Considerations in Long-term Disposal of Non-CANDU Spent Fuel

Abstract

The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is responsible for safely managing Canada’s used nuclear fuel over the long term. Currently, NWMO is implementing Adaptive Phased Management (APM) to manage Canada’s used nuclear fuel. Today, Canada’s used nuclear fuel is from CANDU reactors; thus, the current repository design is based on used CANDU fuels. In recent years, several companies announced that they are pursuing nuclear projects in Canada that are not based on CANDU technology, namely the GE-BWRX design for the Darlington New Build Project and Saskatchewan, the USNC-MMR design for the Chalk River Laboratories Site and the ARC-100 and the Moltex designs for New Brunswick. These non-CANDU designs use fuel that is based on different physical form factors than CANDU fuel bundles. Since the current generation of repository design is for handling CANDU fuel bundles, it is unlikely to be able to process non-CANDU used fuel as-is. In this paper, selected design and operational elements of the deep geological repository that will be impacted by non-CANDU spent fuel are discussed, and potential strategies to handle used SMR fuel are explored.