The engineering viability of disposal of aluminum-clad, aluminum-based spent nuclear fuel (Al-SNF) in a geologic repository requires a thermal analysis to provide the temperature history of the waste form. Calculated temperatures are used to demonstrate compliance with criteria for waste acceptance into the geologic disposal system and as input to assess the chemical and physical behavior of the waste form within the Waste Package (WP). The leading codisposal WP design proposes that a central DOE Al-SNF canister be surrounded by five Defense Waste Process Facility (DWPF) glass log canisters, that is, High-level Waste Glass Logs (HWGL’s), and placed into a WP in a geologic disposal system. A DOE SNF canister having about 0.4318m diameter is placed along the central horizontal axis of the WP. The five HWGL’s will be located around the peripheral region of the DOE SNF canister within the cylindrical WP container. The codisposal WP will be laid down horizontally in a drift repository. In this situation, two waste form options for Al-SNF disposition are considered using the codisposal WP design configurations. They are the direct Al-SNF form and the melt-dilute ingot. In the present work, the reference geologic and design conditions are assumed for the analysis even though the detailed package design is continuously evolved. This paper primarily dealt with the thermal performance internal to the codisposal WP for the qualification study of the WP containing Al-SNF. Thermal analysis methodology and decay heat source terms have been developed to calculate peak temperatures and temperature profiles of Al-SNF package in the DOE spent nuclear fuel canister within the geologic codisposal WP.
Thermal management associated with geologic disposal of large spent nuclear fuel canisters in tunnels with thermally engineered backfill
