Method of managing spent nuclear fuel to irradiate products

• US 9,937,273 B2
• Filed: 11/04/2013
• Issued: 04/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Russell Goff
• Original Assignee: Russell Goff
• Inventors: Goff, Russell
• Primary Examiner(s): Keith, Jack W
• Assistant Examiner(s): WASIL, DANIEL D
• Application Number:
  US14/070,885
• Publication Number:
  US 20140126682A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,618 Days
• Field of Search: 376272, 376341, 378 69
• CPC Class Codes: A61L 2/081 Gamma radiation
• CPC Class Codes: G21C 19/32 Apparatus for removing radioactive objects or materials from the reactor discharge area, e.g. to a storage place; Apparatus for handling radioactive objects or materials within a storage place or removing them therefrom disposal of waste material G21F9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G21F 7/015 Room atmosphere, temperature or pressure control devices
• CPC Class Codes: G21F 7/06 Structural combination with remotely-controlled apparatus, e.g. with manipulators
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 30/30 Nuclear fission reactors

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and systems for the storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) such that a single facility can serve as both a SNF storage facility and a gamma ray irradiation facility are disclosed. In one embodiment, the SNF is encapsulated inside of a container. The SNF bearing container prevents the escape of fission products into the environment but allows the escape of gamma rays from the container. In this embodiment, several of these containers are evenly spaced throughout a room within a fortified facility and a conveyor system transports products through the room such that gamma rays emitted by the SNF deposit a desired amount of energy into the products. A passive heat removal system is formed by the coupling of the SNF bearing container to a thermal conduction element such that the SNF remains sufficiently cool even when the SNF is generating large heat loads.

Claims

1. A method of managing spent nuclear fuel, comprising;

placing spent nuclear fuel (SNF) that includes radioisotopes into a plurality of SNF bearing containers on an individual SNF rod or individual SNF assembly basis,

the SNF bearing containers each

comprising a barrier having a thickness of between 0.0001 centimeters and 15 centimeters, inclusive, between the SNF and an area outside of the SNF bearing containers and

configured to

allow the release of gamma radiation from the SNF inside of the SNF bearing containers and

prevent the release of the radioisotopes, contained in the SNF which produce the gamma radiation, to the area outside of the SNF bearing containers;

placing the SNF bearing containers in multiple locations within an irradiation room within a SNF storage facility such that the SNF bearing containers are arranged into more than two rows;

utilizing a plurality of independent conveyor systems to carry medical products meant to be irradiated through different dose rate areas of the irradiation room,

wherein the dose rate areas are defined by a respective area in between, or adjacent to, rows of SNF bearing containers in the irradiation room;

using an SNF storage facility that contains

a level above the irradiation room and

a level below the irradiation room that provides an associated borehole storage location for each individual SNF storage container;

individually connecting thermal conduction elements to the top of each individual SNF bearing container, where each individual SNF bearing container has a separate thermal conduction element, and each thermal conduction element is sufficiently long to enable the top of the thermal conduction element to protrude out of the irradiation room and into the level above the irradiation room

while the SNF bearing container that the thermal conduction element is connected to is in its associated borehole storage location below the irradiation room; and

moving the individual SNF bearing container between the level above the irradiation room, the irradiation room, and the level below the irradiation room by

connecting a crane located in the level above the irradiation room to the thermal conduction element associated with the individual SNF bearing container and

pulling or pushing the thermal conduction element up or down when it is desired to move the individual SNF bearing container outside of the irradiation room or into the irradiation room to affect the amount of radiation in the irradiation room.

2. A method of managing spent nuclear fuel, comprising;

placing spent nuclear fuel (SNF) that includes radioisotopes into a plurality of SNF bearing containers on an individual SNF rod or individual SNF assembly basis,

the SNF bearing containers each

comprising a barrier having a thickness of between 0.0001 centimeters and 15 centimeters, inclusive, between the SNF and an area outside of the SNF bearing containers and

configured to

allow the release of gamma radiation from the SNF inside of the SNF bearing containers and

prevent the release of the radioisotopes, contained in the SNF which produce the gamma radiation, to the area outside of the SNF bearing containers;

placing the SNF bearing containers in multiple locations within an irradiation room within a SNF storage facility such that the SNF bearing containers are arranged into more than two rows;

utilizing a plurality of independent conveyor systems to carry medical products meant to be irradiated through different dose rate areas of the irradiation room,

wherein the dose rate areas are defined by a respective area in between, or adjacent to, rows of SNF bearing containers in the irradiation room;

loading SNF less than 20 months after the SNF has been discharged from a nuclear reactor into SNF bearing containers that contain rigid supports;

using the rigid supports to guide the SNF into the SNF bearing containers during loading;

using a lifting vehicle and a shielded transport container to transport the SNF bearing containers to the SNF storage facility;

coupling the SNF bearing containers to thermal conduction elements such that the thermal conduction elements are directly above the SNF;

transporting the SNF bearing containers to the SNF storage facility and

cooling the SNF during transportation of the SNF to the SNF storage facility by allowing a thermal conduction element coupled to the SNF bearing container directly above the SNF to penetrate out of the top of the shielded transport container; and

lifting the coupled SNF bearing container and thermal conduction element by the thermal conduction element out of an opening in the shielded transport container and

lowering the SNF bearing container to a penetration in the irradiation room.

3. A method of managing spent nuclear fuel, comprising;

placing spent nuclear fuel (SNF) that includes radioisotopes into a plurality of SNF bearing containers on an individual SNF rod or individual SNF assembly basis,

the SNF bearing containers each

comprising a barrier having a thickness of between 0.0001 centimeters and 15 centimeters, inclusive, between the SNF and an area outside of the SNF bearing containers and

configured to

allow the release of gamma radiation from the SNF inside of the SNF bearing containers and

prevent the release of the radioisotopes, contained in the SNF which produce the gamma radiation, to the area outside of the SNF bearing containers;

placing the SNF bearing containers in multiple locations within an irradiation room within a SNF storage facility such that the SNF bearing containers are arranged into more than two rows;

utilizing a plurality of independent conveyor systems to carry medical products meant to be irradiated through different dose rate areas of the irradiation room,

wherein the dose rate areas are defined by a respective area in between, or adjacent to, rows of SNF bearing containers in the irradiation room;

using a SNF storage facility that contains more than two levels including a top level of the SNF storage facility that is above the irradiation room and a bottom level of the SNF storage facility that is below the irradiation room;

aligning penetrations between different levels of the SNF storage facility;

sizing the penetrations such that only one SNF bearing container can fit into each penetration;

maneuvering the SNF bearing containers between the different levels of the SNF storage facility through the aligned penetrations;

coupling a SNF bearing container to a thermal conduction element directly above the SNF bearing container

where the thermal conduction element includes a bulge that is

of a larger diameter than the rest of the thermal conduction element and

configured such that lowering the SNF bearing container into the bottom level of the SNF storage facility causes the bulge to

collide with an aligned penetration associated with the SNF bearing containers location in the SNF storage facility between the irradiation room and the top level of the SNF storage facility and

prevents the SNF bearing container from being lowered any further and

suspends the SNF bearing container above the bottom of the bottom level of the SNF storage facility and

prevents the SNF bearing container from colliding with the bottom of the bottom level of the SNF storage facility during a free fall; and

shielding the top level of the SNF storage facility by using the bulge on the thermal conduction element to plug a penetration associated with the top level of the SNF storage facility.