Development of a heat signature computational simulation for safeguarded spent nuclear fuel

As the use of civilian nuclear power world-wide has increased, so has the demand for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) safeguards. One potentially reliable method is the detection of heat signatures generated by an SNF package. The SNF could be imbedded in borosilicate glass and the package encapsulated within a double canister. An MS Excel code that simulates the heat transfer of the SNF package is being developed. Three SNF storage configurations, or models, were simulated and the resulting surface temperature were determined. The imbedding borosilicate glass surface temperatures for all three models, with varying amounts of glass and spent fuel rods, were compared to explore the agreement between the simulations. Results show that with increasing amounts of imbedding glass, the glass surface temperatures for two of the three models remain nearly identical. The glass surface temperature for the third model, meanwhile, diverges from the other two with increasing glass. At approximately 70% glass composition, with 144 spent fuel rods stored at the moment of discharge the glass surface temperatures reach 5854 K, 5812 K, and 4095 K for models 1, 2 and 3 respectively. When SNF is stored five years after discharge, the glass surface temperatures decrease to 471 K, 471 K, and 447 K for models 1, 2 and 3 respectively.