Validation of nuclear and radiation safety of a container for spent AMB reactor fuel assemblies at the beloyarskaya nuclear power plant

An approach is proposed for validating the nuclear and radiation safety of a container for spent fuel assemblies from AMB-100 and-200 reactors at the Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant. To validate the radiation safety, the characteristics of fuel assemblies and their classification according to the average fuel burnup in the casing, and the intensities of n and γ radiation in the casing are analyzed. Nuclear safety is validated on the basis of the concept of a "model" casing. This model makes it possible to obtain an upper estimate of the effective coefficient of neutron multiplication for all real casings with fuel assemblies. Calculations are used to determine the minimum necessary thickness of the vessel, bottom, and cover for 17-and 35-place casings. It is shown that no special neutron protection is needed. The container design to be developed meets the IAEA and OPBZ-83 safety standards.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]