Decommissioning the BELGONUCLEAIRE Dessel MOX Plant: Presentation of the Project and Situation on 30/06/2011

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Cuchet ◽  
H. Libon ◽  
C. Verheyen ◽  
J. Bily ◽  
J. Custers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Radiation Protection ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Light Water Reactors ◽  
Royal Decree ◽  
Light Water ◽  
Mox Fuel ◽  
Water Reactors

BELGONUCLEAIRE has been operating the Dessel MOX plant at industrial scale between 1986 and 2006. In this period, 40 metric tons of plutonium (HM) has been processed into 90 reloads of MOX fuel for commercial light water reactors. The decision to stop the production in 2006 and to decommission the MOX plant was the result of the shrinkage of the MOX fuel market owing to political and customer’s factors. As a significant part of the decommissioning project of the Dessel MOX plant, about 170 medium-sized glove boxes and about 1.300 metric tons of structure and equipment outside the glove boxes are planned for decommissioning. The license for the decommissioning of the MOX plant was granted by Royal Decree in 2008 and the decommissioning works started in March 2009; the decommissioning works are executed by an integrated organization under leadership and responsibility of BELGONUCLEAIRE with 3 specialized contractors, namely TECNUBEL N.V., the joint venture (THV) BELGOPROCESS / SCK·CEN and STUDSVIK GmbH. In this paper, after having described the main characteristics of the project, the authors introduce the different organisational and technical options considered for the decommissioning of the glove boxes, and the main decision criteria (qualification of personnel and of processes, confinement, cutting techniques & radiation protection, safety aspects, alpha-bearing waste management) are analyzed as well. The progress, the feedback and the lessons learned mid 2011 are presented, giving the principal’s and contractors point of view as well.

Decommissioning the Belgonucleaire Dessel MOX Plant: Presentation of the Project and Situation End August 2013

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Cuchet ◽  
H. Libon ◽  
C. Verheyen ◽  
J. Bily ◽  
S. Boden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Radiation Protection ◽  
Project Manager ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Light Water Reactors ◽  
Royal Decree ◽  
Light Water ◽  
Mox Fuel ◽  
Water Reactors

BELGONUCLEAIRE has been operating the Dessel MOX plant at an industrial scale between 1986 and 2006. During this period, 40 metric tons of plutonium (HM) have been processed into 90 reloads of MOX fuel for commercial light water reactors. The decision to stop the production in 2006 and to decommission the MOX plant was the result of the shrinkage of the MOX fuel market due to political and commercial factors. As a significant part of the decommissioning project of the Dessel MOX plant, about 170 medium-sized glove-boxes and about 1.200 metric tons of structure and equipment outside the glove-boxes are planned for dismantling. The license for the dismantling of the MOX plant was granted by Royal Decree in 2008 and the dismantling started in March 2009. The dismantling works are carried out by an integrated organization under leadership and responsibility of BELGONUCLEAIRE; this organization includes 3 main contractors, namely Tecnubel N.V., the THV (‘Tijdelijke HandelsVereniging’) Belgoprocess / SCK•CEN and Studsvik GmbH and TRACTEBEL ENGINEERING as project manager. In this paper, after having described the main characteristics of the project, the authors review the different organizational and technical options considered for the decommissioning of the glove-boxes; thereafter the main decision criteria (qualification of personnel and of processes, confinement, cutting techniques & radiation protection, safety aspects, alpha-bearing waste management) are analyzed as well. Finally the progress, the feedback and the lessons learned at the end of August 2013 are presented, giving the principal’s and contractors point of view.

scholarly journals On the possibility to improve mixed uranium-plutonium fuel in fast reactors

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-135
Author(s):  
Vladimir A. Eliseev ◽  
Dmitry A. Klinov ◽  
Noël Camarcat ◽  
David Lemasson ◽  
Clement Mériot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Spent Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Light Water Reactors ◽  
Fast Reactors ◽  
Light Water ◽  
Fuel Cycles ◽  
Mox Fuel ◽  
Water Reactors ◽  
Operational Activities

Accumulation of plutonium extracted from the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) of light water reactors is one of the central problems in nuclear power. To reduce out-of-the-reactor Pu inventory, leading nuclear power countries (France, Japan) use plutonium in light water power reactors in the form of MOX fuel, with half of Pu fissioning in this fuel. The rest of Pu cannot be reused easily and efficiently in light water reactors because of the high content of even isotopes. Plutonium for which there are no potential consumers is accumulated. Unlike thermal reactors, fast reactors take plutonium of any isotopic composition. That makes it possible to improve plutonium isotopic composition and to reduce the fraction of even isotopes to the level that allows reuse of such plutonium in thermal reactors. The idea of changing the isotopic composition of Pu in fast reactors is well-known. The originality of the research lies in applying this idea to combine the fuel cycles of fast and thermal reactors. Pu isotopic composition can be improved by combining certain operational activities in order to supply fuel to thermal and fast reactors. Scientific and technological justification of the possibility will let Russian BN technologies and French MOX fuel technologies work in synergy with thermal reactors.

Scope

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Wei Shen ◽  
Benjamin Rouben
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Light Water Reactors ◽  
Reactor Physics ◽  
Light Water ◽  
Computational Schemes ◽  
The World ◽  
Water Reactors ◽  
And Mathematics

From the educational point of view, there are many textbooks on reactor physics used at various universities in the world. However, most of these textbooks focus either on application to Light Water Reactors (LWRs), or on the theory and mathematics, with a significant number of equations and computational schemes. Or else they were written more than 20, or even more than 60, years ago, and therefore they do not reflect the evolution of reactor concepts and engineering requirements since then. All those categories of books are either difficult to follow for non-physicists working in the nuclear industry, or else are of little value for those who are interested in special features of CANDU reactor physics.

Radial Power Profile of MOX and LEU Fuel Pellet Versus Burnup

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gray S. Chang ◽  
Robert C. Pedersen
Keyword(s):  
Performance Evaluation ◽  
Fuel Pellet ◽  
Light Water Reactors ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Light Water ◽  
Fuel Pellets ◽  
Mox Fuel ◽  
Power Profile ◽  
Fission Power ◽  
Water Reactors

One of challenge to burn the WG-Pu in Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel in light water reactors (LWR) is to demonstrate that the differences between WG-MOX, RG-MOX, and LWR LEU fuel are minimal, and therefore, the commercial MOX and LEU fuel experience base is applicable. The MCWO-calculated Radial Power Profile of LEU, Weapons Grade-MOX and Reactor Grade-MOX fuel pellets at various burnups are similar toward the end of life (50 GWd/t). Therefore, the LEU fuel performance evaluation code — FRAPCON-3 with modifications, such as, the detailed fission power profiles versus burnup, can be used in the MOX fuel pellet performance analysis. MCWO also calculated the 240Pu/Pu ratio in WG-MOX versus burnup, which reaches an average of 31.25% at discharged burnup of 50 GWd/t. It meets the spent fuel standard for WG-Pu disposition in LWR.

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