Abstract
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) successfully demonstrated the Versatile Remediation Module (VRM), a prototype module designed and built by ORNL for on-site remote repair of welded stainless steel storage containers for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. This paper describes the VRM prototype and its design features and components to support continued long-term storage or off-site transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste currently stored in storage containers. A remote (100 ft away from the simulated radiative environment) demonstration of the VRM was successfully performed on a full-scale mock-up welded stainless steel canister. The VRM is designed with features to accommodate remediation techniques beyond those currently selected and described in this paper. Therefore, many of the VRM’s features may benefit other remote nuclear or nonnuclear applications. The VRM is envisioned to serve as a development center to facilitate and enhance further development of new remediation technologies.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 750-760 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Nuclear Technology |
| Volume | 207 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2021 |
Funding
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, authored by UT-Battelle, LLC, under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725. The authors would like to thank John Kessler, Brian Gutherman, and Adam Levin for expert input and guidance during the initial concept development; Paris Cornwell for his technical assistance in the neutron diffraction experiments; Craig Mauer and Christopher Crawford for technical support in the design; and Doug Kyle, who performed the repair welding.
Keywords
- Spent nuclear fuel
- arc welding
- remediation
- remote repair