METHOD FOR THE LONG-TERM STORAGE OF SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND COOLING AND STORAGE TANK FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION THEREOF

摘要

The group of inventions relates to the nuclear power industry. A method for the long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel consists in unloading fuel whole within a removable assembly without dismantling the reactor core, and placing it in a cooling and storage tank disposed in a pit having a cooling system and being filled with a liquid lead-bismuth eutectic alloy, in which conditions are provided for maintaining the liquid state of the lead-bismuth alloy and for monitoring the temperature thereof for decay heat removal; removing the tank and placing same in an on-site cask without exceeding the permissible temperature of the lead-bismuth alloy, with heat decay removal taking place until the lead-bismuth alloy hardens in the tank; transferring the tank to a transport cask without the implementation of further decay heat removal measures. A cooling and storage tank is also claimed. The group of inventions makes it possible to simplify and reduce the length of the refueling process in the case of nuclear fuel with a high level of decay heat.