Radiation Characteristics and Safety Assessment of the BN-350 Fast Reactor’s Spent Nuclear Fuel Model Under Long-Term Dry Storage Conditions
Source abstract
Abstract
During the decommissioning of the BN-350 reactor, the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) was transferred to long-term dry storage in TUK-123 transport and storage cask systems designed for transportation and long-term storage with a design service life of approximately 50 years. The TUK-123 system consists of a UKKh-123 storage package, which is a sealed metal-concrete cask (MCC), and a protective-damping cover (PDC) used only during transportation. Radiation characteristics are a key quantitative criterion for assessing the safety of long-term storage in the absence of direct access to fuel and cask components. This paper presents the results of a computational study of the radiation characteristics of BN-350 SNF under dry storage conditions as of 1 January 2025. Spatial distributions of the ambient dose equivalent rate were determined for normal storage conditions and for accident scenarios involving partial failure of fuel assembly (FA) canisters and fuel redistribution. It was established that in the near-field region, the dose fields are formed predominantly by long-lived fission products and activation nuclides, whereas the neutron contribution is determined mainly by the spontaneous fission of actinides and (α, n) reactions. The results obtained provide a quantitative basis for assessing the radiation safety of long-term BN-350 SNF dry storage.
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Research context
OpenAlex topics: Graphite, nuclear technology, radiation studies · Nuclear and radioactivity studies · Nuclear reactor physics and engineering
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Institute of Atomic Energy Branch of the National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 180010 Kurchatov, Kazakhstan
Funding
Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan
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