We are pleased to announce the completion of the safety evaluation effort for the HISTORM UMAX (Underground MAXimum capacity) canister storage system (NRC Docket No. 72-1040). The licensing application submittal date is set for June 30, 2012. Underway since 2010, this effort was the subject of a pre-submittal briefing to the NRC’s Division of Spent Fuel Storage and Transportation (SFST) on Thursday, April 19, 2012 [see Holtec Highlights Issue HH27.03]. The licensing package being submitted to the USNRC incorporates the Staff’s inputs from the pre-submittal briefing. The submittal for HI-STORM UMAX has a rather modest objective of obtaining the certification of only the Vertical Ventilated Module (VVM), as it contains no new MPC designs.
The HI-STORM UMAX is anatomically similar to the previously licensed HI-STORM 100U storing the MPC entirely belowground. In light of the similarity to HI-STORM 100U and the licensing application utilizing identical analysis methodologies and computer codes as in the safety analyses of the certified HI-STORM FW storage system (Docket Number 72-1032) and HI-STORM 100U (Docket Number 72-1014), Holtec is requesting that the NRC complete the safety evaluation in six (6) months. While the immediate licensing goal for HI-STORM UMAX is to obtain the certification to store only the currently certified Holtec canisters in the VVMs, the design of HI-STORM UMAX has the much broader purpose of providing a universal underground storage system to store all of the used nuclear fuel produced in the United States and all spent fuel canister types currently or previously licensed by the USNRC. HI-STORM UMAX has been engineered to provide a single storage module design that can be used to construct an Interim Storage Facility to encompass the storage of every canister currently residing at U.S. nuclear facilities.
At over 45 kW heat rejection capacity , HI-STORM UMAX envelopes the heat rejection needs of every canister loaded in the world. Perhaps even more important for a large storage facility, is the massive underground concrete containment where the canisters will be stored, persuasively addresses the safety and security considerations that loom large in our society in the wake of September 11th.
Consistent with its mandate to serve as a “security-friendly” storage facility, providing a clear, unobstructed view of the entire ISFSI, a HI-STORM UMAX Interim Storage Facility will feature no aboveground structures for the transfer of loaded canisters. Nor will it require any utilities (water, compressed air, or electric power) for its operation; eliminating any elements of vulnerability to terrorism. Holtec’s Vice President of Engineering and the project’s licensing sponsor, Dr. Stefan Anton, refers to the HISTORM UMAX as, “the evidently safe storage technology-in-waiting to implement the Blue Ribbon Commission’s call for a national (or regional) Interim Storage Facility as soon as the Commission’s recommendation becomes public policy”.