Transport of Spent Fuel from Garigliano Power Station to an AFR Repository

Abstract

The Garigliano 160-MWe BWR station, locted in the south of Italy, was put in a decommissioning state in March 1982.

The initial problems facing the owner of the plant - Ente Nazionale Energia Elettrica - were due to the presence of fresh and irradiated fuel at the site of the plant; therefore, the first initiatives were directed towards the transport of this fuel away from the site in order to tackle the subsequent decommissioning phases. ENEL began the various activities related to the development of an intermediate repository where the spent fuel would be located, the design and construction of a transport cask, the preparation of a safety report and of the administrative procedures with the regulatory authorities and, finally, the transport campaign with its related health physics support.

At the same time, an Away-From-Reactor (AFR) repository had to be designed and built; this repository was located in the north of Italy, which implied a series of 46 return journeys of about 2,000 Km each through the peninsula.

The transport of the 64 fresh fuel assemblies destined for the sale of the uranium content and of the 322 irradiated fuel assemblies for intermediate storage were successfully completed by the end of 1987.