Interim dry cask storage systems comprising AISI 304 or 316 stainless steel canisters have become critical for the storage of spent nuclear fuel from light water reactors in the Republic of Korea. However, the combination of microstructural sensitization, residual tensile stress, and corrosive environments can induce chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking (CISCC) for stainless steel canisters. Suppressing one or more of these three variables can effectively mitigate CISCC initiation or propagation. Surface-modification technologies, such as surface peening and burnishing, focus on relieving residual tensile stress by introducing compressive stress to near-surface regions of materials. Overlay coating methods such as cold spray can serve as a barrier between the environment and the canister, while also inducing compressive stress similar to surface peening. This approach can both mitigate CISCC initiation and facilitate CISCC repair. Surface-painting methods can also be used to isolate materials from external corrosive environments. However, environmental variables, such as relative humidity, composition of surface deposits, and pH can affect the CISCC behavior. Therefore, in addition to research on surface modification and coating technologies, site-specific environmental investigations of various nuclear power plants are required.

Because most spent nuclear fuel storage casks have been designed for low burnup fuel, a safety-significant high burnup dry storage cask must be developed for nuclear facilities in Korea to store the increasing high burnup and damaged fuels. More than 20% of fuels generated by PWRs comprise high burnup fuels. This study conducted a structural safety evaluation of the preliminary designs for a high burnup storage cask with 21 spent nuclear fuels and evaluated feasible loading conditions under normal, off-normal, and accident conditions. Two types of metal and concrete storage casks were used in the evaluation. Structural integrity was assessed by comparing load combinations and stress intensity limits under each condition. Evaluation results showed that the storage cask had secured structural integrity as it satisfied the stress intensity limit under normal, off-normal, and accident conditions. These results can be used as baseline data for the detailed design of high burnup storage casks.

A transfer cask serves as the container for transporting and handling canisters loaded with spent nuclear fuels from light water reactors. This study focuses on a cylindrical transfer cask, standing at 5,300 mm with an external diameter of 2,170 mm, featuring impact limiters on the top and bottom sides. The base of the cask body has an openable/closable lid for loading canisters with storage modules. The transfer cask houses a canister containing spent nuclear fuels from lightweight reactors, serving as the confinement boundary while the cask itself lacks the confinement structure. The objective of this study was to conduct a structural analysis evaluation of the transfer cask, currently under development in Korea, ensuring its safety. This evaluation encompasses analyses of loads under normal, off-normal, and accident conditions, adhering to NUREG-2215. Structural integrity was assessed by comparing combined results for each load against stress limits. The results confirm that the transfer cask meets stress limits across normal, off-normal, and accident conditions, establishing its structural safety.

In the case of dry storage facilities, slipping of the cask or tip-over are dangerous phenomena. For this reason, in dry storage facilities, measures against slipping and tip-over or related safety evaluations are important. Accidental conditions that can cause cask slippage and tip-over in dry storage facilities include natural phenomena such as floods, tornadoes, tsunamis, typhoons, earthquakes, and artificial phenomena such as airplane crashes. However, among natural phenomena, earthquakes are the most important natural phenomenon that causes tip-over. Also, many people had the stereotype that Korea is an earthquake-safe zone before 2016. However, earthquakes become a major disaster in Korea due to the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake and the 2017 Pohang earthquake, followed by the Goesan earthquake in October 2022. In this paper, seismic analysis was performed based on dry storage facilities including multiple casks. Design variables for the construction of an analysis model for dry storage facilities were investigated, and seismic analysis was performed. To evaluate tip-over accident during earthquake, seismic load was used from 0.2 g PGA to 0.8 g PGA and these earthquakes were followed Design Response Spectrum (DRS) in RG 1.60. The friction coefficient of concrete pad was used from 0.2 to 1.0. As a result of the analysis, tip-over accident could not find in the analysis from 0.2 g to 0.6 g. However, tip-over was appeared at friction coefficients of 0.8 and 1.0 at 0.8 g PGA. Tip-over angular velocity of cask was derived by seismic analysis and was compared with formula and tip-over analysis results. As a result, a generalized dry storage facility analysis model was proposed, and dry storage facility safety evaluation was conducted through seismic analysis. Also, tip-over angular velocity was derived using seismic analysis for tip-over analysis.

As regulations on carbon emissions increase, the interest in renewable energy is also increasing. However, the efficiency of renewable energy generation is highly low and has limitations in replacing existing energy consumption. In terms of this view, nuclear power generation is highlighted because it has the advantage of not emitting carbon. And accordingly, the amount of spent nuclear fuel is going to increase naturally in the future. Therefore, it will be important to obtain the reliability of containers for transporting safely and storing spent nuclear fuel. In this study, a method for verifying the integrity and airtightness of a metal cask for the safe transportation and storage of spent nuclear fuel was studied. Non-destructive testing, thermal stability, leakage stability, and neutron shielding were demonstrated, and as a result, suitable quality for loading spent nuclear fuel could be obtained. Furthermore, it is meaningful in that it has secured manufacturing technology that can be directly applied to industrial field by verifying actual products.

