some inconsistency between the regulations that apply to dry storage and those that apply to transportation and it is unclear how to meet both sets of regulations. It would be helpful in managing extended dry storage of used fuel if the regulations were to be revised as an integrated set and based on a risk assessment for safety significance and consequence. In addition, the Board considers that the regulatory requirements related to physical security and terrorist threats should also be reviewed on a risk-informed basis using potential consequence analysis and integrated with the storage and transportation regulations.

At this point, the nuclear waste management policy of the United States is unclear, with the result that used fuel will be stored at reactor sites for longer than originally foreseen. It is thus essential that the appropriate research and development programs, and monitoring and inspection programs, are implemented as a matter of priority in order to demonstrate that used fuel can be safely stored for extended periods and then transported and handled as part of a future waste management program.

26 March 2011. Updated with minimally secure cask areas.

http://www.ucsusa.org/nuclear_power/nuclear_power_risk/sabotage_and_attacks_on_reactors/
spent-reactor-fuel-security.html

What about spent fuel stored in dry casks?

When the spent fuel pool in the "attic" of the nuclear plant fills up, some of the highly radioactive fuel assemblies are loaded into large casks and stored outside on concrete pads. Weapons available on the black market, and even some that can be legitimately purchased in the U.S., or explosives could cause the casks to be penetrated resulting in the release of large amounts of radiation. At some plants, the casks are line-of-sight visible from open access (i.e., unsecured) areas while other plants place casks inside unguarded chain-link fences.

What should the NRC do about spent fuel security?

As soon as it is safe to do so, most of the spent fuel at reactors should be put into dry casks. Fuel in dry casks is less likely to catch fire, and terrorists would have to break open many dry casks to release the same amount of radioactivity that a single wet pool could release.

To reduce the vulnerability of these dry casks, the NRC should adopt new "physical protection standards" that enhance the security requirements for dry cask storage so that the fuel will be protected against reasonably foreseeable threats that might emerge over several decades. The new standards should consider credible scenarios by which attackers could gain access to and release the radioactive material from the dry casks. Protection would involve a combination of operational measures and physical measures, such as putting spent fuel casks into enclosed buildings, using earthen berms, or erecting other barriers.

24 March 2011

Background: Safety and Security of Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel:
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11263

US Nuclear Spent Fuel Storage Casks Eyeball

US Nuclear Spent Fuel Storage Casks Eyeball

http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage.html Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel There are two acceptable storage methods for spent fuel after it is removed from the reactor core: Spent Fuel Pools - Currently, most spent nuclear fuel is safely stored in specially designed pools at individual reactor sites around the country. Dry Cask Storage - If pool capacity is reached, licensees may move toward use of above-ground dry storage casks. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/dry-cask-storage.html Dry Cask Storage In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the need for alternative storage began to grow when pools at many nuclear reactors began to fill up with stored spent fuel. Utilities began looking at options such as dry cask storage for increasing spent fuel storage capacity. See the graph of nuclear fuel storage pool capacity. Dry cask storage allows spent fuel that has already been cooled in the spent fuel pool for at least one year to be surrounded by inert gas inside a container called a cask. The casks are typically steel cylinders that are either welded or bolted closed. The steel cylinder provides a leak-tight containment of the spent fuel. Each cylinder is surrounded by additional steel, concrete, or other material to provide radiation shielding to workers and members of the public. Some of the cask designs can be used for both storage and transportation. There are various dry storage cask system designs. With some designs, the steel cylinders containing the fuel are placed vertically in a concrete vault; other designs orient the cylinders horizontally. The concrete vaults provide the radiation shielding. Other cask designs orient the steel cylinder vertically on a concrete pad at a dry cask storage site and use both metal and concrete outer cylinders for radiation shielding. See the picture of a typical dry cask storage system. The first dry storage installation was licensed by the NRC in 1986 at the Surry Nuclear Power Plant in Virginia. Spent fuel is currently stored in dry cask systems at a growing number of power plant sites, and at an interim facility located at the Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho. See the map showing the location of existing independent spent fuel storage installations. http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/diagram-typical-dry-cask-system.html Cask Loading into Storage Bunker at San Onofre Nuclear Plant Source: http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/files/2011/03/canister_2.jpg Three drawings below from: Evaluation of the Technical Basis for Extended Dry Storage and Transportation of Used Nuclear Fuel, United States Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, December 2010

