The work aims to develop a storage and transportation basket adapted to typical spent fuel assemblies of domestic PWR nuclear power plants to realize efficient and safe reception, storage and transfer of spent fuel assemblies to meet the annual processing capacity requirements of large-scale spent fuel reprocessing plants in China and address the pain points of low efficiency, high operational risks, and high engineering and operation costs of the traditional single spent fuel assembly transfer process. According to the functional requirements, safety classification, interface parameters and overall layout of the spent fuel reception and storage system of the reprocessing plant, the design criteria and core safety requirements of the basket were clarified, and the mapping relationship between design parameters and safety criteria was established. Based on the mainstream domestic AFA-3G spent fuel assembly, compatible with 12-foot and 14-foot (1 foot = 30.48 cm) specifications, the structure was developed with a modular design concept, and parameter design and verification of core dimensions such as criticality safety, thermal hydraulics, structural strength and seismic performance were completed simultaneously. The developed basket could hold 9 sets of spent fuel assemblies, adapting to the longest assembly of AP1000 reactors. It was made of boron-aluminum composite neutron absorbing material, designed into a sandwich structure of 9-unit modular cells and equipped with guide structure, adjustable supporting pads and dovetail groove interlocking structure, forming a stable 4×6 storage group, significantly reducing transfer frequency and assembly drop risk. The basket design complies with nuclear safety regulations and standards, meeting the technological and safety requirements of spent fuel reception and storage in reprocessing plants, effectively improving transfer efficiency and engineering economy, and providing technical reference and a design basis for independent R&D of similar equipment.
Key words
reprocessing /
spent fuel basket /
design criteria /
structural design /
safety analysis
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