To rationalize the protection of spent nuclear fuel transport storage cask, we intend to investigate the status of domestic and foreign safety regulations and related technologies to develop sabotage scenarios and analyze the protection performance and radiation impact of transport storage cask. It is essential to conduct an aircraft collision safety evaluation on spent nuclear fuel transportation and storage casks in Korea due to changes in laws and regulations related to nuclear power plant design and demand for enhanced safety. Domestic and foreign research on the protection performance of spent nuclear fuel transport storage cask was based on 9.11 events, and the results of all studies show that the speed of the aircraft and leakage of nuclear materials are insignificant. The Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) calculates Aerosol emissions from spent fuel damage in the event of sabotage and calculates Source Term based on the Durbin-Luna model. In this paper, radiation sensitivity analysis was performed due to damage to the carrier according to the size of the accident, assuming that there was a hole enough to basket from the external shell among the collision scenarios identified for domestic cask models.

Bird screen meshes are installed at the air inlet and outlet ducts of spent fuel storage casks to inhibit the intrusion of debris from the external environment. The presence of these screens introduces an additional resistance to air flow through the ducts. In this study, a porous media model was developed to simplify the bird screen meshes. CFD analyses were used to derive and verify the flow resistance factors for the porous media model. Thermal analyses were carried out for concrete storage cask using the porous media model. Thermal tests were performed for concrete casks with bird screen meshes. The measured temperatures were compared with the analysis results for the porous model. The analysis results agreed well with the test results. The analysis temperatures were slightly higher than the test temperatures. Therefore, the reliability and conservatism of the analysis results for the porous model have been verified.

한국원자력환경공단에서는 국내 경수로 원전에서 발생된 사용후핵연료를 건식으로 저장할 수 있는 콘크리트 용기를 개발하 였다. 본 저장용기는 사용후핵연료가 건식환경에서 장기간 저장되는 동안 용기 및 사용후핵연료의 건전성이 유지되며, 방사 선량률이 저장시설의 설계기준을 초과하지 않도록 설계되어야 한다. 특히, 저장시설은 정상 및 사고조건에서 적절한 방사선 방호를 위한 차폐설계가 이루어져야 한다. 이를 위해 본 연구에서는 미국 10CFR72 및 10CFR20의 기술기준과 NRC의 표준 심사지침 NUREG-1536에서 제시한 평가방법에 따라 건식저장조건하에서 단일 콘크리트용기 및 2×10 용기배열조건의 선 량율을 평가하였다. 평가결과, 일반인에 대한 연간선량 한도인 0.25 mSv를 만족하는 통제구역 경계까지의 거리는 약 230 m 로 도출되었다. 콘크리트 저장용기의 설계사고는 2×10 배열의 저장시설에서 한 개의 저장용기가 이송 중 전도사고가 발생 하여 용기의 바닥면이 통제구역 경계로 향하는 상황으로 가정하였다. 전도된 저장용기의 바닥면으로 부터 100 m 및 230 m 지점에서 각각 12.81 mSv 및 1.28 mSv로 평가되었다. 본 연구를 통해 건식저장조건에서 콘크리트 저장용기 및 저장시설은 적절하게 평가된 통제구역경계까지의 거리가 확보된다면 방사선적 안전성이 유지됨을 확인할 수 있었다. 본 평가결과만으 로 건식환경의 저장용기(시설) 설계에 직접 적용하기는 어렵겠으나, 향후‘국가 고준위폐기물 관리 전략’에 근거한 원전내 저장시설 또는 중간저장 시설의 설계 및 운영에 유용한 자료가 될 것으로 사료된다.

사용후핵연료 건식저장용기는 낙하사고조건에서 캐니스터의 건전성이 입증되어야 한다. 낙하사고조건은 캐니스터를 건식저장용기에 장입하기 위하여 저장용기의 상부에서 크레인으로 취급하는 도중에 캐니스터가 저장용기 내부의 받침대로 자유 낙하하는 조건이다. 저장용기 내부의 받침대는 이러한 조건에서 캐니스터의 구조적 건전성을 유지하도록 완충효과가 좋아야 한다. 본 연구에서는 다양한 저장용기 내부 받침대 에 대한 3차원 유한요소해석을 통하여 낙하사고조건에서 캐니스터의 구조적 건전성을 향상시킬 수 있는 구조를 결정하였다. 저장용기 내부 받침대는 탄소강으로 만들어진 원통 쉘의 내부에 콘크리트를 장입한 구조와 받침대 높이의 변화 없이 콘크리트 높이의 1/4정도에 탄소강과 폴리우레탄폼을 이용한 구조물을 사용하여 완충효과를 보완하고자 수정된 구조를 고려하였다. 완충체의 형상 및 구조를 결정하기 위하여 십자형상이나 원형의 탄소강 구조물을 받침대 상부에 위치하여 그 영향을 알아보았다. 이때 탄소강 구조물의 두께를 24 mm, 12 mm, 6mm로 변화를 주었다. 또한, 탄소강 구조물 사이에 충진하는 폴리우레탄폼의 밀도에 대한 영향을 알아보았다.

고리 원전 사용후핵연료 저장조의 저장용량을 확보하기 위하여 2002년부터 사용후핵연료 운반용기를 이용하여 400다발 이상의 PWR 사용후핵연료 집합체를 원전부지 내에 수송, 저장하였다. 이를 위하여 KN-12 운반용기, 관련장비 및 수송차량으로 구성되는 수송시스템을 구성하였다. KN-12 운반용기는 국내 원자력법 및 IAEA의 수송규정에 따라 설계, 제작되고, 정부로부터 인허가를 획득하였으며, 취급장비 역시 관련규정에 따라 구비하였다. 수송 저장작업은 2 대의 운반용기를 동시에 투입하여 수행하였으며, 모든 작업공정에 대하여 엄격한 품질관리 및 방사선 안전관리를 수행하여 수송 안전성을 확보하고 신뢰도를 제고하였다.