Researchers want to understand potential impact of earthquakes
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has completed seismic testing on a pair of full-scale dry storage systems for spent nuclear fuel as part of federal efforts to gather information for the design and licensing of future storage systems.
US storage systems are designed to withstand significant seismic loads, and the data from this test will be used to better understand the potential impacts earthquakes have on fuel that is safely and securely stored at more than 70 reactors sites in the US, the DOE said.
Researchers carried out tests at the University of California San Diego using a specialised outdoor “shake table” to simulate various seismic events.
The tests included a full-scale vertical cask weighing about 125 tons (about 113 metric tonnes) and a 111-ton (100 tonnes) horizontal storage system.
Both were equipped with dummy fuel assemblies and more than 240 sensors to collect data on roughly 40 different seismic simulations.
Apart from helping with the design and licensing of future spent nuclear fuel storage systems, data from the tests will also help improve current practices and ensure the safe, efficient, and sustainable management of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, the DOE said.
