Neutronic Analysis For Nuclear Reactor Systems pp 501-521 | Cite as
Fuel Burnup and Fuel Management
Abstract
Nuclear fuel is removed from a reactor every few years when it can no longer economically keep a chain reaction going. This “spent” fuel remains radioactive and must be managed. At first, it goes into a pool onsite for cooling and storage. Some utilities are moving their spent fuel after several years in the pool into US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)-certified dry storage casks. These casks are specially designed to contain the radioactivity and allow hot spent fuel to cool further. In contrast to fossil fuel, the fuel in nuclear reactors cannot be converted since the fuel undergoes changes during its use in the reactor, which require the fuel elements to be exchanged.
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