Management of Spent Fuel at Shutdown
Reactors in Germany Technical Meeting on the Management of Spent Fuel at Shutdown Reactor Sites,
Including Those to be Shut Down Prematurely
Vienna June 2018 Dr. Oliver Wallenfang - BGZ
EVT1701645/Wallenfang/June 11, 2018/Page 2
Contents • Reorganization of nuclear waste management in Germany
• Legal aspects
• NPP and storage facilities for SNF in germany
• How we achieve a self-sufficient storage operation
• Special issues of prematurely shut down NPP
• Management of damaged fuel
• Conclusions
EVT1701645/Wallenfang/June 11, 2018/Page 3
Legislator decided to reorganize nuclear waste management
Our mission:
safe & secure storage
Spent Fuel / Heat generating waste
Waste with negligible heat generation from NPP-operation and
dismantling
Repository
Utilities:
NPP operation
and dismantling
EVT1701645/Wallenfang/June 11, 2018/Page 4
NPP-Operator State-owned
operator BGZ
storage facilities
spent fuel / heat-generating waste
storage facilities
waste with negligible heat generation
January 01, 2019
January 01, 2020
• The existing storage licenses granted for the German utilities
will pass to BGZ and remain in force unchanged.
No need for BGZ to apply for new storage licenses
for radioactive waste
Legal aspects
EVT1701645/Wallenfang/June 11, 2018/Page 5
2011
2011 2022 2011
2022
2022
2015
2021
2011 2019
2021
2021 2017
2011
2011 2011
2011 2011
PWR
BWR
power reactor (shut down before 2005)
on site storage
off site storage
NPP and storage facilities for SNF in germany
year of shutdown
EVT1701645/Wallenfang/June 11, 2018/Page 6
today
NPP and storage
facilities operated by
utility
Operation of NPP
and storage facility
coupled
1
as of January 01, 2019
Storage facility operated
by state-owned BGZ
NPP operated by utility
as before
Service contracts
between utility and BGZ
after dismantling NPP
Self-sufficient
operation of storage
facility by BGZ
2 4
NPP BGZ NPP BGZ NPP BGZ
3
during dismantling
NPP
NPP under
dismantling by utility
Decoupling
operation of storage
facility from NPP
Service contracts
between utility and
BGZ
Security Fence
Step by step: How we achieve a self-sufficient storage operation
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Special issues of prematurely shut down NPP
• In 2011 eight NPP were shut down immediately after the fukushima
incident.
• The existing reports of subcriticality take a burn up credit for some fuel
assemblies.
• New reports were made for those fuel assemblies with partial loadings of
the casks (7 or 13 of 19 PWR / 48 to 51 of 52 BWR assemblies) prove
subcriticality.
• The first storage license with this issue was granted in 2016.
• All on-site storage facilities have the needed capacity for the additional
casks.
EVT1701645/Wallenfang/June 11, 2018/Page 8
BWR- and PWR-Quiver
Management of damaged fuel
bolted and welded lid
• GNS invented an integrated quiver system for
the transport and storage of damaged fuel with
the shape and the weight of german fuel
assemblies.
• The quiver and the fuel can be dried down to
1 g H2O/quiver.
• The system is gas-tight with a bolted and
welded lid.
• The quivers are licensed as a part of the casks
CASTOR® V/19 and CASTOR® V/52.
• The first casks with quivers will be stored in
2018.
GNS IQ © by GNS (www.gns.de)
Pictures provided by GNS
EVT1701645/Wallenfang/June 11, 2018/Page 9
Conclusions
• Spent fuel will be stored in on-site and off-site dry interim storage facilities
until final disposal.
• The facilities are operated by state-owned companies.
• There are technical solutions for the dry interim storage and for transport of
all spent fuel including the damaged fuel from german NPP.
