CFD Modelling of the Dry Spent Fuel Storage of a Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor

Abstract

Currently, concrete canisters are in use for an interim storage of spent fuels of pressurized heavy water reactors. A major factor in spent fuel dry storage design and key thermal safety issue is the dissipation of the residual heat generated by the spent fuel.  Also the spent fuel temperature, in a dry storage canister, must be kept below    160 °C to avoid fuel oxidation. In this research, CFD modeling has been done to evaluate the temperature distribution in radial and vertical directions of the spent fuel cask. The temperature distribution inside the fuel basket is obtained using ANSYS and FLUENT for CFD analysis. The results suggest that when the effects of conduction and convection are combined and the ambient temperature is taken as 40°C then the maximum temperature of the fuel bundle is found out to be153°C which is below the temperature limit of 160°C. Therefore, the proposed indigenous design of the spent fuel storage cask is safe enough to keep the temperatures of the spent fuel well within the limits.

Keywords:, CFD, FLUENT, fuel safety, modeling, spent fuel storage