http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/locations.html

Minimally secure cask area Browns Ferry Farley Palo Verde Arkansas Diablo Canyon Rancho Seco San Onofre Humboldt Bay Fort St. Vrain Haddam Neck Millstone St. Lucie Hatch TMI-2 Idaho Facility GE Morris Dresden Quad Cities Duane Arnold River Bend Maine Yankee Calvert Cliffs Yankee Rowe Big Rock Point Palisades Monticello Prairie Island Grand Gulf Ft. Calhoun Seabrook Hope Creek Oyster Creek Indian Point FitzPatrick McGuire Davis-Besse Trojan Limerick Susquehanna Peach Bottom Oconee Robinson Catawba Sequoyah Private Fuel Vermont Yankee Surry North Anna Columbia Point Beach

Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant, Limestone County, AL http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=34.704124,-87.115029&spn=0.002042,0.004292&z=19

Farley Nuclear Power Plant, Houston County, AL http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=31.22116,-85.11069&spn=0.002124,0.004292&z=19

Palo Verde Nuclear Power Station, Maricopa County, AZ http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.387615,-112.856498&spn=0.004148,0.008583&z=18

Arkansas Nuclear One, Russellville, AR http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=35.311275,-93.229814&spn=0.002027,0.004292&z=19

Decommissioned Rancho Seco Power Reactor Facility, Herald, CA http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=38.346103,-121.126869&spn=0.003896,0.006539&z=18

San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant, San Onofre, CA http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.370608,-117.55781&spn=0.004148,0.006539&z=18 Image below from Bing.com/maps

Decommissioned Humboldt Bay Power Plant, Eureka, CA http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.741703,-124.21152&spn=0.003764,0.006539&z=18 Image below from Bing.com/maps

Decommissioned Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station, Fort St. Vrain, CO http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=40.248604,-104.871916&spn=0.003791,0.006539&z=18

Demolished Haddam Neck (Connecticut Yankee) Nuclear Power Station, East Hampton, CT http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=41.481424,-72.485234&spn=0.003721,0.006539&z=18 Source: http://www.connyankee.com/assets/images/43_vccs02.jpg

Millstone Nuclear Power Station, Niantic, CT http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=41.311827,-72.164442&spn=0.003731,0.006539&z=18 Image below by Bing.com/maps

St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant, Hutchinson Island, Florida http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=27.343752,-80.243239&spn=0.01765,0.026157&z=16

Hatch Nuclear Power Plant, Baxley, GA http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=31.928678,-82.341959&spn=0.008432,0.013078&z=17

Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID Idaho Spent Fuel Facility and Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant (TMI) Debris http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=43.569276,-112.928917&spn=0.014396,0.026157&z=16

GE Morris ISFSI, Morris, IL http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=41.380812,-88.275258&spn=0.014909,0.026157&z=16

Dresden Nuclear Generating Station, Morris, IL http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=41.389502,-88.265639&spn=0.003727,0.006539&z=18

Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Cordova, IL http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=41.720911,-90.306753&spn=0.007415,0.013078&z=17 Images below from Bing.com/maps

Duane Arnold Energy Center, Palo, IA http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=42.106811,-91.777548&spn=0.003685,0.008583&z=18 Image below from Bing.com/maps

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This facility seems not to appear on satellite photos.

Source: http://www.privatefuelstorage.com/images/sitemap.gif

Seven drawings above:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1714/v1/part1-3.pdf

Drawing above: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1714/v1/appcandd.pdf

Image below from Bing.com/maps