Update on the Canadian Experimental Program to Evaluate Used-Fuel Integrity Under Dry-Storage Conditions

Abstract

A second interim storage examination has been performed on a number of used CANDUB fuel bundles. Highlights of those examinations are described in this paper. Although the oxygen in the container used to store an intentionally defected bundle in moisture-saturated air at 150 degrees C was depleted during the second storage period, the amount of fuel experiencing U02 grain-boundary oxidation increased significantly since the first storage period. This oxidation, however, did not effect the structural integrity of the fuel elements.